Daffin (D. A. ) Goplen, born in Minnesota, was the son of Andrew and Sigrid Goplen pioneer immigrants who settled in southeastern Minnesota (Goodhue County) near Zumbrota in the 1860's. As a young man of twenty-two years he came to Binford, North Dakota from Zumbrota via railroad emigrant car on April 7, 1902. He related that during the journey some of the horses on the loaded car started to crowd and lean against each other making it necessary to throw one of the horses to the floor and to keep him down by sitting on his head and neck. It could therefore be said that D. A. literally rode into North Dakota on a horse's neck.
Among his principal possessions upon his arrival in Binford were 4 horses, a walking plow, and a $160.00 debt. The first year he broke virgin soil, seeded and harvested a flax crop. In addition to this he had spare time employment with the railroad burning firebreaks, and he also followed a sixty-day "threshing run" hauling bundles for which he received $2.00 per day for himself and team.
In the spring of 1903, his parents, brothers and sisters moved from Zumbrota, Minnesota to North Dakota and purchased a farm in Kingsley Township, southwest of Binford. During that year D. A. lived with the family and continued to farm land on his own near Binford.
On June 25, 1903, D. A. Goplen was united in marriage with a native Minnesotan, Marie Follingstad, a teacher and daughter of pioneer parents, Ole O. and Inger O. Follingstad from Norway, who in the 1860's settled in Goodhue County near Wanamingo, Minnesota. As was the custom of the day, the wedding took place at the farm home of the bride's parents. In the spring of 1904, the newlyweds settled on a farm one mile northwest of Binford where they continued to live until moving in the fall of 1911, to their newly constructed house and farmstead located in close proximity to the north of the town limits of Binford. This continued as the family home and is currently owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Maynard D. Goplen.
During his fifty-eight years in the Binford area he, with the able assistance of his good wife, Marie, realized his boyhood dream of acquiring one thousand acres of North Dakota land. In the process he continually strove to improve the farming operation by the acquisition of better power, machinery and equipment. In 1904, a sulky plow replaced the walking plow and in 1909, a steam engine, threshing machine, an eight-bottom plow and a clod-crusher packer were added. In 1915, with the purchase of a 1914 Model T Ford, the horse and buggy waned in importance. Other purchases such as a Wallis tractor in 1920, a shock-loader in 1922, a combine in 1928, and rubber tires for the tractor in 1935 were examples of progress and modernization. D. A. took an active interest in local and state politics. He served twelve years on the Binford school board, and for many years on the Addie Township board of supervisors.
Mr. and Mrs. D. A. Goplen were the parents of four children:
During their grade and high school years they enjoyed easy walking distance to the Binford School. Because of the deep family concern and interest in education and through the establishment, in 1922, of a family revolving fund for college education, each of the four children is a graduate of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. As a strong supporter of education, Mrs. D. A. Goplen often said, "You may lose property and money, but a good education cannot be taken away or lost.” Mrs. Goplen took an active interest in religious work and for many years contributed financial support to a native missionary in the Santal Mission in India. She was author of a book written in the Norwegian language entitled "Draaper Af Guds Glaeders Strom" which literally translated means "Drops from God's Streams of Joy.”
Ida, born prematurely, weighed only two pounds and eight ounces and was not expected to live. She survived because of a hastily constructed incubator fashioned by her father and her uncle, Albert. The materials consisted of an apple box, a piece of downspout and a kerosene lamp. Ida's first intake was from a solution of two drops of brandy in a teaspoon of water. Ida has spent her adult life in teaching and religious work. For the past twenty-nine years she has served as a Captain in the Salvation Army in California and Arizona. Although currently semi-retired, she is serving with the Salvation Army and residing in Tucson, Arizona.
Arnold married a teacher, Beatrice Bean, at Finley, North Dakota in 1933. They have lived in Bismarck, North Dakota since 1937, and their only son, Arman, currently resides in Denver, Colorado. Arnold who is a member of the North Dakota Bar has been engaged in teaching, and in professional employment with federal, state, and private agencies. For the past twenty-six years, until his retirement in June 1974, he served in legal and administrative capacities in the hospital and health care fields.
Maynard married Minnie Clausen of Devils Lake, North Dakota in 1938. Before her marriage she was a teacher and also taught in the Binford School. Prior to moving to the home farm at Binford in 1945, which they purchased in 1957, Maynard was for a number of years engaged in professional engineering, the field of his college training. Their two children are:
Joel married a former teacher, Winifred Olson, daughter of Rowena Rinde Olson and the late Emil Olson of Binford. Their three children:
They live with their parents in Binford. Joel, a law school graduate, in addition to his cattle and grain farming operations, is currently Griggs County Justice.
Mrs. D. A. Goplen died November 8, 1943, and Mr. D. A. Goplen died April 30, 1960.
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 181