Nels O. Urness was born on January 24, 1861 in Hafslo Sogn, Norway to Ole Nilson Torrisette and Elizabeth Olsdotter Kroken. He was the second of seven children born to Ole and Elizabeth. In the summer of 1883, Nils immigrated to America and lived in the Portland area of the Dakota Territory. His father’s sister, Guri Bakken and her husband, Ole Bakken had earlier settled in that area. On January 7, 1887, Nils married Anna Sopia Juditha Batalden (Juditha) with whom he had four children, Olina (Lena) Elizabeth, Carl (Charles), Inger, and Edward. It is believed that Nils worked on the railroad for the first few years he was in the United States. In 1887, he homesteaded on a farm half a mile north of Leeds, Dakota Territory. Nils lived on and worked that farm until he died at a Rugby, North Dakota hospital on January 29, 1937. He was active in the Lutheran church and was buried in the Lutheran cemetery.

Juditha Batalden was born Anna Sopia Juditha Batalden on the Batalden Islands of Norway on 13 July 1863. She was the oldest of eight children born to Christen Christenson (Valager) Batalden and Inger Oline Lovise Batalden. She left Norway with her sister Anne Birgithe in 1885 for Portland, Dakota Territory. Juditha married Nils O. Urness in 1887 and they homesteaded near Leeds, North Dakota. She died at the homestead on 29 May 1945. She and Nils had four children, Olina Elizabeth, Carl, Inger, and Edward.