Nels Halvorson was the son of Halvor and Gro Gjermondson of Rauland, Telemark, Norway. He left Norway for the United States in 1902, and landed in New York. From there he took a train to Stoughton, Wisconsin and was met by his uncle, Nels Alfson. He stayed with them for a while. in the fall he came to Aneta, North Dakota for threshing. That winter he worked on the James Beattie farm west of Cooperstown. In 1906 he rented a farm from H. Lucht, and started farming on his own. He farmed there until 1909 when he moved north of Binford to the T. O. Torgerson farm. In 1910 he married Annetta Pederson, daughter of the late Osmund and Emma Pederson of Aneta, North Dakota. After he and his wife had lived on the Torgerson farm for 10 years, they moved south of Binford on the Greenland-Pritz farm. Ten years later they bought the Pete Idsvoog farm and farmed there until they retired and moved to Binford where Mrs. Halvorson still resides.

The Halvorsons had four girls and two boys:

Mrs. Hilma (Palmer) Lende, Hannaford, North Dakota, Mrs. Norma (Arnold) Finstuen, Tacoma, Washington, Mrs. William Beckham, Rock Hill, South Carolina, Wallace Halvorson, Binford, Clifford Halvorson passed away in 1952, and Mrs. Inez (Donald) Asmus, Binford.

Mr. Halvorson was a wrestler in the Cooperstown and Binford communities in the early days when he first came over from Norway.

Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 25