Ole C. Bjugstad, of Section 32, Bergen Township, Steele County, was born in Vardal, Kristiania (Stift) Norway, June 16, 1855. He was the only son born to Peter A. and Anne M. (Bjugstad) Bjugstad. His maternal grandfather was part owner of the Bjugstad farm. The family, came to Trempeleau County, County, Wisconsin, in 1866 where the father took a homestead. He, Ole C., went to Dakota in the spring of 1881, with a party of homeseekers, and selected his homestead, which he took as a “squatter’s claim” and the following fall filed thereon, and in the spring of 1882 took his parents to Dakota and they were established in a sod shanty 12 x 16 feet which with a small board shanty attached provided them shelter for 5 or 6 years.

Ole C. Bjugstad was married 1888 to Miss Carrie L. Hillstad. Their children: Paul M., Laura M., Maria (deceased), Anna M., and Mabel C.

Bibliography: Condensed from Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota, 1911, page 672