Henry Thomas Helgesen

Henry Thomas Helgesen (* June 26, 1857 in Decorah, Winneshiek County, Iowa, † April 10, 1917 in Washington DC ) was an American politician. Between 1911 and 1913 he represented the second and 1913-1917 the first electoral district of the State of North Dakota in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Early years and political rise

Henry Helgesen attended the common schools and the John Breckenridge Normal Institute and the JR Slack Business College in Decorah. In 1887 he moved to Milton in the Dakota Territory. There he was engaged in trade, the timber industry and agriculture. Helgesen was a member of the Republican Party. Between 1889 and 1892 he was commissioner of the State of North Dakota for agriculture and labor. From 1893 to 1896 he was on the school board of the city of Milton, which he chaired in the meantime. From 1897-1901 and 1907-1913 Henry Helgesen was a member of the board of the University of North Dakota.

Helgesen in Congress

1908 failed a first candidacy for Congress. In 1910 Helgesen for the second constituency of North Dakota has been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. There he completed a term of between 4 March 1911 to 3 March 1913. During the years 1912, 1914 and 1916, he was elected for the first electoral district of his state as a deputy in the Congress. This mandate he held between 4 March 1913 and his death on the 10th of April 1917. He was buried in Decorah.