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James and Martha Olson

	Husband's Name	Wife's Name
	OLSON, James	(LSU) Martha
Birth Date	12 Apr 1842	1849
Christened	Bergen Norway	Bergen Norway
Death Date	1913 age 70y	1921 age 72y
Burial Data	South St. Paul Cemetery, Union County South Dakota	South St. Paul Cemetery, Union County South Dakota
Marriage Date	before 1862	before 1862
Father	OLESON,	unknown
Mother	unknown	unknown

M F	Children-Surname-Given	Birth--Date	Birth Place Town-County	State	Death Data	Location	Married To, Date, Place
M	OLSON, Ole	1868	Brule, Union County	South Dakota	unknown	unknown	unknown
F	OLSON, Alethe	1869	Brule, Union County	South Dakota	unknown	unknown	unknown
F	OLSON, Betsy	1870	Brule, Union County	South Dakota	unknown	unknown	unknown
#4	OLSON,	1871-1872	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown
M	OLSON, Teodor	1873	Brule, Union County	South Dakota	unknown	unknown	unknown
#6	OLSON,	1875	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown
M	OLSON, Johnyr	1877	Brule, Union County	South Dakota	unknown	unknown	unknown
F	OLSON, Emma	1879	Brule, Union County	South Dakota	unknown	unknown	unknown
#9	OLSON,	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown
#10	OLSON,	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown
#11	OLSON,	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown
#12	OLSON, Betsy	1868	Union Elk Point	South Dakota	unknown	unknown	ANDERSON, Albert Julius 1890

Sources:

Census of Norweigans in the Dakotas 1880 lists our Olson's in Brule Township, Union County Dakota Territory page 399

Complete transcript from A. T. Andreas' "Historical Atlas of Dakota", 1884.

"JAMES OLSEN, farmer, Section 8, Town 92, Range 49, P. O. Richland, was born in Bergen, Norway, April 12, 1842. He immigrated to America in 1862 and located in Union County. October 15, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, First Dakota Cavalry. In company with twenty-two others he was detailed to assist in laying out a Government road from Newberry, to Virginia City, Nevada. While in this service they were corralled by a large band of Arapahoes at Tongue River. They held out for fourteen days, until reinforcements arrived from Fort Laramie, Wyoming. He was mustered out October 15, 1865, and returned to Union County. He owns 170 acres in Section 8, the northwest corner of Town 92, Range 49. Seventy acres are under cultivation, the balance hay and timberland. Mr. Olsen is treasurer of School District No. 24. He is a member of the Lutheran Church."

A Rootsweb link with less detailed information on James Olson's service in the Civil War

BLM Land Records list further land holding of James and Martha Olson:
OLSON JAMES 05 092 N 049 W 018 40 251101 PA 1516 04/20/1882
OLSON JAMES 05 092 N 049 W 018 61.06 251101 PA 1516 04/20/1882
OLSON JAMES 05 092 N 049 W 018 62.45 251101 PA 1516 04/20/1882




Family records also state James and Martha Olson were from Norway. They homesteaded 9 miles north of Elk Point, Union County South Dakota. Together they had 12 children.

James and Martha Olson are buried in the South St. Paul Cemetery, Union County South Dakota Following is the detail from the South St. Paul Cemetery, WPA Graves Registration Project conducted during the Great Depression. The list is dated Aug. 1940. The South St. Paul Cemetery is located in Brule Township, Union County, South Dakota T92N R50W Sec. 25.

Surname	First Name	Grave #	Lot #	Block #	Section	Date of Death	Age	Sex	Veteran Marker
OLSON	James	4	42	1	1	1913	70	M	Civil War
OLSON	Martha	5	42	1	1	1921	72	F	Civil War Widow rec'd Pension

Other Books:
A century in review, city of Elk Point, South Dakota, 1859- 1959. 1959.

Quasquicentennial, Elk Point, South Dakota, 1859-1984. Elk Point, S. D.: Book Committee, 1984. (Elk Point Graphics)

G. Bie Ravndal, "Scandinavian Pioneers in South Dakota," South Dakota Historical Collections, Vol. XII, p. 319.

Doane Robinson, Encyclopedia of South Dakota, p. 326

Further information on South Dakota history and a sketch of Red Cloud

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