The Descendants of Nils O. Urness and Juditha Batalden

This section is a biography of the descendants of Nils and Juditha, who had four children, through the year 2000.

Biographical Information

Nils and Juditha had four children: Linda Phyllis, Lena (Olina) Elizabeth Urness was the first child of Nils and Juditha. She was born near Portland, Dakota Territory on 11 May 1887. She attended school and was confirmed in 1903. She married William (Bill) Hipp in 1915. Bill was born on 16 November 1889 in Stuttgart, Germany. Bill and Lena farmed until 1928 near Cando, North Dakota, and then farmed in Nyssa, Oregon, until retirement. Lena died in 1965 and Bill in 1975. They had six children, two who died in infancy.

Charles (Carl) Urness was the second/third child (along with his twin sister Inger) of Nils and Juditha. He was born on the homestead near Leeds, North Dakota, on 1 March 1894. He graduated from eight grade in 1912. He married Esther Marie Weigle in Egeland, North Dakota, in 1924. She was born in Brookston, Indiana, in 1903. Charles share cropped on a farm until 1935 when he and the family moved near Cando, North Dakota. He purchased his father’s homestead near Leeds when his mother died in 1945. He died in 1967 and Esther in 1985. They had ten children.

Inger Urness was born on 1 March 1894 near Leeds, North Dakota. She was the second/third child (along with her twin brother Charles) to be born to Nils and Juditha. She graduated from Leeds High School in 1912 and received her teaching certificate in 1914. She married Merril Ray Litsey in 1915. Merril was born at Harper, Kansas, on 23 March 1888. Inger and Merril farmed in Towner County, North Dakota, until Merril’s death in 1953. Inger died moved to California and died in 1970. She and Merril had nine children.

Edward Urness was the last and fourth child of Nils and Juditha. He was born on 22 May 1900 near Leeds, North Dakota. He suffered a mental problem, probably epileptic seizures. Edward never married and died in 1971.