Sever Reiten was born January 26, 1857, in Tyldalen, Osterdalen, Norway, the youngest in a family of eight brothers and two sisters. As a young man of 21, he came to Menomonie, Wisconsin, in 1878, where some of his older brothers had already come. Working in the woods in the summer, and in the saw mill in the winter, did not appeal to this young man, who wished for a home of his own. At this time, many eyes were turned to the great West where Uncle Sam offered free land to those who wanted to try their luck. So, in 1882, Sever and four of his brothers came to what was known as Sand Prairie in Ransom County. Here he took a preemption. In 1882, Gertrude Brandvold (later Mrs. Sever Reiten) came to Lisbon, North Dakota from Lille Elvedalen, Norway. In 1884, these two were married.
In 1885, the Reitens sold their preemption and took a homestead in Spring Creek Township, Barnes County. This was their home from that time on.
For the first two years, they lived in a sod house. In 1887, this was replaced by a log house. The logs were hauled from the Sheyenne River Valley, a distance of 7 miles, with a team of oxen. They started out farming with a team of oxen, one cow and five chickens.
In 1903, the log house was replaced by a frame house, other farm buildings were added, and a large grove of trees was planted which, for many years, was used as a picnic place for the Ladies Aid and other organizations.
Mr. and Mrs. Reiten were amongst those who organized the Spring Creek Congregation and were always ready and willing to do their part in promoting the work of the Church.
The Reitens celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in the Spring Creek Church on the 7th day of October, 1934. John Arves, who attended their wedding in 1884, was a guest at the golden wedding.
Seven children were born to this couple; Lena (Mrs. Adolph Strum), Lars, Anton, and Olaf, who all farmed near Hastings, and Ole, who operated a hardware store in Hastings. A daughter, Emma, died in 1913 at the age of 19 years, and a son, George, died in 1916, at the age of 16 years.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 202