Jonas W. Olson

As printed in 1910

HON. JONAS W. OLSON.

An enumeration of those men of the present generation who have won honor and public recognition for themselves and at the same time have honored the state to which they belong would be incomplete were there failure to make prominent reference to the one whose name initiated this paragraph. He holds distinctive precedence as an eminent lawyer and statesman, has been long recognized as a prominent representative of the democracy, and in many questions of vital interest his position has been one of acknowledged leadership. He has been and he is distinctively a man of affairs, and one who has wielded a wide influence. A strong mentality, an invincible courage, a most determined individuality have so entered into his makeup as to render him a natural leader of men and a director of opinion.

His birth occurred in Soderala, Sweden, June 30, 1843. It was not until he was fifty years of age that he obtained authentic knowledge of the exact date of his birth, for he was not only left an orphan at the age of three years but with one exception all of his relatives in America died, and had it not been for an aunt who cared for him he would have been left utterly alone. He was a son of the Rev. Olof Olson, who arrived in the United States in 1845 as the representative of a colony who desired to seek religious liberty in the new world. He was connected with a religious movement in Sweden which awakened the condemnation of the established church, and the new sect were forbidden to hold services. It is said that the Rev. Olson was arrested and forced to pay heavy fine for holding meetings or conventicles in his own home and that had he been again arrested he would have been banished, in conformity with an old Swedish law which is now obsolete. The desire to worship according to the dictates of his own conscience led him to seek the freedom of the new world, and eleven hundred of the same sect determined to emigrate for the same reason. Accordingly the Rev. Olson was chosen to select a favorable location for the colony, and in 1845 he came to the United States accompanied by his wife and two children. While there their child, Jonas W. Olson, who was then in very delicate health was left in the care of his grandmother and his aunt, Catherina Wilhelmina Petronella Skoglund, who were to bring him to America with the colony the following year if he were then living, which seemed very doubtful when the parents sailed for the United States. Up to that time the Swedish people had in only very limited degree left their native land for the new world, the Rev. Olson being among the pioneers of his countrymen to seek homes in America. Journeying westward in search of location for the colony he at length selected Bishop Hill as a favorable site, and the following year he was joined by that band of devoted Christian people whose influence was to be widely felt in the affairs of Illinois.

Jonas W. Olson was brought by his aunt to the new world. His illness had terminated in the paralysis of one limb, rendering him permanently lame, and this was but one of many disasters which followed him in his boyhood, for the day before he reached his father's home his mother died. Not long afterward his sister and brother departed this life and in a brief time his father and his grandmother were called to their final rest. He was thus left entirely alone save for his aunt, who had married Peter Dahlgren and was living in Galesburg. For a time Jonas Olson attended the school in that city, and after the removal of Mr. Dahlgren to a farm five miles from Victoria he walked a distance of two miles to attend school at Center Prairie — a long and often difficult journey to one in his crippled condition. At the end of fifteen years necessity obliged him to provide for his own support, and he began learning the shoemaker's trade under the direction of Ira C. Reed of Lafayette, Illinois, the terms of apprenticeship being that he was to receive twenty-five dollars per year. His employer, however, was a just man and, recognizing that his services were of greater value, he gave him double that amount as a compensation for his labor. He was most diligent and thorough in his work, and after he had completed his term of indenture he engaged in shoemaking for a year thus earning the funds that enabled him to continue his education in Galva high school. When his money gave out he returned to his trade and thus worked and studied alternately for some time. His review of the business world led him to the determination to make the practice of law his life work, and while following the shoemaker's trade he devoted the morning and evening hours to the study of Kent, Blackstone and other commentaries. His law studies were afterward directed by the late Hon. John I. Bennett, and in 1869 he successfully passed the required examination demanded for admission to the bar. Advancement in the law is proverbially slow, still in no profession is there a career more open to talent; yet the successful practitioner must not only be carefully prepared by a thorough understanding of legal principles but must also have thorough appreciation of the absolute ethics of life and of the underlying principles which form the basis of all human rights and privileges. In tha difficult school of experience Mr. Olson had learned many valuable lessons which now serve him in his practice, enabling him to understand human conduct, the various phases of life and the complexity of business interests, all of which are factors in successful law practice. Moreover, he has ever prepared his cases with great precision and care and has ever presented the case upon its merits, never failing to recognize the point at issue and yet never failing to give due consideration to details which bear in any way upon his cause. His retentive mind has ever excited the surprise of his professional colleagues, and he has won for himself very favorable criticism for the careful and systematic methods which he has followed. Thus, as the years have gone by, Mr. Olson has enjoyed an extensive clientage of an important character, being connected with many of the leading cases tried in the courts of his district.

Neither is Mr. Olson unknown as a law maker for in the state legislature he has been active in shaping the policy of the commonwealth. A recognized leader in political circles his fellow townsmen gave expression of their confidence in his ability and his loyalty in public affairs by electing him, in 1870, as a representative from Rock Island and Henry counties in the twenty-seventh general assembly. Although one of the youngest members of the house he took a very active and prominent part in its work, served on very important committees and on a number of occasions was called upon to act as speaker pro tempore. Only a short time prior to his election a very large number of the Swedish emigrants, who had obtained work on the Peoria & Rock Island Railroad, had through the insolvency of the contractors been swindled out of their wages and were left penniless in a strange land, among a people who spoke a tongue unfamiliar to them. To remedy evils of this character and prevent the recurrence of such injustice Mr. Olson procured the enactment of a law of which he was the author and which has ever since remained on the statutes of Illinois, giving to laborers who work for contractors or subcontractors a lien upon all property of the railroad corporation to secure their wages.

