Sigurd Anderson was born at Arendal, Norway, on January 22, 1904, came to the United States at age three, and settled in Lincoln County near Canton. He taught history and speech at Webster High School from 1932 to 1935, completed a law course at the University of South Dakota in 1937, and returned to Webster to practice law. He was elected State’s Attorney of Day County in 1938 and re-elected in 1940, then was appointed Assistant Attorney General of South Dakota in 1941. During World War II he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served as a commissioned officer from 1943 to 1946, both stateside and in the Southwest Pacific areas. After returning to Webster and resuming law practice, he was elected Attorney General of South Dakota in 1946 and re-elected in 1948, then was elected governor in 1950 and served from 1951 to 1955. After leaving the governor’s office he resumed law practice at Webster, and on September 12, 1955, President Eisenhower appointed him commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. He married Vivian Walz of Vermillion on April 3, 1937, and they had one daughter, Kristen Karen, born at Pierre on January 11, 1954.