John Samuelson

As printed in 1910

JOHN SAMUELSON.

Not only has the life of John Samuelson been productive of such good fortune for himself that warranted his relinquishing his heavier cares, but his record is one which in more ways than one is an inspiration to those younger men about him to exert themselves to nobler manhood, for although he was of Swedish birth, he did not hesitate to offer himself in support of the country of his adoption, when there was need of his loyalty to it. He is now living on Orchard street, Orion, but for a number of years he cultivated three (hundred and twenty acres of land on section 25, Western township, which is still in his possession and is operated by his son. He was born November 25, 1835, and was about fifteen when, in 185 1, his parents, Samuel and Anna (Nelson) Johnson, brought their family to America. They stayed about six months in the city of Buffalo, New York, whence they traveled by boat to Chicago, traversing the distance from there to Henry county with horse and wagon. Here the father entered eighty acres of government land, on which he made his home until his death.

In his native land John Samuelson received a very limited education, and when he came to the United States he had no knowledge of or acquaintance with our language. Nor were there any schools here then, so that he was compelled to make his way as best he could. That he surmounted all obstacles valiantly none can deny. At the age of twenty-one years, when he began to assume responsibilities, he secured an interest in a threshing outfit which he operated throughout the township with a success that promised well for subsequent years.

His agricultural pursuits, however, were interrupted by the inauguration of the Civil war, in which he determined to participate. Accordingly, in August, 1 86 1, he enlisted in Company C, Forty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was sent first to St. Louis, from there through Missouri, and after returning to St. Louis was sent south. At the battle at Pittsburg Landing his regiment lost heavily, although he came from the fray unwounded. That was his good fortune throughout the course of the war, for although in a number of hotly contested engagements, like Shiloh, the siege of Corinth and Salem Cemetery, he was never wounded, was never in a hospital and never fell into the hands of the enemy. In the battles of Somerville, Tennessee, Vicksburg, Little Rock, Prairie Den and Jenkins Ferry, he also proved his valor, winning promotion to the rank of corporal and later to that of sergeant. After more than three years of service, he was honorably discharged and returned to his home in Henry county, where he immediately took up the occupation to which he had devoted himself before the war. He bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Western township, for which he paid fifteen dollars an acre, and later bought a farm of like area for which he paid more than four times as much, buying it at the rate of sixty-five dollars an acre. This large tract, which he still owns, has greatly improved through the course of years, for his ideas of progress and his good management, which has been guided by keen foresight, have played quite as conspicuous a part in his success as has the industry which has been one of his conspicuous characteristics. For about thirty years it was his home, until 1897, when he removed to the village of Orion, where he has since resided in the enjoyment of a generous income and in the memory of a life well spent in earnest endeavor.

In Andover, in June, 1867, Mr. Samuelson wedded Miss Mary Lawrence, a native of Sweden, who came to this country when she was about eighteen years of age. Her parents Mr. and Mrs. Lawson Lawrence, never left their native land, in which the last years of their lives were passed. All of the family of six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Samuelson are living. John, who has remained a bachelor, took a course of study in Augustana College and later in Davenport. Arthur, who has also stayed single, attended the Geneseo Collegiate Institute, later the business college in Davenport and is now in the state of Washington.

William was a pupil in the common schools, later continuing his education at Abigdon, Illinois, and is now a farmer at Ponca, Oklahoma. He married Miss Delia Johnson and they have four children. A sketch of Guy follows this. Mabel attended the high school at Orion. Esther, the youngest, was graduated from that institution with the class of 1907. The two daughters have also had a musical education, for Mr. Samuelson, having experienced the hardships attendant upon little schooling, has made every endeavor to give his children the advantages of a thorough preparation for life which he did not enjoy. Mrs. Samuelson died March 17, 1904.

When he was admitted to citizenship in this republic Mr. Samuelson decided to look to the republican party for guidance in political matters and cast his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Since that time his allegiance to the party which supported the Union has been unswerving, and it was upon its ticket that he was elected to the positions of school director and trustee and highway commissioner, in which capacities he served efficiently through a long period of years. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in harmony with whose teachings he has lived. When Trego Post, G. A. R., was organized he joined it as a charter member, and in the course of years has attended the reunions of his fellow soldiers and the national reunion at Milwaukee.

As printed in History of Henry County, Illinois (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.