During the extra session of the legislature to consider the matter of the Chicago fire he visited that city, together with the other members of the house, and upon his return to Galva found his own home in ashes. Four times has he had to suffer that disaster, but his determined purpose and unflinching courage have enabled him to rise above all discouragement and resolutely undertake the task of retrieving his possessions. In 1881 he erected a fine business block in Galva, which stands as a monument to his enterprise and marked ability.

Mr. Olson has continued through many years as one of the leading representatives of the democratic party in this state and is regarded as the most prominent representative of the democracy among the Scandinavian people of the Mississippi valley. He voted with the republican party until the questions arising from the Civil war were settled, and then in 1872, like many men prominent in the party, he withdrew from its ranks and has since given stalwart allegiance to the principles of the democratic party. His position has never been an equivocal one. On the contrary, he has ever stood fearless in defense of his honest convictions, and while he might have attained higher political preferment in the ranks of the republican party as most of his fellow countrymen are supporters of that cause he preferred to maintain his political integrity rather than enjoy the. fruits and opportunities of office. In 1880 his party nominated him for state's attorney, and although he could not overcome the strong republican majority, which the county always gives, he ran more than a thousand votes ahead of his ticket, a fact which indicates his personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him by his fellowmen. In 1884 he was again defeated for that office. Political preferment, however, came to him following the election of Grover Cleveland, who appointed him to the position of postmaster of Galva, in which capacity he served during both Cleveland's first and second administrations. After the end of his second term as postmaster he was nominated by the democratic party of his district as its candidate for congress. He has also been a member for the state at large of the Illinois democratic state central committee, and his opinions carry weight in the councils of his party. He is a logical, entertaining and forceful speaker, and his public addresses have won votes for the organization in which he believes.

On the 18th of November, 1869, Mr. Olson was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Matteson, a daughter of Anson Matteson, who at the time of his emigration from Sweden held the rank of major in the Swedish army. He received a silver medal from the king on account of his efficiency as a soldier and a swordsman. Mrs. Olson was born in Ugglebo, Sweden, June 5, 1848, and was a little maiden of eleven summers when brought to the United States. By her marriage she became the mother of three daughters: Mary Aurora, born September 11, 1870; Maude Violet, born November 10, 1876; and Mabel Winifred, whose birth occurred October 24, 1880. The eldest was graduated from Knox College, June 12, 1896, and is the wife of Ivan Bell. Maude V. became the wife of Edward I. Seely, who was drowned in Cedar River near Mount Vernon, Iowa, a year later. Mabel W. is a graduate of the Knox College Conservatory of Music, where she engaged in teaching music for a year, and she is now teaching private classes at home, being recognized as one of the most capable instructors in music in Galva.

Such in brief is the Hfe history of Mr. Olson, and the record is a creditable one, for at all times he has lived up to a high standard of honorable and many principles, making good use of his time and opportunities and exerting his influence for the betterment of the community in every possible way. At the semicentennial celebration of the arrival of the Bishop Hill colony at Bishop Hill, September 23 and 24, 1896, he was called upon to deliver a public address, from which we quote the following:

"In July, 1846, Olof Olson was joined by Eric Janson, and together they fixed upon Henry county as the place to locate the settlement, my father having already purchased forty acres of land in Red Oak Grove, but a short distance west of here, which to this day is known as 'Olson's field.'

"In the fall of the same year came the Jonas Olson party, among whom was my grandfather and aunt, who brought me over. I am told that the day previous to our arrival my mother had died. She had not yet been buried and I do not know whether I remember seeing her or not; it seems to me that I have a sort of a dazed, hazy recollection of being ushered into the presence of some one dead, but whether I then knew that I was looking upon the face of my mother, knowing that it was cold in death, I do not know and cannot tell. If at the time of her death she knew that I was on the way, and so very near, that if her life could only have been spared another day she would have been permitted to see her unfortunate child once more, if only to great him with a last parting glance expressive of what no tongue can describe — a mother's love. I can imagine that as that painted mother closed her eyes to the last sad scenes of earth, in her unspeakable anguish her last thoughts were probably to wonder what would become of her poor crippled boy. My father, sister, brother and grandmother all died only a few days later, and it seems so passing strange that of the entire family I should have been the only one to survive and be allowed the privilege of participating in the celebration of this fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Bishop Hill. The feelings that overwhelm me make me almost wish that the doctrine of the spiritualists might be true. If disembodied spirits were permitted to look down upon the scenes of earth, it might be a consolation to that painted mother to know that her then seemingly unfortunate child is thus honored and that the people in this world with whom his lot has fallen have been so kind to him."

Mr. Olson is an orator of more than average ability, and his well chosen language is the expression of clear-cut thought, logical deductions and wise reasoning. He is regarded as one of the most prominent and influential residents of the county, honored for what he has accomplished, while his ability has gained him the success that is richly merited.

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.