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Olson family papers

 Collection
Identifier: MSS 9056

Scope and Contents

Collection contains a variety of correspondence, papers, photographs, and ephemera of the Delilah King Olson family. Collection materials document the life of Delilah King Olson in Fillmore, Utah, and the lives and the careers across the world of three generations of her family, including insight into everyday rural Utah life and political campaigns. Dated 1871-1947.

Dates

  • 1871-1946

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Olson family papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Coordinating Committee.

Biographical History

Delilah King Olson (1841-1907) was a prominent suffragette and women's right activist who settled the Fillmore, Utah with Latter-day Saint pioneers.

Delilah King Olson was born on July 10, 1841 in Sylvania, Ohio to Latter-day Saint pioneers Thomas Rice King and Matilda Robison King who were a part of the early settlement Fillmore, Utah. She married George Daniel Olson, a cabinet maker and musician, on November 14, 1861 in Fillmore, Utah where all nine of their children were born. She devoted her life to teaching in schools and served eighteen years on the board of examination of teachers in Millard county. She was also the first woman to be elected to public office in Utah.

Delilah King Olson died in 1907 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Biographical History

Culbert L. Olson (1876-1962) was a BYU graduate and a governor of California.

Culbert L. Olson was born on November 7, 1876 in Fillmore, Utah. He became an atheist early in life and graduated from Brigham Young University in 1895 and went on to study law at George Washington University Law School where he graduated in 1901. Culbert L. Olson went on to practice law in Salt Lake City, Utah for nineteen years where he met and eventually married Kate Jeremy on January 5, 1905 in Davis, Utah. He was elected to the Utah State Senate in 1916 and campaigned for governor of California 1983. Culbert L. Olson won his first election on the democratic ballot, and his wife passed away in 1939 shortly after his election.

Culbert L. Olson passed away in Los Angeles California on April 13, 1962 in Los Angeles, California.

Biographical History

George M. Hanson (1869-1928) was an American Consul Officer from Fillmore, Utah who served in Tasmania; Sandakan, British North Borneo and Liege, Belgium.

George Marion. Hanson was born on June 29, 1869 in Fillmore, Utah. He attended the University of Utah and worked as a teacher and in the newspaper business. On November 11, 1896 he married Bertha Olson in Fillmore, Utah. George M. Hanson and his wife adopted their only son Evan in 1894. George became interested in international law and diplomatic service. George M. Hanson eventually became an American Consul Officer who served in Tasmania; Sandakan, British North Borneo and Liege, Belgium at the end of World War I.

George M. Hanson died on September 17,1928 in Colon, Panama.

Biographical History

Bertha Olson Hanson (1873-1965) was the wife of George M. Hanson, an American Consul Officer from Fillmore, Utah.

Bertha Olson Hanson was born on August 29, 1873 in Fillmore, Utah to Delilah King Olson and George Olson. She married George M. Hanson on November 11, 1896 in Fillmore, Utah and together they adopted their only son, Evan, in 1894. Her husband George was an American Consul Officer who served in Tasmania; Sandakan, British North Borneo and Liege, Belgium.

Bertha Olson Hanson died on March 12, 1965 in Tucson, Arizona.

Biographical History

Evan G. Hanson (1894-1963) was a United States Navy Commander during World War I.

Evan Greenwood. Hanson was born on October 7, 1894 in Fillmore, Utah. His mother Evelyn Mary Olson died in childbirth and his father, Alma Greenwood, allowed Evan to be adopted by Evelyn's sister Bertha Olson Hanson and her husband George M. Hanson in 1894 who raised him as their son. Evan G. Hanson went on to be a United States Navy Commander during the First World War. He was known to have served on the battleship Connecticut as a recorder of summary court-martial and later served on the U.S.S. Louisville.

Evan G. Hanson died on August 21, 1963.

