Untitled From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 895

NELSON OLSON (deceased), late of the town of Fennimore, Grant county, was a soldier of the war for the Union, Scandinavian blood being ever loyal to the cause of liberty and the progress of men.

Mr. OLSON was born in Norway, Dec. 3, 1825, and grew to manhood in his native country. He came to America in 1847, landing at New Orleans, and traveling up the river to Jefferson City, Mo., where he found work a short time. He soon went to Chicago, and from there to the pineries of Michigan, where he spent two years. On July 15, 1851, Mr. OLSON was married at Racine, Wis., to Miss Betsy E. HOGLE, who was born in Middlebury, Genesee Co., N.Y., June 3, 1825, a daughter of Andrew and Hannah (REED) HOGLE. Andrew HOGLE came to Grant county, Wis., in 1837, and was one of the very earliest settlers of Potosi; he returned to New York, and in 1843 brought his family to this state. In 1864, he and his wife removed to Fennimore, and in 1878 to Le Mars, Iowa, where he died Nov. 20, 1893, at the venerable age of ninety-eight; his wife died in 1894, at the age of ninety. They were the parents of six daughters and one son, the latter dying in California many years ago. All the daughters are living but one: Mrs. Susan FETTER is deceased; Mrs. Patience POWEL lives in New York; Mrs. Betsy E. OLSON; Mrs. Amanda N. A. CROUCH, of Le Mars, Iowa; Mrs. Mehitable CROW, of the same place; and Mrs. Jane DUNCAN, of Marshalltown, Iowa.

Mr. OLSON worked in the pineries the winter following his marriage, and the following spring he and his wife came to La Crosse, and soon after settled in Houston county, Minn. He enlisted in August, 1864, in Company K, 11th Minn. V.I., and served until about the time the war closed, when he was discharged. His health was badly undermined by his army experiences, and he never fully recovered his former strength and vigor. In 1865, soon after the termination of the war, Mr. and Mrs. OLSON removed to Grant county, Wis., and settled in the town of Lancaster, later moving to their Fennimore home. Three of the four sons born to them are living: Andrew J., William H. and Charles W. One son, Frank H., died at the age of twenty-six. They were very worthy people, highly respected in the community for genuine worth and unassuming goodness. The death of Mr. OLSON was a cause for genuine sorrow in the community.



This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck