Thorvald Olsen

OLSEN, THRONSON, BERVEN

Posted By: Emmet County IAGenWeb Coordinator (email)
Date: 3/5/2011 at 07:09:01

Thorvald Olsen, actively identified with farming interests in Swan Lake township, his home being on section 35, was born in Norway on the 14th of May, 1856, a son of Ole and Gunhilda (Thronson) Olsen. The father died in Norway, after which the mother came to the United States with her son Thorvald and made her home with a son in Illinois. She passed away in 1879.

Through the period of his boyhood and youth Thorvald Olsen attended the common schools of his native country and when eighteen years of age crossed the Atlantic to the new world, making his way to Lee county, Illinois, where he resided for nine years, being employed as a farm hand in that district. His brother, who was at that time a resident of Lee county, sent him his ticket to come to the United States. In 1883 Thorvald Olsen removed to Iowa and for eight months resided in Hamilton county but in the spring of 1884 came to Emmet county, where two years before, or in 1882 he had purchased eighty acres of land in Armstrong Grove township. On his arrival in Emmet county he located upon that land and for five years occupied the farm. He then sold out and bought his present home place, comprising one hundred and sixty acres on section 35, Swan Lake township. This farm he has improved and it is now one of the valuable properties of the district. It is well equipped according to modern methods of agricultural development and his labors have brought to him substantial financial returns.

In 1884 Mr. Olsen was united in marriage to Miss Julia Berven, a native of Norway, who came to America about 1882. Five sons and a daughter have blessed this marriage: Ole, at home; Knute, who is a ranchman of Montana; Thomas, who is farming in Emmet county; Gustav, a twin brother of Thomas and a resident of South Dakota; Alfred, at home; and Lizzie, the wife of Herman Sorum, of Estherville.

Mr. Olsen votes with the republican party ad is thoroughly conversant with the leading questions and issues of the day. He has served as township trustee and as school director for several years. He and his family are members of the Norwegian church and they are people of genuine worth, esteemed and respected by all with whom they have come in contact. Mr. Olsen deserves much credit for what he has accomplished. He arrived in America practically penniless and from that point has worked his way steadily upward, making good use of his time and opportunities. He has never been afraid of hard work and his diligence ad determination have been the basic elements of his growing success.

Source: History of Emmet County and Dickinson County Iowa: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, The Pioneer Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1917.