BIOGRAPHIES: Ole SWANSON, Prairie Farm Twp., Barron County, WI

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This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by:  
Vic Gulickson <vic@indy.net>  31 July 2000	
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Ole Swanson, an early settler of Barron County, veteran of the Civil War, 
and of the Minnesota Indian Campaign, one of the heroic survivors of the
Redwood Ferry ambush, was born in Norway Feb. 12, 1844, the son of Swen and 
Mary Olson, who came to America in middle age and spent their declining 
years in Pope County, Minn. The subject of this sketch was reared in Norway 
and attended school there. In 1861 he came to America as a youth of 
seventeen, the voyage aboard an old sailing vessel taking seven weeks, six 
weeks and five days of which was spent out of sight of land. After reaching 
port he found his way to Fillmore County, Minn., where friends and 
relatives had already settled, and there he started farming. On March 2, 
1862, he enlisted in Company B, 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and was 
mustered into service at Fort Snelling, near Minneapolis, on March 24, 1862. 
His name appears in the military records of the state and nation as Ole 
Svendson. The company was stationed at Fort Ridgely, on the Minnesota, in 
the western part of the state of Minnesota. Then came the events which made 
the company famous for all time. On Aug. 18, 1862, the Sioux Indians arose 
and began slaughtering the whites. Company B, which started from Fort 
Ridgely to punish the Indians, was ambushed at Redwood Ferry, and Captain 
John S. Marsh, Interpreter Peter Quinn and twenty-three enlisted men were 
killed. Fifteen escaped and fled to the fort. Six, including a sergeant, 
were wounded, Private Swanson so badly that he had to be carried. When he 
recovered he participated in the campaign against the Indians. That fall he 
was sent south with the company and rejoined his regiment in Tennessee. 
The regiment in the meantime had been assigned to the Eagle Brigade. Mr. 
Swanson's career was thereafter a part of the history of that brigade, and 
he proved himself a brave and gallant soldier in many engagements and in 
many a tiresome march and bivouac. For three years he was his company's 
fifer. He was discharged with the regiment at Demopolis, Ala., and was 
mustered out at Fort Snelling Sept. 6, 1865. After the war Mr. Swanson went 
back to Fillmore County, Minn., and there married. In 1873 he brought his
wife and three children to Dunn County, this state, and located in Hay River
Township. For several years thereafter he did farm work first for Knapp,
Stout & Co. and then for William Sprague who was the Knapp, Stout & Co.
foreman. In 1892, he bought 80 acres from Mr. Sprague in section 21, 
Prairie Farm Township. He built a log house, 16 by 24 feet, and moved his 
wife and three children into it. He also put up a log stable. He had but 
little to do with. For furniture he made a bedstead, table and stools from 
trees growing on the place. The little cabin was far from any store, and 
Mr. Swanson had to bring provisions in on his back. But a man who had gone 
through his experiences in the war was not to be daunted by the privations 
of the wilderness. He worked with a will and in time built up a good farm. 
After a long and useful career on the farm he retired in 1914 and moved to 
the village of Prairie Farm where he now resides. He is the commander of 
the August Roemhild Post, No. 237, G. A. R.  Mr. Swanson is a man held in 
the highest esteem and respect. As a soldier, as a pioneer, as a citizen, 
he has been faithful to every duty that life has brought him, and his 
example may well be followed by the younger generation. Mr. Swanson was 
married at Preston, Fillmore County, Minn., April 18, 1867, to Anna Vennes, 
who was born in Norway Feb. 14, 1851, the daughter of Andrew and Anna 
Margaret Vennes. Her father came to Fillmore County in l860, and the next 
year sent for his family to join him. This union was blessed with twelve 
children. Matthew, Albert and William, were born in Fillmore County. 
Edward, Alvin, Lettie, Martin, Ole, Viola and Lena were born in Dunn County. 
Albert and Gilbert were born in Barron County. Matthew, Lettie and Gilbert 
are dead. The family faith is that of the Norwegian Lutheran Church.

--Taken from: History of Barron Co., Wisconsin, H. C. Cooper, Jr., &
Co., 1922, pp. 627-628