Andreas (Andrew) O. Oien was born at sea on November 14, 1887 to parents Ole S. and Bolette Oien. Ole had left Norway in the summer of 1887 to prepare a home in North Dakota for his family, which followed him later that year. They located at Blanchard, North Dakota near Ole’s brother Hans and lived there seven years before deciding to try homesteading a farm in Eddy Township in Clearwater County in 1895. Andreas had three sisters and six brothers: Hans, Jacobene, Sven, Sigurd, Otto, Olga, John, Mary, and Bennie. The family attended Concordia Lutheran Church of Eddy.

Ole, one of the county’s first settlers, built a prosperous farm in Eddy Township and worked on it until he passed away at age 75 in 1929.

Andreas was working on the farm with his father when he registered for the draft. He was of medium height with light hair and light blue eyes. He had requested an exemption from the draft due to poor health but it was not granted. He was sent to Camp Dodge, Iowa in early November of 1918. He had just arrived when he caught the devastating Spanish influenza and died of it on November 7, 1918. 

Andreas is buried in Concordia Lutheran Cemetery. He was 28 years old.

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