Drengman Olsen Aaker (September 24, 1839 – March 30, 1894) was an American politician and businessman.

Biography

Born in

Hjartdal Hjartdal is a municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Øst-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sauland. The munic ...

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, Aaker emigrated with his parents to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1848 and settled in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. In 1854, Aaker and his family settled in Winneshiek County, Iowa. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Aaker served in the

12th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 12th Iowa Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. History The 12th Iowa Volunteer Infantry was organized at Dubuque in October and November 1861, and was mustered in at inter ...

. Aaker later lived in

Ridgeway, Iowa Ridgeway is a city in Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 275 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography Ridgeway is located at (43.297884, -91.989187). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total a ...

and was in the mercantile business. In the years following his marriage in 1869 to Christina Andersdatter Turvold (1849–1922), Aaker grew to become a successful business figure in Winneshiek County, being the operator of a lumber yard. Later he was member of the mercantile firm of Galby and Aaker, dealing in grain throughout the 1870s. In the latter part of that decade Aaker sold his lumber yard and became the owner of the Ridgeway Creamery, which later burned to the ground in March 1884. From 1882 to 1886, Aaker served in the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

and was a Republican. Aaker died at his home in Ridgeway, Iowa at age 54.'D. O. Aaker-obituary, ''Decorah Republican (Iowa)'', April 5, 1894, p. 4.

References

External links

* 1839 births 1894 deaths People from Hjartdal Norwegian emigrants to the United States People from Winneshiek County, Iowa People of Iowa in the American Civil War Union Army soldiers Businesspeople from Iowa Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American businesspeople {{Iowa-politician-stub