SAMUELSON, John O. - 1912 Bio (1854-1932)

SAMUELSON, ANDERSON, BLOMGREN

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 9/30/2007 at 10:43:26

History of Jefferson County, Iowa -- A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol II, Published 1912, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago
Pages 348-350

John O. SAMUELSON.

An excellent farm of two hundred and forty acres with splendid improvements upon it is the property of John O. SAMUELSON, whose home is on section 20, Black Hawk township. He deserves much credit for what he has accomplished because his advancement is due to his untiring industry, sound business judgment and capable management. He was born in Sweden, July 9, 1854, a son of Samuel and Gertrude Sophia (ANDERSON) SAMUELSON, who were also natives of Sweden, in which country the mother died when her son John was about fourteen years of age. The father was a farmer by occupation and in 1870 he sailed for America, settling first in New Jersey. He afterward made his way westward to Chicago where for thirteen months he worked at any employment that would yield him an honest living and enable him to provide for his family. On the expiration of that period he came to Jefferson county, Iowa, settling near Salina where he lived for one year, after which he removed to a farm in Black Hawk township. Upon that place he spent the remainder of his life, working diligently and with determination to improve the property until his labor resulted in the development of well cultivated fields which annually returned to him good harvests as the reward for his industry. In 1870 he had been married a second time, having in New York city wedded Miss Charlotta BLOMGREN, a native of Sweden, who is now living in Packwood, this county. The father of our subject, however, passed away April 28, 1908.

John O. SAMUELSON crossed the Atlantic a short time before his father made the voyage, remaining at Hagerstown, New Jersey, until the father arrived. With him he came to the middle west and has been a resident of Jefferson county since 1872. His education was all acquired in his native land and after arriving in America his time and energies were all devoted to the work of assisting his father in the development and improvement of the farm. At length he determined to start out in life on his own account and rented land in Jefferson county from C. C. Holton. For twenty years he and his father leased this property and cultivated it together, at the end of which time John O. SAMUELSON invested his earnings in one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 20, Black Hawk township, on which he now resides. Since that time he has extended the boundaries of his farm by an additional purchase of eighty acres and today has one of the best improved properties in this section of the county. It is equipped with all modern accessories and in the midst of the farm stands an elegant residence. Near it are substantial and commodious barns and outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock and these in turn are surrounded by highly cultivated fields. Six years ago on account of his health Mr. SAMUELSON had to give up the active work of the farm and now rents his land yet gives personal supervision to the work. He has made his home upon this place for sixteen years.

On the 25th of March, 1885, occurred the marriage of Mr. SAMUELSON and Miss Hilda Louise BLOMGREN, a daughter of Carl and Mary (ANDERSON) BLOMGREN, both of whom were natives of Sweden, in which country the father was superintendent of a writing paper manufacturing plant. In the fall of 1885 he and his family came to the United States, settling in Packwood, Jefferson county, Iowa. He was born in 1815 and died at the home of Mr. and Mrs. SAMUELSON July 18, 1899. His wife was born April 2, 1824, and passed away in Packwood in June, 1911. Unto Mr. and Mrs. SAMUELSON have been born a son and daughter. The former, Verne S., born February 24, 1886, is a graduate of the Iowa Wesleyan University and College at Mount Pleasant, and is now in the employ of the Copeland drug store in Fairfield, Iowa. Edna, residing at home with her parents, is a graduate of the Iowa Wesleyan Academy at Mount Pleasant, and was a student in the Wesleyan University, while at the present time she is taking a course of music in Parsons College, at Fairfield.

The parents are faithful and devoted members of the Swedish Lutheran church of Packwood and the daughter holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal church there. In politics Mr. SAMUELSON is a stanch republican who believes in holding firmly to the principles and the policy of the party. He is now serving as a trustee of Black Hawk township and is a public-spirited citizen whose interest in the welfare and progress of the community has been manifest in many tangible ways. He has never had occasion to regret that the family came to America in his youthful days. He found a welcome on the free soil of this country and opportunities which the old country might not have afforded him. Here where labor is unhampered by caste or class he has steadily worked his way upward and is today one of the valued and representative citizens of Black Hawk township.

*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.