He was born in Romerike, Nes Akerhus, Norway c1807, on the home farm named Ihle Gaard farm, near the village of Eidesvale. If his family followed patronymic naming patterns, I presume his father was named Ole. Swen was the last generation to follow the ancient Norweign naming patterns, thus his descendants all have the surname of Swenson.
He married Maria Jensdatter about 1830. He was a tailor by trade and he also farmed. The family lived near Christina (now present-day Oslo), Norway. Amazingly, he had only one useful arm, having lost the other one or had it severly injured in an accident at a very young age. Swen worked as an iternant tailor going to people's homes and making their clothing. Often, he was gone for long periods of time. Even after Maria died, he had no choice but to leave his young children to fend for themselves as he struggled to make a living.
He emigrated to America in 1871, with his son John and John's wife. Their passage was paid by the youngest son Evan. They moved to Postville, Allamakee Co. IA, where Swen is found is living with John's family in Post Twp at the time of the 1880 federal census and 1885 Iowa census.
Swen's son Evan wrote about his parents in his memoirs: "My father was a tailor by trade; he had a crippled arm and consequently was slow at his work. Labor was cheap at that time and the result ws poverty in the family......My brothers and sisters all left home to work and earn their own living as soon as they were old enough. As father was away most of the time working at his trade, I was left alone with my mother. She was a Christian in the fullest sense of the word and implanted in me her religion and belief in God. Thus my boyhood years were spent with my mother as my sole companion. My father was a good man in his way, but he was away from home so much that he seemed almost a stranger to me........My mother died when I was 14 years old and it is useless to try and tell you how lonesome and utterly lost I was. My father and I kept house the best we could and I was often left alone a week at a time, until finally we got a housekeeper......"
I have found only one brief reference to Swen in the local newspaper: 9-1881: "There have been many on the sick list in the neighborhood of late: ... Evan Swenson, his father and two children"
Maria died in 1863 in Norway. Swen died 1898 in Postville, Allamakee Co. IA, at 83 years of age. I am uncertain of his burial site, he possibly is buried in an unmarked grave in Minert cemetery in rural Post twp. Allamakee Co. IA.
Swen Oleson and Maria Olson had 6 children:
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