John O. Swenumson Biography


	This biography appears on page 611 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				JOHN O. SWENUMSON. 

	South Dakota is indebted in no small degree for her development 
to those who have had their nativity in or owe their lineage to the 
Scandinavian countries. To this class belongs John O. Swenumson, who 
was born in Chickasaw county, Iowa, on the 11th of October, 1862, but 
is of Norwegian descent, his parents, Ola and Helga (Saunderson) 
Swenumson, both having been natives of the land of the midnight sun. 
The father was born in 1837 and the mother in 1836. They were married 
in lowa, to which state the father had come in 1848. Throughout his 
entire life he engaged in farming, settling upon a place of his own in 
1856. He survives at the age of seventy-nine years, but his wife passed 
away in 1907. They had a family of ten children, eight of whom are yet 
living: John O.; Emma, the wife of Nels Bore lung, a farmer of Iowa; 
Lena, living in Iowa; Sundry, who carries on farming in Roberts county, 
South Dakota; Swenumson of Baldwin, Wisconsin, a lawyer and real-estate 
dealer; Nels, a farmer living near Appleton, Minnesota; Esther, 
residing in Iowa; and Ola, who occupies the old homestead farm in the 
Hawkeye state. The parents were members of the Lutheran church, with 
which the father is still identified. 

	John O.Swenumson began life on a farm. He removed to Roberts 
county, South Dakota in 1894. Three years later, or in 1897, he secured 
a homestead claim in Roberts county, proved up on it and there resided 
for a decade. 

	In 1885 Mr. Swenumson was united in marriage to Miss Bessie 
Himle, a native of Iowa, and to them have been born four children: 
Hilda, who is the wife of Henry G. Rockwell, a farmer living near 
Kidder, South Dakota; Gertrude, the wife of Lawrence B. Sateren, who is 
president of a college at Everett, Washington; Oscar, who was graduated 
at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, and is now at home; and 
Mabel, who is a high-school graduate and is also under the parental 
roof. The family hold membershiip in the Lutheran church and Mr. 
Swenumson is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In 
politics he is an earnest republican, has held numerous township 
offices, and in the fall of 1912 was elected to the office of register 
of deeds, in which capacity he is now serving.