Sorenson, Ole

SORENSON, THORSON

Posted By: Roseanna Zehner
Date: 7/25/2006 at 17:32:49

SORENSON, OLE

Ole Sorenson, one of the oldest settlers of Lyon County, and an honored veteran of the Civil War, bears a name which he has kept unstained in every relation of life. He was born in Norway, July 12, 1833, where he was reared and educated in the local schools. His father, Soren Oleson, was a Norwegian farmer, and died in his native land.

With the laudable desire of bettering his condition, and feeling the opportunities of the New World to be far greater than the conditions he was entitled to in his own country, at the age of twenty-eight he came to America, by way of Quebec in 1861, and made his way to Winneshiek County, Iowa, where he was employed as a farm hand for a year. At the end of that time he heard the call of his adopted country as a call of need, and he responded by enlisting as a Union soldier in the Sixth Iowa Cavalry, in which he did faithful service throughout the war. After the return of peace he was honorably discharged, and coming back to Winneshiek County, bought a farm on which he was engaged for one and a half years. In 1869 he is found entering upon a homestead claim in Lyon County, at a time when the entire region was practically a wilderness, in which condition it continued for many years. He put u a claim dugout 12 by 14 feet, and a sod barn. His first breaking was done with oxen, and he had all the experiences common to life on the frontier.

Mr. Sorenson was married January 29, 1869, to Miss Margaret Thorson, who was born in Norway in 1848. They have had a family of nine children born to them, of whom seven are now living, as follows: Simon O., Albert, Theodore, Martin, Trena (dead), Tilda, Amelia (dead), and Margaret. All the above children were born in Lyon County.

Mr. Sorenson is a Republican. He has made a substantial success in life, and now owns a half section of land, all of which is under high cultivation, and is well provided with farm buildings according to the needs of stock and grain.

Source: Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of Lyon County, Iowa. Published under the Auspices of the Pioneer Association of Lyon County. Geo. Monlun, Pres.; Hon. E. C. Roach Sec’y; and Col. F. M. Thompson, Historian. Geo. A. Ogle & CO., Published, Engravers and Book Manufacturers. Chicago, 1904-1905

Transcribed by Roseanna Zehner, Darlene Jacoby and Diane Johnson