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Biographical notes (written in 1982).
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JOSEPH ARTHUR BURGUM, JESSAMINE SLAUGHTER and FAMILY. Joseph Arthur Burgum and his wife, Jessamine Slaughter Burgum, were early settlers in North Dakota. Joseph Burgum's parents came from England in 1872 and farmed in Iowa until the spring of 1882 when they came to Arthur, North Dakota. Anthony Thomas Burgum, father of Joseph Burgum, bought land in Gunkel Township southeast of Arthur for $2.00 an acre at that time. Jessamine Burgum's parents were Major B.F. Slaughter, a doctor who with his wife, Linda Slaughter, came up the Missouri River with Custer's Army, and located at Fort Lincoln, near Bismarck, North Dakota.
Joseph Burgum homesteaded in the spring of 1884 along the Missouri River near Washburn, North Dakota. He met his wife at Washburn, and he and Jessamine were married in Bismarck in 1894. Before marriage, Mrs Burgum taught school at Painted Woods, near Washburn. She would sometimes ride her pony side saddle to Bismarck, a distance of about 40 miles, and then ride back the same way on Sundays. In 1893 she was one of the first four students to attend what was the North Dakota Agricultural College, now North Dakota State University, at Fargo. Later she was honoured by having a dormitory, Burgum Hall, at North Dakota State University named for her. She also received the Alumni Achievement Award.
Mr & Mrs Burgum made their home at Washburn until 1900 when they returned to Arthur. While living at Washburn, two children were born to them: Arthur C. and Marjorie Lee. Returning to Arthur, Mr Burgum became the manager of the Northwestern Elevator Company and later of the Arthur Farmers Elevator Company. Three sons were born to them: Leland S., Alton T., and Joseph B. Mr Burgum served on the Arthur Town Board and was also president of the Arthur Scool Board when it was a four-room school which replaced the one-room school. In April 1902 on Arbor Day, Mr Burgum and the teacher, Olive Bogue (Mrs Louis Bettschen), planted a small elm tree near the school. This beautiful shade tree, after 80 years, is still standing just north of the Arthur United Methodist Church. The tree has sheltered hundreds of students who attendeed the Arthur School and is still sheltering those who now attend Dakota School in Arthur.
Marjorie Burgum was graduated from Hunter High School, then went on to Mayville State College at Mayville, North Dakota. She taught the primary grades at Arthur for two years, and then went to the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks, where she graduated in 1922. She taught in the high schools at Dickinson, Casselton, and Jamestown, before her marriage in 1928 to Joseph C. Peltier of Hancock, Michigan. They were parents of two children, Joseph Charles and Janice Jessamine, born while they were living in Bismarck.
The Peltier family later moved to Bozeman, Montana, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The family returned to Arthur later where Joe and Janice were graduated from the Arthur High School. Joe continued his studies at North Dakota State University, Fargo, from which he graduated. He married Norma Skunes of Grandin. They are the parents of four children, Keith, Jeffrey, Suzette, and Betty Jo. Janice Peltier was graduated from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. She was married to Robert Samuelson of Devils Lake, North Dakota. They have four children, Mark, Margaret (Peggy), Jim and John. The Samuelson family live in Ames, Iowa, where Mr Samuelson is on the State Staff of the Iowa Highway Department. Marjorie Peltier was employed for several years as the bookkeeper at the Arthur Farmers Elevator Company, and now, retired, makes her home in the Village Apartments in Arthur.
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