Knut Magnus Wefald was born in Hawley, Minnesota (April 21, 1900), the first son of Norwegian immigrants Knud and Sarah Wefald. He graduated from Hawley High School in 1918 and from St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minn.) in 1923. At St. Olaf he met his future wife, Verna Ellingson, whom he married in 1924.
Wefald served (1923-1927) as secretary to his father, Congressman Knud Wefald, while attending George Washington Law School. When his father was defeated in 1926 Wefald remained in Washington, working as a sales and collection correspondent for the National Radio Institute while finishing law school. Upon his graduation from law school in 1929, Wefald moved his family (now 3 children: Knut, Harold, and Martin) to Hawley and opened his own law practice. His only daughter, Marguerite, was born there in 1934.
Wefald was elected Mayor of Hawley in 1935 and later served as the village attorney (1931-1974). In 1936 he was appointed to the Minnesota State Board of Law Examiners, serving until 1944. In 1938 Wefald bought a farm which later became known as the Wefald Sheep Ranch and Wefald Galloway Farm. Although he seldom participated in the actual farm labor, Wefald took a great interest in its operation, maintaining detailed records on every aspect and keeping abreast of current agricultural trends.
Wefald defeated longtime Clay County attorney James Garrity in 1946 for a state senate seat. During his twelve years in the senate Wefald was chairman of the reapportionment and public institutions committees and a member of the retirement commission, state building commission, and a commission to study the practice of osteopathy. After being defeated in 1958 he returned to his Hawley law practice.
In 1972, former Hawley resident Eva Mackintosh persuaded Wefald and his wife to visit her new home in South Africa. After their trip Wefald composed a detailed diary of the experience.
By the late 1970s Wefald decided to take in a partner at the law firm so the he could gradually ease into retirement. Zenas Baer officially entered into the practice as a partner in 1979, allowing Wefald to retire in 1983. Wefald then devoted his retirement years to preserving his family heritage by financing the publication of his father's poetry and actively campaigning for the construction of the Knud Wefald Memorial in Decorah, Iowa. Wefald died at St. John's Hospital in Fargo (N.D.) on February 9, 1991.
Biographical data was taken from the papers.
From the guide to the Magnus Wefald Papers., 1852-1991., (Minnesota Historical Society)
