HISTORY OF MITCHELL AND WORTH COUNTIES, IOWA, VOL. II, 1918, page 306

A well-defined purpose combined with indefatigable energy has brought Ole A. Tenold to a creditable position among the merchants of Northwood, where he is now conducting a hardware store. He was born at Capron, in Boone County, Illinois, May 9, 1859, a son of Andrew 0. and Ingebor (Lee) Tenold, natives of Norway, the former born September 15, 1824, and the latter September 22, 1833. About 1847 they emigrated to this country and were married in Boone County, Illinois, March 30, 1854. The following year was spent in Chicago, where the father worked in a lumberyard, but at the end of that time he returned to Boone county, Illinois, where he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of good land and began farming. He improved his property and continued its cultivation until 1866, when he went to Goodhue County, Minnesota, where he spent twelve months. On the expiration of that period he removed to Hartland Township, Worth County, Iowa, where he made investment in a farm of three hundred and twenty acres.

To that place he added further improvements, equipping it with all of the accessories and conveniences of a model farm property. His attention was concentrated upon its further development up to the time of his death, which occurred when he was sixty-four years of age. His widow is still living and now makes her home with her son Elling at the age of eighty-f our years. She has been a lifelong member of the Norwegian Lutheran church, of which Mr. Tenold was also a consistent follower. His political support was given to the republican party and he served for a number of terms as township trustee and was also officially connected with the schools as a director. He was interested in all that had to do with the welfare and progress of his community and cooperated in many plans and measures for the general good.

Ole A. Tenold spent his boyhood upon the home farm in Boone county, Illinois, and early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. Removing with his parents to Worth County, Iowa, he pursued his education in the public schools and assisted in the work of the fields, while later he engaged for a time in clerking in a store in Northwood. In 1888, having gained a knowledge of commercial pursuits, he became a member of the general merchandise firm of N. E. Thoen & Company of Kensett, entering into a partnership relation that continued for ten years. In the summer of 1897 he became a candidate for public office, being nominated on the republican ticket for the position of county treasurer. He was elected and served for three successive terms, making a most excellent record by the prompt and faithful manner in which he discharged his duties and guarded the interests of the public treasury. Before his third term had expired he entered into partnership with his brother, John Tenold, in the purchase of the hardware store of Frank C. Hall, of Northwood. The firm conducted a flourishing business, having a trade which extended over a radius of many miles. In June, 1904, Mr. Tenold was again appointed to public office, for upon the death of Councilman A. A. Brunsvold he was named to fill out the unexpired term and to that position was reelected in 1905 and again in 1907. One of the most important of Mr. Tenold's public services is that which he has rendered to the independent school district of Northwood. Since 1910 he has been a member of the school board, and has been, during nearly all of that period, chairman of the important committee upon schoolhouse and grounds. During this time the district has constructed one of the most modern and thoroughly equipped, fireproof school buildings in the state at an expense of about sixty thousand dollars. In addition to this the primary school has been rebuilt and modernized throughout until it is almost an equal to the newer building. As chairman of the committee on schoolhouse and grounds, Mr. Tenold has borne the larger part of the burden and responsibility of these improvements and he is entitled to great credit for their successful completion. His time has thus been divided between official duties and commercial interests. On January 1, 1917, he purchased his brother's share in the hardware store and has since admitted his son Alvin, to a partnership. They have a well-appointed establishment, carrying a large line of shelf and heavy hardware, and their earnest desire to please their patrons has secured to them a very liberal and desirable trade.

On the 25th of January, 1891, Mr. Tenold was united in marriage to Miss Randina Albertson, a daughter of Arne and Sigri Albertson, who were natives of Norway, whence the father came to the United States in young manhood, establishing his home in Wisconsin. While a resident of that state he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting as a member of Company G of the Sixteenth Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry for service in the Union army. He went to the front and was assigned to duty under General Sherman. While in the service he became ill and was sent to a hospital, while later he returned home and took up his abode in Kensett Township, Worth county. There he purchased a farm near the town of Kensett and continued its development and improvement until 1902, when he removed to Clay county, North Dakota, where he purchased land. He also became the owner of farm property in Clay County, Minnesota, and he likewise owned other landed interests in that state, having at the time of his death five hundred and sixty acres in Clay County, Minnesota. in the meantime he had sold his farm in North Dakota. His last days were spent in Lisbon, North Dakota, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. C. C. Arndts, where he passed away at the age of eighty years. His wife died in Hawley, Minnesota, in 1913.

Mr. and Mrs. Tenold became the parents of five children: Adeline; Inga, who is now the wife of Hilman Gaarder; Alvin; Stella; and Glenys. The family home is a hospitable one whose good cheer is greatly enjoyed by their many friends, and in the social circles of Northwood Mr. and Mrs. Tenold occupy an enviable position. For a long period he has now been numbered among the prominent and progressive citizens of Northwood and has earned for himself an enviable reputation as a careful man of business, being known in his dealings for his prompt and honorable methods, which have won him the deserved and unbounded confidence of his fellowmen.

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Transcribed by Gordon Felland - July 16, 2005