Ola Johnson

OLA JOHNSON, the well known farmer in Bethel, has not only become a leader amongst the Swedish farmers and residents of the township, but he has become very much respected by the people in general. He represents the class of foreigners who come to this country with a determination to make good and he has succeeded beyond anything that could have been expected.

He was born in Sweden, February 2, 1843, and was the son of Jons and Buel Nelson. Both of his parents were born in Sweden and remained there all of their lives. His father was a farmer in Sweden and he died in 1870. His wife outlived him ten years and died in 1880.

Ola Johnson was born on his father's farm and he attended the district school. After he left school he worked on his father's farm. He was ambitious and believed that he could do better if he started out for himself. He had heard of the wonderful possibilities for a young man in America and in 1869 he left his home and crossed the ocean. His father died the year after he came to America. Ola Johnson came to Kansas in 1870 and located in Wyandotte county, starting farming in a small way at first. He now has a hundred and six acres of land on which he raises wheat, hay and general farm produce.

In 1870, the year he came to Wyandotte county, he married Cecelia Nelson, who was also born in Sweden and had come to this country in 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have three daughters, Bettie, Hattie Mary and Ellen, who is now the wife of Oscar Johnson and lives at Kansas City, Missouri. Oscar Johnson, the son of Ola Johnson, is living at home with his father and assists him in the work of the farm.

Mr. Johnson is a Republican in politics and is a prominent man in that part of the country. He is a member of the Swedish Lutheran Church. He belongs to the fraternal order of Masons and stands very high with the members of that organization. He is a first class farmer, one of the kind who is always on the lookout for improved methods of doing things. He has a fine home and excellent barns and he may congratulate himself that he has made a success of his life and has no one to thank for it but himself, with the cooperation of his wife. He naturally has many good characteristics and he has cultivated them, even as he cultivated his land and both have been equally productive.