ANDREWS, BENJAMIN B. AND GINA (SKOUG)
Benjamin Beland Andrews was born in Syracuse, New York June 15, 1861. He moved with his parents to Sioux City, Iowa when he was a young man. He was employed by the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Co. as a conductor for several years and this job took him to Sioux Falls, South Dakota where he met Gina Skoug.
Gina Skoug was born in Lillihammer, Norway on April 8, 1869. She came with her parents to Sioux Falls when she was sixteen years old. She and her sister were taught to sew by their father, an accomplished tailor. They opened a dress making shop and were in business together until she married Ben Andrews on January 4, 1894.
They came to the Sandhills of Cherry county, being influenced by Henry Emmick, stepfather of Ben who had earlier home-steaded in Cherry county. He filed on a claim four miles east of the Big Creek ranch and later bought the land owned by Emmick, which was adjoining, when Emmick returned to Iowa.
By 1903 Ben and Gina had four children. The two oldest, Fred and Mildred were of school age and there was no place for them for miles around so Ben made a long difficult wagon trip through the sandhills about fifty miles to Woodlake to put Fred and Mildred on the east-bound train to Sioux Falls and Sioux City. Fred went to Sioux Falls to go to school and to live with his Norwegian grand-parents. They could not speak English. Mildred went to Sioux City, Iowa to live with her aunt, Gina's sister. Later, when he reached school age, Dudley joined Fred in Sioux Falls.
It was soon apparent to Ben and Gina that there had to be a better way to educate their children. Ben donated land, organized the nearest neighbors and established Cherry County District No. 147. He helped build a school house about one-half mile east of the Andrews home.
Ben and Gina had ten children; Fred, Mildred, Dudley, Lucien, Harvey, Ralph, Gerald, Helen, Doris and Ruth. Each of them attended the District No. 147 school for all or part of their elementary education.
The family's first home was a log cabin. Later, with the help of neighbors a larger, sod house was built which, in turn, was replaced by a frame house, still larger. This housed the family until the time of Ben's death, January 28, 1928.
Gina moved from the ranch to Mullen where Gerald, Helen, Doris and Ruth and a grandson, Joe Richardson graduated from Mullen High School.
The three older boys were in ranching locally until Fred moved to Idaho, Dudley to Los Angeles and Lucien retired and moved into Mullen. Harvey and Gerald owned and operated a refrigeration business in North-ridge, California and Ralph was in the same line of work in Bakersfield, California.
Mildred married a homesteader, Frank Richardson and they lived on his Cherry County claim north of the Big Creek Ranch. Their son, Joe made his home with his grandparents, Ben and Gina after Mildred died in 1919.
Doris taught south of Mullen and then went to Sioux Falls College. Upon graduation she taught in South Dakota and later moved to Los Angeles, California.
Ruth graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a degree in nursing.
After Ben's death in 1928 Gina's move into town became permanent. Earlier she had spent each school year in town and had returned to the ranch during the summer. Helen and Doris were teaching in Hooker County. Ruth was in college and grandson Joe was still attending high school. Her home in town was week-end and summer headquar-ters for Helen and Doris and home to Joe.
After Ruth had graduated from college and Helen had married, Gina accompanied Ruth to Los Angeles in 1934. In 1950 she returned to Mullen and lived with Wayne and Helen Fitzgerald until her death in August, 1958 at age 89.