Erik Reiersen Ramstad (January 17, 1860 – January 21, 1951) was one of the founders of

Minot, North Dakota Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 20 ...

Biography

Ramstad was the son of tenant farmer Reier Pedersen and Anne Ellefsdatter. He was born at Køsahaugen in

Sigdal Sigdal is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Prestfoss. The municipality of Sigdal was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area of Krødsherad was sepa ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardan ...

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 ...

. Erik left Norway in 1879. His brother Peder followed him to America in 1880, and his mother Anne and sister Berte followed in 1885. The brothers were early settlers in the

Souris River The Souris River (; french: rivière Souris) or Mouse River (as it is alternatively known in the U.S., a calque of its French name) is a river in central North America. It is about in length and drains about . It rises in the Yellow Grass Mars ...

Valley of North Dakota, arriving in May 1883. They staked a claim to property on both the north and south sides of the Souris River. With the coming of the Great Northern Railway during the summer of 1886, Erik Ramstad agreed to relinquish of land on the south side of the Souris River, retaining sites north of the river. The Great Northern roundhouse and the Minot business district were both built on this southern acreage. Both Erik and Peter Ramstad remained active in the development of Minot. In 1886, the first Lutheran church service within Minot was held at the Peter Ramstad home. First Lutheran Church in Minot was built in the early 1900s on land originally belonging to Erik Ramstad. Erik Ramstad was also involved in local politics for many years, served as president of the Scandinavian American Bank, and was co-owner of the Great Northern Lumber Company. Erik Ramstad later donated part of his remaining property, which became the site of

Minot State University Minot State University (MSU or MiSU) is a public university in Minot, North Dakota. Founded in 1913 as a normal school, Minot State University is the third-largest university in North Dakota, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. ...

. Erik Ramstad Middle School, originally south of the MSU campus, but now on the north end of Minot, is named after him. The original school was destroyed by the

2011 Souris River flood The 2011 Souris/Mouse River flood in Canada and the United States occurred in June and was greater than a hundred-year flooding event for the river. The US Army Corps of Engineers estimated the flood to have a recurrence interval of two to five ...

and was razed; the new campus opened in December 2013.

Personal life

On Feb. 3, 1883, Erik Ramstad married Oline "Lena" Oleson from Grafton. Peter Ramstad died at age 74 on July 14, 1930, and Erik Ramstad died at age 91 on January 21, 1951. Both brothers died in Minot and were buried in the First

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Church Cemetery next to Minot State University.''North Dakota Department of Health Death Index''
(The State of North Dakota)

References

Other Source

*Keillor, Steven J. (2002) ''Erik Ramstad and the Empire Builder'' (North American Heritage Press, Minot, ND)

External links

Erik Ramstad Middle SchoolMinot State University
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramstad, Erik 1860 births 1951 deaths People from Sigdal Norwegian emigrants to the United States American Lutherans People from Minot, North Dakota