Haldor Erickson Boen (January 1, 1851 – July 20, 1912) was an American

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

from

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Biography

Boen was born in

Sør-Aurdal Sør-Aurdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bagn. Other villages in the municipality include Begna, Hedalen, an ...

Valdres Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre ...

, a traditional district in

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The co ...

county,

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 ...

. He immigrated to the United States in 1868 and settled in

Mower County, Minnesota Mower County () is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,029. The county seat is Austin. Mower County comprises the Austin Micropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Rochester-Austin C ...

. He attended the St. Cloud Normal School in 1869 and 1870. Boen relocated to

Fergus Falls Fergus Falls is a city in and the county seat of Otter Tail County, Minnesota, Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,119 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The falls from which the city gets par ...

Otter Tail County Otter Tail County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, its population was 60,081. Its county seat is Fergus Falls. Otter Tail County comprises the Fergus Falls micropolitan statistical area. With 1,048 lakes in it ...

in 1871. In 1872, he was employed in the county auditor's office, computing the first taxes levied in Otter Tail County. He taught in public schools of that county from 1874 to 1879. Boen acted as

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

from 1875 to 1900. In 1880, he was elected county commissioner and was a register of deeds from 1888 to 1892. In November 1892, Boen was elected as a

Populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

to the

53rd congress The 53rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1893, ...

, representing the newly created 7th congressional district from March 4, 1893, to March 3, 1895. He was unsuccessful in his re-election bid in 1894. Boen then became editor of the ''Fergus Falls Globe'' and resumed agricultural pursuits in

. He died in Aurdal Township in Otter Tail County and was interred in Aurdal Cemetery near Fergus Falls,

References

Other sources

Minnesota Historical Society. Guide to Research Collections
1851 births 1912 deaths People from Sør-Aurdal Norwegian emigrants to the United States People's Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota Minnesota Populists County commissioners in Minnesota People from Fergus Falls, Minnesota St. Cloud State University alumni 19th-century American politicians American newspaper editors American justices of the peace Educators from Minnesota 19th-century American judges Members of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota {{Minnesota-politician-stub