Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Swanson, Oscar A. 1877 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com May 18, 2007, 6:36 pm

Author: Emma E. Forter (1917)

OSCAR A. SWANSON.

    Among the well-known and prominent farmers and stockmen of Cottage Hill
township, Marshall county, who have won recognition in the community where they
live, is Oscar A. Swanson, who was born on May 16, 1877, on the farm where he
now lives, and is the son of John and Anna Swanson, natives of Sweden.

    John Swanson was born on November 24, 1839, and received his education in
the public schools of his native land and there grew to manhood. In 1866 he
decided to settle in America and on his arrival in this country he located in
Michigan, where he worked in the lumber mills until 1870, when he came to Kansas
and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres in Cottage Hill township, Marshall
county. In 1872 he was united in marriage to Anna Swanson and they continued to
reside on the homestead for a number of years. They made many valuable
improvements on the place and erected some substantial buildings. Much of the
land was placed under cultivation, and here Mr. Swanson met with a great measure
of success.

    In 1877 the family moved to the farm where the son, Oscar A., now lives. In
1879, while reaping hay, the team of mules that John Swanson was driving ran
away, and as a result of the accident Mr. Swanson lost his right hand and a part
of his left hand. He was a man of much ability and possessed of keen business
acumen. At the time of his death on January 25, 1905, he was the owner of six
hundred and forty acres of land, all of which was under a high state of
cultivation and nicely improved. Before his death he had moved to Randolph,
where he lived for some years, and where the widow now resides at the age of
seventy-three years. They were the parents of six children: Selma, Frank,
August, Oscar A., Arthur, and Ellen. Frank is a resident of Fulton, Kansas;
Selma is the wife of H. Goff, of Riley county, Kansas; August is now deceased;
Arthur lives in Grove county, Kansas, and Ellen resides with her mother at
Randolph. Mr. Swanson was a man who was held in the highest regard by all who
knew him. His life was devoted to the interests of his family and an endeavor to
make better the district in which he lived. He had much to do with the general
development of the township and was instrumental in the establishment of good
schools and advocated the building of good roads. His life was a most worthy
one, and at his death he left a large circle of friends who held him in kindly
remembrance.

    Oscar A. Swanson received his education in the public schools of the county
and grew to manhood on the farm, where he now lives. For a good many years
before the death of his father he operated the home place. On the death of his
father, Mr. Swanson became the heir to one hundred and sixty acres of prime land
and to this he added eighty acres in Washington county. He has made many
substantial improvements on the place. In 1910 he built a splendid modern
eight-room house, fitted with furnace, lights, hot and cold water and hardwood
floors. He is a member of the Marshall County Fair Association, and has made an
exhibit of rye, wheat, oats, corn, pop-corn, beets and fruits, raised on his
place and won third prize. As a farmer, stockman and fruit grower he is
recognized as one of the substantial and progressive ones of the county.

    On October 2, 1901, Oscar A. Swanson was united in marriage to Augusta
Johnson, who was born in Sweden and is the daughter of Nels and Elsie (Anderson)
Johnson, who came to the United States in 1882 and established their home in
Riley county, Kansas. To this union five children have been born, Myron, Elsie,
Mabel, Roy, and Dorothy, all of whom are at home with their parents. Mr. and
Mrs. Swanson attend the Methodist Episcopal church and take an active part in
the social life of the community. Politically, Mr. Swanson is an independent and
has always taken much interest in local affairs, and has exerted much influence
in the civic life of the township. For the past nine years he has served as a
member of the school board, and his best efforts have always been for the good
of the schools. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and takes much
interest in the work of that order.


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)


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