Biography - Moses Williamson
MOSES
O. WILLIAMSON was born on the Atlantic ocean, July 14, 1850, of Swedish
parentage. His father, William (Olson) Williamson, was a farmer by
occupation. He and his family came direct t to Illinois and settled in
Sparta township, near Wataga, in Knox county, where the father died in 1853
and the mother in 1885. Here the boy grew to manhood and has since resided.
When a lad of fourteen he learned the harnessmaking trade with Olson & Gray at Wataga, served an apprenticeship of three years and worked at the bench more than twenty years thereafter. He attended the district school up to the age of thirteen, with a term of six months in the village school at the age of seventeen.
Mr. Williamson was married Oct. 18, 1871, to Mary A. Driggs of Wataga, Ill. There were born to them one son, who died in infancy, and two daughters, Adelaide F., born April 22, 1878, married May 13, 1902, to Edward Clyde Slocumb, division civil engineer on the C. B. & Q. R. R. for the St. Louis division, their home being at Beardstown, Ill.; and Nellie M., born May 6, 1883, who is unmarried and lives at home. Mr. Williamson is a church attendant, without being affiliated with any one denomination.
Mr. Williamson was elected and served as town and city clerk for seventeen years, alderman and justice of the peace, was elected county treasurer of Knox county in 1886, was elected county clerk in 1890-94-98, was elected treasurer of the state of Illinois in 1900. He has been a member of of the Republican county central committee for twenty-three years, serving as chairman or secretary most of the time. He was one of the organizers and an active member of the Swedish-American Republican League of Illinois and was its president in 1897.
He is a Knight Templar Mason, an Odd Fellow and Knight of Pythias. In 1890 he with his family removed to Galesburg, Ill., which has since been his home. He is, at present, president of the Swedish Old Settlers of Knox county. He has held membership in the Business Men's Club of Galesburg and in the Hamilton and Marquette Clubs of Chicago. For two years he was a member of the Lincoln Monument Association of Illinois, and it was during his term that the rebuilding of the Lincoln monument at Springfield, Ill., was completed and the remains of the martyred president were laid in their final resting place in the monument.
Mr. Williamson is, at this time, president of the People's Trust and Savings Bank of Galesburg, one of the largest and most successful financial institutions in the state outside of Chicago.
Extracted 17 Sep 2016 by Norma Hass from the History of the Swedes of Illinois, published in 1908 by Engberg-Holmberg Publishing Company, Part 2, Knox County, pages 30-48.
