Ola came to America with his brother John in 1863. His older brother Nels convinced him to leave Sweden and take advantage of the Homestead Act in the States. He worked in St.Peter and St.Paul, MN as a carpenter and millwright before work in Chicago lured him away after the Chicago fire. It was here that he met and married Mathilda Olson, but they eventually left Illinois for New Sweden where they would keep a family farm. Ola was the first postmaster of New Sweden and his house was used, therefore, as the post office. He and Mathilda had several children, four of whom survived to adulthood. When Mathilda and infant Clara died of tuberculosis in 1886, Ola had to take care of the five remaining children (Otto, Agnes, Ansel, Edith, and Hannah) on his own until he found himself another wife to help him in the home. He was only married to this second wife, Hannah, for less than a year before he himself succumbed to a ruptured appendix at the age of 44, leaving the children in the hands of their young stepmother.
Ola came to America with his brother John in 1863. His older brother Nels convinced him to leave Sweden and take advantage of the Homestead Act in the States. He worked in St.Peter and St.Paul, MN as a carpenter and millwright before work in Chicago lured him away after the Chicago fire. It was here that he met and married Mathilda Olson, but they eventually left Illinois for New Sweden where they would keep a family farm. Ola was the first postmaster of New Sweden and his house was used, therefore, as the post office. He and Mathilda had several children, four of whom survived to adulthood. When Mathilda and infant Clara died of tuberculosis in 1886, Ola had to take care of the five remaining children (Otto, Agnes, Ansel, Edith, and Hannah) on his own until he found himself another wife to help him in the home. He was only married to this second wife, Hannah, for less than a year before he himself succumbed to a ruptured appendix at the age of 44, leaving the children in the hands of their young stepmother.
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