The Danielson family has been prominent in the settlement and development
of LaSalle county, coming here in pioneer days. Hard-working, upright and
just in all their dealings, they have merited the respect and confidence
which have been liberally accorded them by neighbors and acquaintances.
The father of our subject is Christopher Danielson, who was born in
Vadla, Norway, January 4, 1834, and when one year old was brought to this
country by his father, who settled in the vicinity of Norway, LaSalle
county, and carried on a farm there until 1849, when he and his wife and all
his children save Christopher fell victims to the cholera. When twenty-one,
Christopher Danielson married Ann, daughter of Osman Thompson, a well known
farmer owning property near Big Indian, LaSalle county. She came with her
father to the United States in 1835, when she was two years old. During his
active life, Mr. Danielson carried on a fine farm near Leland, and became
prosperous. In 1897 he retired and went to Lamoni, Iowa, where his sons,
Daniel C. and Joseph, reside. His eldest son, Martin, has charge of the Old
Folks' Home at Lamoni, an institution supported by the church of the Latter
Day Saints. Another son, Edwin, born in 1869, is engaged in business with
our subject, and David N. is a grain merchant, of Thompson, Illinois. The
daughters are Bertha, wife of Lorenzo Hayer, of LaSalle county; Ida, Mrs.
Charles Hayer; and Mary, Mrs. Andrew Gaard, of Sheridan, Illinois.
O. M. Danielson was born in this county, November 15. 1863. After having
completed his liberal public-school education he came to Leland and for a
year was engaged in the grocery business. From his boyhood he had evinced
great aptitude in the use of all kinds of tools, and he concluded to embark
in the manufacture of wagons and carriages in Leland. Soon afterward, he
commenced handling foreign-made vehicles, and added a stock of implements of
various kinds. Success attended him from the first, and his excellent
business methods won for him increasing popularity. In 1895 the firm of
Danielson Brothers was organized, and a general hardware business was
started, as well. For a few years the brothers operated the Leland
electric-light plant, which our subject constructed for the town, but the
expense attending the operation of this enterprise proved too great for the
citizens and it was abandoned.
On the 28th of February, 1885, the
marriage of Mr. Danielson and Carrie, daughter of William Larson, was
celebrated. They have had two children, but only Willis, who was born in
1887, is living. Mrs. Danielson's father was a successful farmer and an
early settler in the vicinity of Wenona, Illinois.
Our subject is a
member of the church of Latter Day Saints. In his political faith Mr.
Danielson is a Republican. He takes a patriotic interest in public affairs,
and is highly esteemed by his customers and acquaintances in general. Now in
the prime of manhood he has already achieved more than many men years his
senior, and judging his future by his past he will be some day a wealthy
man.
Extracted 13 May 2019 by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois, published in 1900, volume 2, pages 597-598.
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