Bio for OLSON, Hans Peter (b.1856 d.1932), Meeker Co., MN ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, 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. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Marilyn Roberston Submitted: February 2007 ========================================================================= Hans Peter Olson 27 Feb 1856 Norway - 25 Feb 1932 MN Since Hans Oleson's birth in Norway 1856, he has made the trip across the Norwegian countryside to the coast, crossed the Atlantic Ocean under adverse conditions on a Sailing Vessel and settled in the Minnesota Territory at the conclusion of the Civil War in an area of hostile Indian attacks, lost his father and become a man at age 13! In the 1880 Census, this Olson family seems to disappear from all the neighboring counties of Greenleaf. There are however, single individuals about the right age as boarders and laborers in the neighboring Townships. Ingberg, the mother, is nowhere to be found. On Feb. 14 1882, Hans and Annie R. Peterson are married. We can follow the family clear to the last Census in 1930. Hans died in 1932, in Litchfield, Meeker, Minnesota. Annie went on to live another 33 years and enjoy many grandchildren from their 12 children? There is the question of a son named Rudolf born around the same year as Clara. He does not show up until the 1920 Census. If he is their son, as he is called on the Census, then he makes child 13. One child was listed as not surviving childhood so the total for this family would be 14 births! That is a lot of children! Hans was born in Sel, Oppland, Norway in the North Gudbrandalen Valley on Feb. 27th 1856. Sel was primarily a farming area where the raising of sheep and cattle was the livelihood. From the 1860's to the 1880's, the Sel fell upon hard times and many people immigrated to Northern Norway or America. The immigration to Northern Norway was so extensive, it was named, "Norway's America". This was a major break through from Marie Rosenthal's genealogy and that of Julie Bliven. Julie is from the branch of Laura Aneta Olson. She and her sister Esther were the two youngest daughters of Hans and Annie R. It seems the family history is being kept alive through them. Julie contributed the parent's names of Hans and their birth dates. Hans parents were Peder Oleson born Nov 7 1823 in Sel and Ingborg (Imbjor) Arnesdotter born Nov. 3 1834 in Sel. In the 1900 Census, Hans lists his immigration year into the US as 1866. Terrific! We have an ID on the country and the year to search ship manifests. Unfortunately there are not many ship records from Norway at this time and my search has come up empty. A future generation will have to take up the search when more records are transcribed. To date, most of the records are for vessels departing in Canada. What we do know is that their voyage was sometime between the birth of son Jacob in Norway late 1864 or early 65 and the birth of Anthony in 1868 or 69. Future searchers can concentrate their search 1864-1869, with emphasis on the year 1866 that Hans states on the Census. Sailing vessels took much longer to cross the Atlantic. Their ship may have sailed in 1865 and not arrived until 1866, or sailed in 1866 and not arrived until 1867. A Helpful Search Tip. The family appears in Greenleaf Township, Meeker Co. MN. in the 1870 Census and is not there on the one in 1865. Anthony's birth was the first of the family in the states. We also know the type of ship the family would have taken to the US in the 1860's. It would have been a Sailing Ship or possibly a Bark...... This was the mode of transportation out of Norway during those years. Although the family immigrates around the time of 1866, Peder the father is not to be found in the 1870 Census. This usually means death of that family member. The results are as follows: Ingberg Oleson age 36 Keeping House Ole Oleson age 15 Farmer Hans Oleson age 13 Paul Oleson age 11 Annie Oleson age 7 Jacob Oleson age 5 Anthony Oleson age 1 Please note the original spelling of Olson was with an "e". This Census also tells us that none of the children are in school and that son Ole has assumed the duties of "Farmer". It appears the three older boys are assuming the duties of their father. In the neighboring Township of Acton, Annie R. Peterson has just turned three years old and is living in a sod house. We have no evidence as to what type of house the Oleson family is living in. Stone and sod houses were common in this area. The Indian Wars are still going on and the Civil War has ended. ========================================================================= Copyright Marilyn Roberston 2007. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm =========================================================================