Victor J. Olson

As printed in 1910

VICTOR J. OLSON.

Victor J. Olson, the manager of the Galva Grain Elevator Company, one of the most important business enterprises of the community, was born at Bishop Hill on the loth of June, 1879, and is therefore numbered among the younger business men of Nekoma. He is a son of S. P. and Catherine (Nordine) Olson, and on the material side is a direct descendant of the Bishop Hill colonists, both grandparents having come from Sweden as members of the original colony. The maternal grandfather, Lars Nordine, died while serving as a soldier in the Civil war. Their daughter, the mother of our subject, was born in the Bishop Hill colony. The father, a native of Sweden, came to America in 1865, locating at Bishop Hill, where he has engaged in the occupation of farming ever since, being the owner of a farm of eighty acres located in Galva township.

In the Hickory Grove school of Galva township, Victor J. Olson acquired his education, and during the periods of vacation assisted his father in the work of the home farm. He remained under the parental roof until 1904, in which year he entered the employ of Regnold Johnson, a lumber merchant of Bishop Hill, with whom he remained for two years. On March 9, 1907, he accepted his present position as manager of the Galva Grain Elevator Company at Nekoma. The company owns an elevator with a capacity of thirty thousand bushels, and they handle about three hundred and fifty thousand bushels of grain per year, dealing principally in corn and oats. It is a cooperative organization, consisting of farmers, and is capitalized for fifteen thousand dollars. They purchase grain throughout the country for a radius of about seven miles and ship chiefly to the Chicago market, this being the only grain center in the township. The business has already reached extensive proportions and is continually growing in proportion.

On the 18th of January, 1905, Mr. Olson was united in marriage to Miss Cassie Smith, a daughter of Mrs. M. E. Smith, of Bishop Hill, and unto this union has been born one son, Stewart Clifton. The family residence is in Nekoma, where Mr. and Mrs. Olson are prominent in a large circle of friends, who entertain for them high regard and esteem. Fraternally he is a Mason and also holds membership with the Modern Woodmen of America, while in politics he gives stalwart support to the democracy, although the honors and emoluments of office have no attraction for him. Mr. Olson is yet a young man but has already attained a gratifying measure of success which augurs well for a bright future, while his many good qualities, his social manner, his genial disposition and his cordiaUty have made him popular with those with whom he has been brought in contact.

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.