Grundy County IL Archives Biographies.....Thorson, John 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 13, 2006, 8:16 pm

Author: History of Grundy County, 1914

Thorson, John, a veteran of the Civil War, and a man of large interests, is 
one who has borne an important part in the development of Morris and the 
increase in realty values in this locality, and is a good representative of 
the Grundy County citizen of worth. He was born at Boyd, Norway, September 13, 
1843, son of Tathorson and Bertha Thorson. In 1847 the family came to America, 
with Morris as their objective point. A year after their arrival in this city 
the good mother died of cholera. Struggling along alone, the father did work 
by the day until he had saved a sufficient amount to buy eighty acres in 
Saratoga Township, on which he began farming. In 1855 he sold this farm and 
bought eighty acres in Kendall County, and later entered eighty acres more 
from the Government. This farm continued to be his home until 1895, when he 
rented it and went to Story City, Iowa, where he died in 1900. He had married 
(second) Anna Larson, a widow with no children, and she survived him for two 
years.

John Thorson was but a child when the family arrived at Morris, and grew up in 
Grundy and Kendall counties, attending the Norwegian school of Morris. When 
his adopted country had need of him, Mr. Thorson responded to its call, 
enlisting for service during the Civil War, in August, 1862, in Company E, 
Ninety-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but had the misfortune to be 
disabled and was taken prisoner in December, 1863, at Elizabethtown, Ky. He 
was sent to St. Louis, Mo., where he was paroled, and was discharged in May, 
1864, at Chicago. Returning home, he remained with his father until his 
marriage in the next year. For the following twenty years Mr. Thorson was an 
agriculturalist of Kendall County, then moved to Morris in order to devote all 
of his time to the handling of realty and to auctioneering, having established 
himself in these two lines of business in 1865. He handles real estate on an 
extensive scale, and has made a decided success of all his operations.

On February 23, 1865, Mr. Thorson was married (first) to Margaret Johnson, 
born in Norway. She bore him these children: Lewis, who lives in Ford County, 
Ill.; Bertha, Mrs. Ollie Peterson, who lives in Nettle Creek Township; Mamie, 
Mrs. William Stott, who lives at Morris; Eddie, who died at the age of twenty-
three years; Anna, Mrs. George Conklin, who lives at Morris; and George, who 
lives at Clear Lake, Iowa. Mrs. Thorson died in November, 1890. On December 
23, 1893, Mr. Thorson was married (second) to Martha Olson, born in Fox 
Township, Kendall County, daughter of Elias and Julia (Johnson) Olson, born in 
Norway. Lillian P., now a young lady, has lived with them as a daughter since 
she was eight years of age. Mr. Thorson belongs to the Norwegian Lutheran 
Church, of which he is a generous supporter. Politically, he is a Republican. 
Since the organization of the local G. A. R. Post, Mr. Thorson has been an 
enthusiastic member, and has held all the offices in it. He is a man widely 
and favorably known, and is esteemed for his many excellent qualities of heart 
and mind.

page 910

Additional Comments:
Source:  History of Grundy County, Illinois, Chicago: Munsell Publishing Co. 
Publishers; 1914

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