History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties

"History of Lincoln, Oneida, and Vilas Counties Wisconsin"

Compiled by George O.Jones, Norman S. McVean and Others. Printed in 1924 by H.C.Cooper. Jr. & Co., Minneapoli-Winona MN. ill. 787 pages. The first two hundred pages are history of the three counties, the remainder of the book is biographies.

Biography

Olson, Anton J. one of the pioneer merchants of the city of Tomahawk, Lincoln County, was born in Mauston, Wis., in 1858, son of Ole T. and Sarah OLSON. The parents, natives of Christiania, Norway, came to the United States about 1850, settling first at Muskego, or Muskego Center, Waukesha County, Wis., whence they later moved to Mauston, where Ole T. OLSON followed the shoemaker's trade, which he had learned in Norway, continuing thus employed to the end of his life. He died in 1921 at the venerable old age of 96 years, having survived his wife, who had passed away in 1894 at the age of 75. They had in all a family of seven children, Mark, Sam, Mariah, Ever, Anton J., Christina and Edward O. Of these, Mariah died young; Ever is a physician in Osseo, Wis.; Christina is the wife of James H. CAMPBELL of Mauston; and Edward O. died in 1874. Mrs. Sarah OLSON, the mother, was twice married, first to a Mr. EVERSON, who died in Norway, leaving one son, Peter A., who came to the United States with his mother, and in 1961 enlisted in a Mauston Company and Wisconsin regiment, serving through the Civil War. Anton J. OLSON, after attending common school in Mauston, in 1875 took a course in a commercial college in La Crosse. He then worked eight years as a bookkeeper in Mauston, part of the time being employed in a bank and the rest in the post office. At the end of that time he went to Wonewoc, Juneau County, to become bookkeeper for the Case Wagon Co. Subsequently he went from there to Cumberland, in Barron County, where he spent eight years in the lumber business, being also chief of the fire department and first city clerk. His next move was to Sioux Falls, S. D., where he engaged in the lumber business. In 1889 Mr. OLSON came to Tomahawk, built a frame store building and opened a hardware store, which he conducted subsequently for 33 years. He was the first clerk of the city of Tomahawk, has been a member of the council, and is now secretary of the board of education. He was the first master of the Masonic Blue Lodge in Tomahawk and is a member not only of that lodge, but is also a Royal Arch Mason and Knight Templar. Thus he has enjoyed an active and varied existence and has seen the city grow from a rude backwoods hamlet to the populous and high civilized community it is today, and in that notable growth he has, himself, been an active factor. Mr. OLSON was married at New Lisbon, Wis., May 11, 1879, to Carrie Bell SOUTHWORTH, of which union there were three children born: Alta, now Mrs. F. P. WERNER of Tomahawk; Norman T., a civil engineer in the employ of the government of Wyoming, and living in Thermopolis, that state; and May, who died in 1909. Mrs. Carrie B. OLSON, who died Oct. 10, 1917, was a member of the local chapter of the Eastern Star, the Women's Literary Club, the Red Cross, and the Ladies' Aid Society of her church. In June, 1919, Mr. OLSON married Mrs. Harriet M. SMITH. He has in his possession a pine made of a foreign coin the size of a half dollar, which Peter A. EVERSON, his half brother, had made for their mother while serving in the army. It is engraved with the initials "P. A. E."

Transcribed by Susan Swanson, from pages 676-677; History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties Wisconsin; Compiled by George O. Jones, Norman S. McVean and Others 1924, H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co

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