H.A. HANSEN. – Among the enterprising and industrious agriculturists of Union county, mention should be made of the gentleman, whose name initiates this paragraph, since his energy and ability have been manifest to all and since he has distinguished himself by his faithfulness and success that he has attained in tilling the soil and in raising stock. He is also popular among his fellows for they have again and again manifested their confidence in him at the polls and have kept him in public office almost continuously for the last decade.
The pleasant little Kingdom of Denmark has furnished many thrifty citizens for our country, but none more faithful and deserving than he, who was born there in 1842, the subject of this sketch. At the early age of fourteen years, Mr. Hansen started out for himself and soon was farming and until he was thirty years of age he continued at this industry. At the age last mentioned he left the native land and embarked for the United States, where he made his way to the vicinity of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and engaged there in saw mill work, for two and one-half years. After this period, he went to Kansas, locating in Wilson county, where he worked in a livery stable for five years and farmed for two years and then came to the Sound country in Washington and remained at Whatcom for one year. From there he migrated to the Grande Ronde country and in this valley he rented a farm which he worked for three years and then he took up a piece of land eight miles south and west from Lagrande and engaged in raising cattle and hay. He owns three hundred and twenty acres of good land and is prosperous in his endeavors. At the present time he is living in a home in the suburbs of Lagrande and occupied with the oversight of his estate. For twelve years, Mr. Hansen has been kept in the office of road supervisor by his appreciative constituency.
In 1895, Mr. Hansen married Mrs. Sarah (Brower) Parrent, widow of Tip Parrent, a man prominent in political circles in this county, and at one time held the postmastership at Summerville. Mr. Parrent was one of the leading educationalists of the county and taught much throughout the county. His death occurred in 1890, at Weston, Umatilla county. The widow of Mr. Parrent had one child at the time of her marriage with Mr. Hansen. Harry B., and he is attending the high school at Lagrande at the present time and is also taking a course in bookkeeping in the Eastern Oregon Commercial college. He is now sixteen years of age. Mrs. Hansen’s father, Dr. Brower, was a prominent figure in the political world in Iowa, being county judge in Wayne county, where also he was the moving spirit in establishing the Masonic fraternity. His remains lie buried in Wayne county, Iowa. Mr. Hansen is one of the progressive and leading citizens of the county and is esteemed by all.