Ingvald A. Kampen was born in Biri, Norway, January 3, 1869. Biri is in the south central part of Norway about 88 miles north of Oslo. It is on the west side of Lake Mjösen near the lake's north end. The nearest cities are Lillehammer six miles north of Biri and Gjövik fourteen miles south. At the age of fifteen he came to America in 1884 with his parents, four brothers and -two sisters. The family name was Anderson. Ingvald kept the Anderson as his second name, using the initial A. He considered taking his Mother's name for his surname, but there was a low rounded hill in the skyline, visible from the home in Biri. "It was lit up by the sun first thing in the morning and caught the last rays of the sun in the evening". The name of the hill was Kampen. That is where he got his na-me. This practice was not uncommon in Norway. The four brothers, Ole, Andrew, Peter J. and Paul A. , all kept the name Anderson.
The family came to Pigeon Falls, Wisconsin to the farm home, of his father's cousin, Ole P. Feiring. Many families from Biri were already in the area, so the transition from Norway to America was not difficult. The spring the family arrived, Mr. Feiring was moving to Cooperstown, North Dakota where he had purchased a Section of land. Andrew, the oldest brother went with him and Ole, the second brother took over the Feiring farm at Pigeon Falls, and there the family remained. Later Ole bought the farm and lived there until his death in 1937. Brother Andrew acquired land in Mabel Township south of what is now Sutton. When Ole married, the family moved to North Dakota and made their home with Andrew. Their mother died there in 1911. The father died in Norway while he was back there for a visit at the age of 79.
In Norway, Ingvald attended the district school for six years. Each school term was for 18 weeks. While residing in Pigeon Falls, Ingvald attended the rural school during the winter months. One winter he attended the town school in Osseo. The next winter he went to Albert Lea, Minnesota and studied at the Academy, a private school offering grade and high school studies. From there he went to Luther College in Decorah, Iowa where he took high school subjects and two years of college. Next he went to the University of Minnesota where he earned his B. A. degree and was also on the University football team. In 1904 he got his Master's degree with a major in English language and literature. To finance his Schooling he worked on farms, but mostly taught rural schools. While teaching at Medora, North Dakota he met and married Estella May Harmon on August 19, 1903. Mrs. Kampen died September 25, 1909 leaving one daughter, Winifred, now Mrs. O. H. Hoffman of Hannaford.
After teaching some years, Mr. Kampen acquired the Hannaford Enterprise in 1905 and became the editor and publisher. He moved there with his wife and infant daughter, Winifred. He was instrumental in getting Hannaford incorporated as a village in 1906. In 1913 he sold the Hannaford Enterprise to his brother Paul.
In 1907, Mr. Kampen became Griggs County Superintendent of Schools, which position he held for ten years. There were many rural schools in the county at that time. He would visit all of them every term traveling by horse and buggy. He began the practice of issuing a monthly school bulletin and also having an annual County school play day.
Before World War I times had been rather rough on farmers. His brother Andrew had made some poor investments and was having a rough time of it. He had three Sections of land so Mr. Kampen purchased half of it and they farmed together until Andrew's death in 1927. That same year his brother Paul came down with cancer. Kampen sold everything and returned to Hannaford to help Paul with the Enterprise. Paul died in 1928. After his death, Kampen and Paul's widow continued to publish the paper until 1935.
From 1939 until 1950, Mr. Kampen was secretary of the Mjösen Oplands Bygdelag, a nationwide organization of Americans from the, southeast districts of Norway. Mr. Kampen went back to teaching rural schools during World War II, as teachers were hard to get.
His later years he made his home with his daughter and her husband and family, Dr. and Mrs. O. H. Hoff - man and Joan, Larry and Verne. He died September 28, 1953 at the age of 84, the last survivor of the family of five boys and two girls.
I. A. Kampen
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 143