Submitted by: Christine Neal
Mr. Ole A. Canuteson, who first saw light of day on April 29,1834, near Rochester, New York and who had been slowly declining for the last few years, Quietly passed away on January 16,1920, at the ripe old age of 86 years, 8 months and 18 days. On Sunday afternoon his remains were interred in the Norse Lutheran Cemetery, Rev. J.K. Rystad pronouncing the last sad rites in the presence of a large concourse of sorrowing relatives and friends. Deceased leaves on daughter, four sons, 15 grand children, and four great grand children, besides a host of friends to mourn his loss. Mr. O.A. Canuteson was naturally of a kind hearted, benevolent, modest, and unassuming disposition, an honest, upright and conscientious man; a faithful and devoted husband; a kind father; a fine neighbor and a good man. His parents were among the old pioneers who blazed the way in the wilderness, and came on the sloop, being the first immigrants from Norway who arrived in 1825, settling near Rochester, New York, where the subject was born. His parents and the infant, Ole, soon moved to La Salle County, Illinois, where they helped establish the “Fox River Settlement”, the first permanent Norwegian Settlement in America. Mr. O.A. Canuteson and family moved to Bosque County, Texas, in the spring of 1859 and helped establish the Norse Norwegian Settlement. He, thus, endured the drawbacks and hardships of a frontier, pioneer life both in Illinois and Texas. Mr. O.A. Canuteson was a true and conscientious liberal until within two years of his death when he was baptized and, practically, joined the Lutheran Church, evidently for satisfaction and his soul’s salvation. Another old pioneer gone to his eternal abode and reward. Peace to his ashes. May his memory ever remain fresh. His surviving children were: Daughter: Cora Olivia Canuteson Aulie; Sons: Halvar, Andrew, Albert L., Alferd Severin; Deceased Children: Daughters: Mary Ann (Anna Marie) Canuteson Christenson, Julie Helen, Elisabeth; Son: Canute; Wives: Ingeborg (1870), Christina (1891), Martha (1919)