William Thiel was born February 22, 1886 in Getchell Twp. and educated in the Whitcher School. On April 8, 1912 he was married to Johanna Elizabeth Uloth in the Zion Lutheran Church. Elizabeth Uloth was born May 12, 1891 in Getchell Township. Elizabeth traveled to Minneapolis to buy her wedding gown. The wedding festivities and dance lasted for two days and two nights. To this union four daughters were born - Ardelle Pottorff Meyer; Francis Bauer and Margaret Grotberg living in Valley City and Harriet Pederson of Kathryn, North Dakota.
In 1912 William and Elizabeth Thiel moved to a farm in Stewart Township and lived there until 1938. When they left the farm, their daughter Ardelle moved on to the family farm.
Mr. Thiel engaged in farming, however along with this work he also was a contractor in road construction work in the 1920's. He built some roads in the Getchell and Stewart Townships as well as other areas of the state. In the days of his road construction his wife followed for two summers with her family and ran a cook car and fed all of the men working for Mr. Thiel.
"Bill" Thiel was instrumental in organizing the rural mail route for Rogers, North Dakota. This route was set up by him in 1924 and mail was delivered in October, 1924 on a 3 day run for 6 months - then was changed to daily. Elmer Pederson was the first carrier. In July, 1925 Myles Ronzheimer took over.
During World War II Mr. and Mrs. Thiel lived in Seattle while he worked in the ship yards and Mrs. Thiel kept girls from Valley City at her home and she cooked for them while they worked all three shifts at the Boeing plant. They moved back to Valley City in the summer of 1943 when he purchased land in Getchel, Stewart, Noltimier and Weimer Townships He continued farming until his death in a tractor accident on September 1, 1948. Mr. Thiel is buried in Woodbine Cemetery in Valley City.
Elizabeth Thiel was employed in different restaurants in Valley City, one of which was Sampson's Cafe. She sold her house in December of 1974 to her granddaughter, Amy Anderson, and moved into the Sheyenne Manor at Valley City.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 245