Jens Skorpen

Jens Skorpen (1850-1939) was born on Skorpen Island off the coast of Norway and migrated to Iowa in 1869. In 1869 he married Malinda Sjurson (18601945). She was a native of Norway and came with her family to Illinois when two years old; four years later her family moved to Story City, Iowa. (In the spring of 1905 Jens and Malina Skorpen came to Valley City, North Dakota, from Story City.) The year before Halvor, Thomas and their father came to North Dakota in search of a farm. They found that farm ten miles south of Valley City. Halvor, Thomas, Martha and Regina loaded a railroad box car with livestock, equipment and household goods and ventured forth to the new home. The next spring the parents and the rest of the family sold the Iowa farm and joined the family in North Dakota. The Skorpens had eleven children,

  1. one died as an infant.

    In the fall of 1906 they bought a home in Valley City and moved with the six youngest so the children could attend school. At one time or another, all the Skorpen children, except Halvor, who had attended a business College in Iowa, were enrolled in the Valley City State Teachers College, (The Normal) and Training School; at one time seven were in attendance.

  2. Halvor married Anna Teigland and farmed until 1949 when they retired to California, returning in 1971 as residents of Sheyenne Manor where they died - Halvor in 1972 and Anna in 1973.

  3. Martha married Gilbert Teig and farmed near Borup, Minnesota. They had four children. She died in 1930.

  4. Regina married Victor Larson who was a pastor of Our Saviour's Lutheran Church and cared for his four children.

  5. Thomas married Edwina Eggee in 1920. He taught school and farmed one and one-half miles from the family homestead. He served in World War I. They had two daughters. Thomas died in 1949 and Edwina in 1974.

  6. Selma took nurses training in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and served as an Army Nurse in World War I. She also worked as a nurse in Honolulu. She died of T.B. in 1943.

  7. Celia taught school and married Fred Robinson of Malta, Montana. They had two children and spend winters in Phoenix, Arizona.

  8. Karen married a Lutheran pastor, Alfred Hendrickson. They had two children. She was employed in the Motor Vehicle Department in Bismarck after her husband's death and then returned to teaching. She died in 1953.

  9. Agnes married Lois Wright and had one daughter. She was an accomplished pianist and taught school for many years until her death in 1969.

  10. Joseph married a teacher from Wisconsin. He and his wife Jean adopted two children. and taught school in Velva, Williston and Hawaii. They are world travelers.

  11. Judith lived in the parental home in Valley City until 1972 when she moved into the Sheyenne Manor in Valley City.

Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 225