Gaston, Joseph. "The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912." Vol. 3. Chicago, Clarke Publishing Co., 1912. p. 797. RALPH A. HOLTE is one of the up-to-date, progressive young business men of the west. He is the cashier and general manager of the Bank of Stanfield, at which place he maintains his residence. His birth occurred in Ellendale, North Dakota, on the 23d of March, 1886, his parents being Nels T. and Rosa (Arneson) Holte, the former a native of Norway and the latter of Wisconsin. Nels T. Holte emigrated to this country when a young man of twenty-two years of age. He reached America a stranger in a strange land, without funds and with no knowledge of the English language. His sole purpose in leaving his native country was to better his condition materially, hoping that he might some day find himself possessed of an independency and a business of his own. With a strong determination to accomplish his purpose, he manfully braved the difficulties of the new country as they were presented to him each in their order and has striven to accept from each new trial some lesson which might serve as capital for his further advancement. He spent his first year as a common laborer in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Subsequently he removed into the west and made his first permanent location at Ellendale, North Dakota. Of this place he was one of the early pioneers. Here he engaged in the undertaking, and furniture business and, much to his gratification and to his credit as well, he has been unusually successful in his venture. During his residence in Ellendale he has been called to direct the funerals of more than eighteen hundred people. He is a trusted man throughout his entire community and for a period of five years has served in the office of town councilman in the village of Ellendale. In politics he is a republican, enthusiastic and loyal, always doing his duty as a citizen in the maintenance and advancement of the civil interests of his county and state. He is a member of the Commercial Club of Ellendale and in every respect one of the foremost, prosperous and representative business men of his locality. Ralph A. Holte was reared at home and educated in the public schools and also at the State Industrial School at Ellendale, North Dakota, from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1904. Following his graduation he was employed in his father's store for a period of one year, after which time he was made the assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Ellendale. In this capacity he proved his adaptability to the business of banking and by devoting his entire time and energies to this work he became proficient in all the varied phases of the banking business. In 1910 he resigned his position in the bank at Ellendale to accept the cashiership and general management of the Bank of Stanfield and he is at present identified with this financial institution. In 1908 Mr. Holte was married to Miss Georgia A. Ling, of Fargo, North Dakota, and to this union has been born one child, Helen Maurine. He is a republican in his political affiliations and at present is the custodian of the city funds of Stanfield. He has also served as a member of the town council of Ellendale, North Dakota. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to Ellendale Lodge, No. 13. Mr. Holte fairly represents in his business and social standing the highest type of the progressive young men of his times. Before entering. upon his business career he was highly favored with educational opportunities and after completing his school years lip at once engaged in the battle of life with an earnest purpose to succeed in a way that would not only be an advantage to the community in which he might live but a credit to himself and an honor to his father. His responsible position in the bank at Stanfield is a guarantee of the confidence and esteem in which he is held by the business men of his county and a prophecy of his continued usefulness in his chosen field of service. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in April 2007 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.