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Recollections of a Norwegian-born pioneer at Sawyer, Wisconsin, dealing with his life in Norway before emigration and with such topics as church, roads, and Lake Michigan traffic.
An account of the journey Olson took in 1870 from Dodgeville, Wisconsin, to Coal Creek, Kansas. Towns on the route of travel and the supply of grass and water for his cattle are the chief topics. An 8-page typewritten translation is included.
Reminiscences (10 pages, manuscript) concerning the life of an emigrant from South Aurdal, who came to Litchfield, Minnesota, in 1876, and later settled on a homestead in Swift County, near Benson, Minnesota.
A letter and the write-up of an interview conducted by Janet Rasmussen with a resident of the Norse Home in Seattle, Washington. Olson had emigrated from Laksevåg to Boston in 1907, and belonged to the Norwegian Society and Norumbega in Boston.
Papers of a Norwegian-born farmer in Bosque County, Texas: articles, pictures, a letter, and a poem by Franklin Petersen. The articles by Olson give information on Texas pioneers: names, dates of arrival, house construction, farm operations, Cleng Peerson, and the Civil War. Other articles concern Gustaf W. Belfrage, a Swedish entomologist of Bosque County.
The story of his early life as told to a grandchild by an emigrant from Porsgrunn, who came to the United States in 1888. He sailed on the Great Lakes for a time.
Clippings and pamphlets that contain speeches made by Olson at Norwegian-American festivals, and also an Olson family history. Olson was professor of Scandinavian languages at the University of Wisconsin (1884-1935).
The author, a minister who served congregations in Wisconsin beginning in 1926, "...is concerned mainly with the moral and spiritual welfare of the people prior to 1890. It serves to show the process of transition...."
Olson emigrated from Trondheim in 1858 via Quebec and Chicago, arriving in Hudson, Wisconsin, August 14. Papers consist of photocopies of selected portions of a daily journal, July 1880-January 1886, and April-May 1891. The complete journal with a 10-year gap in the middle continues to 1935. Copies of military documents dated 1847-1854; and a copy of a letter from A. Eggen, Trondheim, 1873.