Haugens In America

Hello everyone, We are seeking the help of those who frequent this forum to find someone who has escaped our efforts to locate and we would appreciate any help from those of you who are much more experienced and knowledgeable in this. We are looking for our great grandfather who was named John J. Haugen. He is buried in Kensal, North Dakota. The headstone says 1878-1912. It is related through family that he was born in Norway. However we cannot find any naturalization records in North Dakota to search for potential city of birth. Records we have found include a record of his marriage to Mary (Marit) J. Engebretson on 1/27/1905, and census records as a "laborer" on a couple of farms in the North Dakota area. He had 3 sons - Oscar Martin Haugen 1903-1963, Joseph Haugen - 1905-1950 Griggs County, North Dakota, Adolph Gerhardt Haugen 1907-1980 We have found John J. Haugen in other census and related records however we have been able to eliminate most of these as not part of our line as relatives are listed which are unknown to us. John J. Haugen in 1902 @ Ellis Island is as close as we can come. Yet we can find nothing on him either. Searching the Norwegian archives only is an abject lesson in futility as the language is a barrier that does not lend itself the magic of Google's translation capabilities as I suspect that many words used then may no longer be used. Perhaps someone here has skills and access to records beyond what is available to the rest of us, or perhaps we have overlooked something. In any case we could use some fresh eyes on this and or some direction of any kind would be appreciated. We are adept at using the net and searching, however we believe that this is a genuine mystery I can be reached directly at my email address: [email hidden] Thanks in advance Randy Haugen b. 1959 - Albuquerque, New Mexico