GEORGE F. OLSON

George F. Olson, a resident farmer of Danville township, Worth county, his home being on section 17, is the owner of two hundred and eighty acres of rich land from which he annually gathers golden harvests. Much of his time, too, has been devoted to business interests in Hanlontown and he is a man whose well defined plans and purposes are ever carried forward to successful completion. He belongs to that class of substantial citizens that Norway has furnished to the new world.

Mr. Olson was born on the 9th of July, 1868, in the land of the midnight sun, his parents being Ole and Helga (Georgson) Peterson, both of whom lived and died in Norway. He was reared under the parental roof and acquired a common school education in his native country, but eventually he determined to try his fortune in the new world, having heard many favorable reports concerning its opportunities and the business conditions on this side of the Atlantic. He was twenty-eight years of age when in 1896 he sailed for the United States, having a brother living at Eagle Grove, Wright county, Iowa, who had come to the new world fifteen years before. Accordingly Mr. Olson made Wright county his destination and worked for his brother for one summer. The following summer he was employed at farm labor and later he engaged in construction work in connection with the building of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad through this section, of the state. On reaching Hanlontown, where the railroad grade work was being carried on, he left the employ of the company and turned his attention in other directions.

In 1900 Mr. Olson was united in marriage to Miss Ida Brattrud, a daughter of K. O. Brattrud, one of the prominent farmers of Worth county. Following his marriage Mr. Olson began renting land, cultivating a farm in that way for a year. In subsequent years he has been identified with the livery business, also with the country produce business in Hanlontown and with farming. About 1909 he purchased his present farm, comprising two hundred and eighty acres of rich and productive land on section 17, Danville township, but during the intervening years he has also spent much of his time in Hanlontown, where he has conducted business interests. At the present writing, however, in the spring of 1918, he is living upon the farm and is concentrating his efforts and attention largely upon its further development and improvement. He is also a stockholder in the Farmers' Cooperative Elevator Company and in the Creamery Company of Hanlontown

To Mr. and Mrs. Olson have been born six children, namely: Kenneth, Amy, Hazel, Idella, Oscar and Ole, all of whom are still under the parental roof. Mr. and Mrs. Olson are widely and favorably known in Hanlontown and throughout the section of the county in which they reside. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party, which he has supported since taking out his naturalization papers. He has never had occasion to wish that he had remained in his native land. He was not disappointed in the opportunities and conditions found in America, and although he came to the United States a poor man, he is today one of the substantial farmers of Danville township. Energy and industry have brought him a very gratifying measure of success and his life record should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what may be accomplished when there is a will to dare and to do.

SOURCE: HISTORY OF MITCHELL AND WORTH COUNTIES, IOWA, 1918, VOL. II; PAGES 597 & 598

Transcribed by Gordon Felland, October 28, 2006