Mathias Johnson came to North Dakota from Norway when he was fourteen years old with his mother and a brother, Gubrud. They stayed with relatives in Minnesota for a while and then proceeded westward to settle near the Goose River. Later they moved to a claim that was six miles south of Cooperstown.
When Mathias was 25 years old, his mother thought he should get himself a wife. Because there were no neighbor girls around, his mother remembered their neighbor in Norway had a girl named Karen Langaard. Consequently, they sent money for her passage to America, and five years later they were married (1886).
Three of their children were born in the sod house. When the others arrived, a house was built.
Some of their neighbors were Fjelstads, Greenlands, and Krogsgaards.
Ten children were born to this marriage:
all of whom are deceased. Those living are:
Mathias Johnson's granddaughter, Joanne, and her husband, Sanford Brekke, make their home in Cooperstown with their family. They are Scott, Kent, and Andrea.
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 200