Melvin Ekern was born April 6, 1896 at Kathryn, North Dakota, and grew to manhood there. He was the son of Martin and Ingrid Ekern. He attended school in District No. 1 and in Kathryn. As a young man he helped out on his father's farm. He was married to Caroline Anderson June 27, 1917 in Moorhead, Minnesota. She was the daughter of Austin and Dorothea Anderson and was born March 25, 1891. Her family homesteaded and lived most of their lives in Ransom County. Melvin and Carrie, as most people called her, homesteaded in Montana near Oswego and Wolf Point from 1917 to 1919, but came back to North Dakota and farmed on several different farms including two of his father's farms. They bought their own farm in 1940 in Section 27 of Oak Hill Township, but moved into Kathryn in 1945 and later sold the farm. He dug wells, sold Watkins products and still later operated the same hardware store that his father had jointly owned with John C. Thoreson. They had two children, Aaron and Dorothy (Mrs. Walter Nelson), both living near Kathryn. They have the same birthday, November 11th, but two years apart. Aaron was born during that terrible blizzard in 1919 when Dr. Nesse could only make it to the Hiram Walker farm to deliver Wendell who was born November 9th.

Carrie was active in the St. Paul's Ladies Aid as long as her health permitted. She did a lot of sewing, quilting and crocheting. She passed away September 6, 1966. Melvin is still living in Kathryn.

Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 60