Olesen, Hans P; 1905 Bio, Eagle County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/eagle/bios/olesenhp.txt --------------------------------------- Donated April 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- Hans P. Olesen Coming to this country and to Colorado at the age of nineteen, making the long journey from his native Germany and beginning his employment here on borrowed capital, Hans P. Olesen, of Eagle county, who owns two ranches in this part of the state and is one of its most progressive and prosperous ranch and cattle men, has in the sixteen years of his residence here accumulated a comfortable estate and risen to a high regard in the general estimation of the people around him. His success has been based on no favors of fortune or favorable circumstances, but is the logical result of his own energy, frugality and capacity. He was born in the fatherland on February 21, 1869, and is the son of Peter and Christina Olesen, natives of that country and life-long residents in it. Their forefathers lived, labored and died there for many generations, and there the mother of Hans also died, passing away in 1877, on April 7th. The father is still living there and is prosperously engaged in farming. Twelve years of his life were passed in Eagle county, this state, but at the end of that period he returned to his native land content to pass the remainder of his days amid the scenes of his childhood and youth and die with the respect and esteem of his old friends and neighbors. Of his offspring seven are living, Samuel, Andrew, Fred, Hans P., Christian, Mass and Julius. Hans obtained a fair common-school education in his native land and remained there until he reached the age of nineteen. The first sixteen years of his life were passed on the paternal homestead and as soon as he was able he began to assist in its work. In 1885 he went to work for himself as a farm hand in the vicinity of his home. Three years later he determined to gratify his longing to enlist in the great army of industry which was conquering the western wilderness of our land and converted it into comfortable and productive homes and so in 1888 he emigrated to the United States and, coming at once to Colorado, he located at Gypsum, Eagle county, beginning life here indebted to the kindness of friends for the price of his passage and the means of living until he could earn something for himself. He worked a year for wages on a ranch, then leased one for himself which he farmed until 1891. In that year he took up a homestead on Brush creek, of which he still owns one-half, having sold eighty acres of it. He has since acquired the place of one hundred and twenty acres on which he lives, two miles and a half east of Eagle. Nearly all of each ranch is under cultivation, and they yield large annual harvests of hay, grain, vegetables and small fruits. His main reliance is, however, on hay and cattle, and in these lines he is one of the leading and most successful producers in his neighborhood. The hardships and privations, the struggles and delayed returns of his earlier years here, while they were grievous and hard to bear in passing through them, now serve only to heighten his pleasure in his present comfort and prosperity and make him thankful for the determined spirit which brought him hither and sustained him until his hopes began to yield a generous fruitage. While building his fortunes with industry and continued labor well applied, his uprightness, public spirit and general worth as a citizen have established him high and firmly in the regard and good will of the people around him, and he is now one of the popular and influential men in this section of the county. In political affairs he supports the principles and candidates of the Republican party, and in fraternal life he is actively connected with the Woodmen of the World. Although not married, he maintains a domestic establishment which is always open to the worthy wayfarer for shelter and good cheer dispensing with liberal hand the hospitality which the country tendered to him in his first years of labor on its prolific soil. In thrift, frugality and enterprise he is a commendable example of his countrymen; and in all the elements of manhood, progressiveness and interest in public affairs he is an exemplar of an elevated American citizenship. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.