Oscar Morton Olson

OSCAR MORTON OLSON. - In every city in the United States there are Swedish people who have in some way or another come to the front. The Swedish vice consul must of necessity be a Swede himself, but in the case of Oscar Morton Olson we find a Swede who has also distinguished himself in business and who has identified himself with Kansas City for the past thirty years. Many young Swedish men and women have come to the city without friends and without money. They have found a friend in Mr. Olson and he has helped them to earn money. Not only has Mr. Olson proved himself useful to his own countrymen, but he has done much for Kansas City itself.

Oscar Morton Olson was born at Gottland in Sweden May 2, 1856. He is the son of Olaf Hanson and Louisa, his wife, both born in Sweden. Mr. Hanson was for eight years engaged in buying and selling cattle, horses and poultry on a coast vessel in the old country. For two and a half years he operated a Scandinavian newspaper which he had organized in connection with the Gazette. He sold this to the Armourdale Post. After he came to Kansas City he was for a time timekeeper for the Kansas City Water Works and he helped to lay the first pipes in the city. He was also with Inman for some time, who was then at the head of the gas company. He helped to install gas in Kansas City.

Oscar Morton Olson was twenty-one years old when he came to America. He went direct to Kansas City, which at that time was only a village with Indians roaming about. For three years he worked at various kinds of business and then started a grocery store at 576 Minn avenue. After about two years he sold out and engaged in the transfer business. He operated the first moving cart in Wyandotte county. He had bought a piece of land and in his spare time he ploughed it and planted corn there. He continued in the transfer business for seven years, at the end of which time he sold out and became connected with Ford, Troup & Husted in the real estate business. Then for fifteen years he bought and sold real estate on his own account. He lives at 1608 North Fifth street, on the same piece of land that he used to grow corn when he first came to Kansas City.

In 1880 he married Emma Christena Peterson in Kansas City. She was the daughter of Peter Olson and Petrenella, his wife. Her former name was Johnson. Mr. and Mrs. Olson have one son, Arthur H., born February 27, 1884. He is the foreman at Casey's Sheet Metal Works, and lives at home with his parents.

Mr. Olson has been Swedish vice consul for fifteen years. He is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and of the National Volunteers, of which he is inside guard. He takes no particular interest in politics, indeed by reason of his office he must be non-partisan. During the years that Mr. Olson has been in Kansas City he has seen great changes. The city has grown from a little village to its present proportions. He feels an unbounded pride in the city and he never loses an opportunity to do anything he can to further its advancement. He is still in the real estate business and is doing all he can in the upbuilding of Kansas City, Kansas.