Elgar Paulsen moved to the Hannaford area in 1955, from Finley. He rented a farm from August Sonju, worked there during the summer and moved back to Finley in the winter. In December 1958, he married Ernestine Grady Peterson and along with her young son, Scott, they moved to the former Lester Fogderud farm. They lived on several farms in the Hannaford and Luverne area and in 1967, Elgar bought the Standard Oil Station from Henry Harris. They also purchased the former Trinity Parish house and have lived there to the present time. Elgar sold the station in 1978, to the Burlington Northern Railroad.
Elgar now works for the Johnson Farm near Luverne. Ernestine has worked for ASCS in Cooperstown since 1961.
Scott graduated from Hannaford High School in 1970. He worked for Burlington Northern, Goodyear Tire and at the present time is a student at Valley City State. He married Dorry Weber in 1980, and they are the parents of four boys: Seth, Jonah, Joshuah and Jesse. They live in Valley City where Dorry works for Dr. Dennis Nelson.
Elgar is of Danish descent. His father, Jens, came from Denmark. His mother, Mary Gammelgaard Paulsen, was born in Wisconsin of Danish parents who later settled in Luverne. Elgar's parents homesteaded in Montana before settling on a farm near Finley. They raised 12 children.
Ernestine's grandparents, William and Isabella Gimmell Grady, homesteaded in Traill County, North Dakota, in 1878. They came from England and Scotland. Besides being a farmer, her grandfather was a horse doctor. Her mother, Aasta Grundfor Grady, came from Norway in 1911. Ernestine's parents lived in Hendrum, Minnesota, where her father worked for the telephone company and her mother was a nurse. She has a brother, George, and a sister, Sonia Wateland.
Source: Hannaford Area History North Dakota Centennial 1889 - 1989 Page 218