My Ancestor : My Great, Great Grandfather

I found this on the internet about my great, great grandfather. I thought it was interesting.

BOEN, Haldor Erickson, (1851 - 1912)

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”The House of Representatives of the Fifty Third Congress” (detail), The Graphic Chicago, 1893, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

 

 

 

 

 

Haldor Erickson Boen (January 2, 1851 – July 23, 1912) was an American congressman from Minnesota.

Haldor Erickson Boen was born in Sondre Aurdal, Valdres, a traditional district in Oppland county, Norway. Boen immigrated to the United States in 1868 and settled in Mower County, Minnesota. He attended the St. Cloud Normal School in 1869 and 1870. Boen relocated to Fergus Falls in Otter Tail County on January 1, 1871. In 1872 he was employed in the auditor’s office, computing the first taxes levied in Otter Tail County. He taught in the common schools of that county from 1874 to 1879. He acted as justice of the peace from 1875 – 1900. In 1880 he was elected county commissioner. He acted as register of deeds from 1888 – 1892.

Boen was elected as a Populist to the 53rd congress, representing the newly-created 7th congressional district, March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895. He was unsuccessful in his reelection bid in 1894 to the 54th congress. Boen then became editor of the Fergus Falls Globe and resumed agricultural pursuits in Otter Tail County. He died in Aurdal Township in Otter Tail County and was interred in Aurdal Cemetery, near Fergus Falls, Minnesota. (Wikipedia)

BOEN, Haldor Erickson - Biographical Information

Vocabulary In the News : Duluth News Tribune (Duluth, Minnesota) – 07 July 2010

Go to the Duluth News Tribune homepage

Drivers in Duluth, Minnesota are experiencing a new problem that they had not planned on due to work that began on a stretch of highway. When a problem seems to appear unexpectedly, we refer to this as a snag. In French you would refer to this as un pépin. Work on this segment of road, or stretch, is causing a traffic snarl. In other words, it complicates the movement of traffic making it difficult, if not impossible, to move.

When traffic moves slowly and you follow very closely the car in front of you and  there is also a car following you very closely in the rear, we call this bumper-to-bumper traffic. This is often experienced during  the morning and afternoon rush , when everyone is on the road going to and from work in the morning and evening. Your bumper is that long piece of metal or plastic attached to the front and back of your car to protect it if it hits or bumps anything.

Because of the road work, traffic has slowed down to a stop-and-go crawl. This of course describes the action of slowly moving forward in short movements while constantly having to brake in order to avoid hitting the car in front of you. During rush hour, traffic usually slows to a crawl.

When there are a lot of cars on the road due to the morning or evening rush,  we call this commuter traffic. A commuter is someone who travels to and from work by car, by train or by bus. Some American cities have tried to improve their traffic problems by putting in place HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes. Usually this is the farthest lane on the left which is reserved for cars with 2 or more people in them. The HOV lane was designed to encourage carpooling, the act of sharing cars to get to and from work. If you are caught driving in this lane without passengers, you will get stopped and fined by the police. Some, however, have tried to trick the police by disguising a mannequin to appear as a sleeping passenger!

OTHER VOCABULARY FOUND IN THE TEXT

the interstate – an American term for the motorway or highway because they cross state lines.

northbound, southbound, etc.. (adj.) – moving towards the north, south, etc..

a motorist – someone who drives a car

an off-ramp – a road that leads off a huge highway (opposite = an on-ramp)

a block – an area of buildings in a city with roads on all four sides (un pâté)

pavement (American – uncountable) – the surface of the road (NOTE: in British English the pavement, now a countable noun, refers to the ‘le trottoir’)

an intersection – where two or more roads join or cross each other.

a curve – a bend in a road or river.

downtown – American English for the city centre

Read the complete article at http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/173144/