Olof Olsson

Olof Olsson (31 March 1841 – 12 May 1900) was a prominent Swedish-American Lutheran clergyman who served in several churches in the American Midwest. He was also the third president of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, serving from 1891 to 1899.

Biography Sweden Olof Olsson was born in Karlskoga, Värmland, Sweden. He was the son of Olof and Britta Olsson. Olsson attended the Fjellstedt School in Stockholm. He was educated at the universities of Stockholm and Uppsala, and was graduated at the latter in 1861, after spending a year (1859–1860) in the Missionary Institute at Leipzig. He also studied in the theological department of the University of Uppsala, where he graduated in 1863. He was ordained on 15 December 1863, to the ministry of the Church of Sweden and at once assumed the duties of pastor, serving in that capacity in Karlstad, Sweden, until 1868.

United States In 1869, Olsson accepted a position as pastor in Lindsborg, Kansas. He emigrated from Sweden with his wife and daughter, his parents, his brother Carl, and 250 others. On 19 August 1869, Olsson founded the Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church. He led the congregation from 1869 until 1876. During this time, he also served two terms in the Kansas Legislature as the representative from McPherson County. He left the Bethany Church when he was called to serve as professor of theology in the theological seminary of the Swedish Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.

Works He edited Nytt och Gammalt, a newspaper, at Lindsborg, Kansas, in 1873, and Luther-Kalender, an annual (Rock Island, Illinois, 1883). He published in Swedish At the Cross (Rock Island, Illinois), which was reprinted in Sweden; Greetings from Afar, being Recollections of Travels in England and Germany (1880; also translated into Norwegian and published in Norway); and The Christian Hope, Words of Consolation in Suffering and Sorrow (Chicago, 1887). He also helped edit Korsbaneret, the annual church year book as well as the first hymnal of the Augustana Synod published in the English language.

Family Olsson married Anna Lisa Jonsdotter on 22 December 1864.

Anna Lisa Anna Lisa Jonsdotter (also known as Anna Lovisa Jonsson or Johnson) was born in Värmland, Sweden on 8 March 1841. Anna later taught at the college, and became known for her fiction. Anna died on 15 February 1946, at the age of 79. She was buried in the family plot in Riverside Cemetery in Moline, Illinois.

Maria (Mia) Maria (15 September 1869 – 3 May 1934), often called Mia, was the Olssons' second daughter. She was born in Lindsborg, Kansas. During a family trip to Europe in 1889, Mia and her younger sister Lydia took lessons in "fancy work." Mia would later use these dressmaking skills to patent the "Combination Collar Fastener." Lydia died 1 March 1958, and was buried in the family plot at Riverside Cemetery, Moline, Illinois.

Johannes (Hannes) Johannes Samuel (4 July 1877 – 23 September 1967), often called Hannes, was the Olssons' only surviving son. He was born either in Moline, Illinois or Rock Island, Illinois. As a child, he traveled with his family in Europe. He enrolled at Augustana in 1897, and joined the Conservatory of Music in 1900. A year later, he attended the Augustana Business College. As an adult, Hannes held a number of jobs. He first was hired as a clerk for Hartz and Company, a wholesale and retail drug business. In 1929, he became a music teacher, a position he held on and off for the rest of his life. He was also a band leader and a musician. Hannes died on 23 September 1967. He was buried with the rest of his family in Riverside Cemetery, Moline, Illinois.