Born at Dalton, Minnesota in 1883, Hjalmer Brown grew up there and served as a mail carrier. The lure of greener pastures pulled him to Dakota and he homesteaded in Grant County. Here he met and married Cecelia Rivenes, the daughter of Christ Rivenes of Barnes County. She had also homesteaded in Grant County, coming from Bode, Iowa.

In 1913 they came to the Sheyenne Valley and rented, and later purchased, a farm from Christ Rivenes.

Two boys and a girl were born to Hjalmer and Cecelia. Loren, who is married and lives at Valley City, has a son and a daughter. Elroy was born in Nelson Township and married Elsie Bommelman, and they farm the home farm, purchased after the death of Hjalmer Brown in 1953. They have a daughter, Mrs. Marlin Aagenes, and a son, Dennis, who works in Valley City.

Mrs. Hjalmer Brown passed away in 1928.

Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 36