Marshall-Wallace County KS Archives Biographies.....Olson, Lars Peter 1852 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com May 31, 2007, 12:12 am Author: Emma E. Forter (1917) LARS PETER OLSON. Lars Peter Olson, a well-known and substantial farmer of Lincoln township and the owner of a fine home and two hundred and forty acres of land in section 7 of that township, is a native of the kingdom of Sweden, but has been a resident of Marshall county since 1879. He was born on January 20, 1852, son of Benson and Engelina Olson, also natives of Sweden, who spent all their lives in their native land. He received his schooling in his native land and remained there until he was nineteen years of age, when, in 1871, he came to the United States and was for two years engaged in railroad work in Pennsylvania. He then, in 1873, returned to Sweden, married there, and in 1879 came back to this country and proceeded on out to Kansas, locating in Marshall county, which has ever since been his home. In 1880, not long after his arrival in Marshall county, Mr. Olson bought a tract of one hundred and twenty acres of school land one and one-half miles east of the Swedish Lutheran church and proceeded to improve and develop the same. In 1900 he sold that place to advantage and bought his present place of two hundred and forty acres in section 7 of Lincoln township, where he and his family are very comfortably and very pleasantly situated. Mr. Olson has done well in his general farming and stock raising operations and has improved his farm in excellent shape. In 1893 he thought to broaden his field by homesteading a tract of land over in the western part of the state and rented his home farm and went to Wallace county, where he homesteaded a quarter of a section of land and spent two years there developing the same. These were dry years, however, and he lost on his venture. He returned to his home farm in this county in 1895 and has since been quite content to regard Marshall county as a good enough place of residence for anyone. In 1875, in Sweden, Lars Peter Olson was united in marriage to Josephine Benson, who was born in that country on February 7, 1854, daughter of Benson and Anna Anderson, who spent all their lives in their native land, and to this union seven children have been born, namely: Augusta, who married Albin Odberg, of Kettle River, Minnesota, and has two children, Gertrude and Matilda; Oscar, now living at St. Joseph, Missouri, who married Hilda Bragg and has two children, Gladys and Charles; Edwin, who died in 1908; Elmer, who is at home; Theodore, a farmer of Lincoln township, who married Edla Helstrom and has two children, Evelyn and Audrey; Dell, who is at home, and Emma, who is living at St. Joseph, Missouri. The Olsons are members of the Swedish Lutheran church and Mr. Olson has served as deacon of the same for the past thirty years. He is a Republican and takes a warm interest in political affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office. Additional Comments: Extracted from: History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions by Emma E. Forter Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/marshall/bios/olson503gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ksfiles/ File size: 3.6 Kb