Biographical History

F. Dean Bradley (1883-1927) was an important Nevada mining official and educator.

Francis Dean Bradley was born on November 9, 1883 in Utica, New York. His father, Garrett A. Bradley was a Civil War Veteran and a mine employee who moved their family to Nevada when he was a small boy. He was a graduate of the University of Nevada in 1905 with a degree of mining engineering. F. Dean Bradley married Ethel Laverne Olson on October 22, 1910 in San Francisco, California. F. Dean Bradley was the principal of the Tonopah School of Mines. He served with the Nevada Department of Education and later on the Federal Board of Vocational Education as regional agent for industrial education.

F. Dean Bradley died on June 2, 1927 in Reno, Nevada.

Biographical History

Ethel Laverne Olson Bradley (1881-1959) was the wife of a mining engineer in California and mother to a Red Cross Journalist.

Ethel Laverne Olson Bradley was born on January 15, 1881 in Fillmore, Utah to parents Delilah King Olson and George Olson. She married Francis Dean Bradley on October 22, 1910 in San Francisco, California. Her husband Francis Dean Bradley was a mining engineer and a writer. Ethel Bradley kept in constant correspondence with her daughter LaVerne, who worked for both the National Geographic magazine and for the Red Cross in Europe.

Ethel Bradley died on January 8, 1959 in Los Angeles, California.

Biographical History

La Verne B. Rollin (1913-2013) was a well-known writer for the National Geographic magazine and American Red Cross correspondent throughout Europe during WWII.

La Verne B. Rollin was born on August 28, 1913 in Nevada to F. Dean Bradley and Ethel Bradley. She graduated from the University of California Los Angeles in 1937. Soon after graduating she moved to New York City, New York in 1937 where she briefly found work at the National Broadcasting Company as a typist in the stenographic department before transitioning to a position as general assistant to the managing editor and then associate editor of The Spur, a high society magazine, until 1939. La Verne also was a well-known writer and editor for the National Geographic magazine. During The Second World War La Verne served with the American Red Cross from 1944 to 1947 in Europe first as a 'Donut Dollie' with a Clubmobile and then as a special correspondent of activities through Europe in the public relations department on the red cross newspaper. On October 3, 1947 she married Michel Francois Rollin in Paris, France. LaVerne B. Rollin died November 23, 2013 in Snohomish, Washington.

Biographical History

Eva Olson (1867-1894) was the mother of a United States Naval Commander and daughter of a prominent Latter-day Saint suffragette.

Eva Olson was born on September 2, 1867 in Fillmore, Utah to parents Delilah King Olson and George Daniel Olson. She married the widower Alma Greenwood and became his second wife in Salt Lake City, Utah on December 20, 1893. She died giving birth to their son Evan Greenwood, who was then adopted and raised by her sister, Bertha Olson Hanson, and her husband George M. Hanson. Her son went on to be a United States Naval Commander.

Eva Olson died on October 7, 1894 in Fillmore, Utah.

Biographical History

Edmund Olson (1864-1953) was employed by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway Company.

Edmund Olson was born on November 26, 1864 in Fillmore, Utah to parents Delilah King Olson and George Daniel Olson. He married Emeline Little on April 1, 1883 in Littleton, Utah. He worked for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway Company in 1887.

Edmund Olson died on November 26, 1864 in Los Angeles, California.

Extent

2 boxes (1 linear ft.)

1 oversize box (0.7 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Series

Arranged in 6 series: 1. Delilah King Olson papers, 1871-1930; 2. Culbert L. Olson papers, 1927-1946, bulk 1937-1946; 3. George M. Hanson and Bertha Olson Hanson papers, 1912-1939, bulk 1913-1916. 4. F. Dean Bradley and Ethel Bradley papers, 1901-1942. 5. Eva Olson papers, 1887-1893. 6. Edmund Olson papers, 1887.

Custodial History

Purchased from Walkabout Books in August 2017.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased; Walkabout Books; August 2017.

Appraisal

LDS cultural, family, social, intellectual, mission and religious history (20th Century Mormon and Western Manuscripts Collection Development Policy, V.V.I, November 14, 2013).

Processing Information

Processed; John M. Murphy, curator, and Whitney Dean, student manuscript processor; 2017.

Title
Register of Olson family papers
Status
Completed
Author
Whitney Dean
Date
2017 September 9
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States