Henry Thomas Helgesen

Who was Henry Thomas Helgesen?

Henry Thomas Helgesen was a U.S. Representative from North Dakota.

Born near Decorah, Iowa, Helgesen attended the public schools, the John Breckenridge Normal Institute, and the J.R. Slack Business College at Decorah. He moved to Milton, Dakota Territory, in 1887.

He engaged in the mercantile and lumber business and also in agricultural pursuits. He served as the North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor from 1889 and 1892; the first to hold the office. He served as member of the board of education of Milton, North Dakota. from 1893 to 1896, and served as president in 1893 and 1894. He served as member of the board of regents of the University of North Dakota 1897-1901 and 1907-1913. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the Sixty-first Congress in 1908.

Helgesen was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-second and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1911, until his death in Washington, D.C., April 10, 1917. He was interred in Phelps Cemetery, Decorah, Iowa.