Ole Christian Bramer Anderson, 1873

stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org on Mon, 12 Feb 2001

OLE CHRISTIAN BRAMER ANDERSEN, county clerk of Clark County, to which he was elected after making an excellent record as county treasurer, was born in the city of Racine, Wis., July 20, 1873, son of Soren and Caroline (Nielsen) Andersen, and is of Danish ancestry. His education was obtained in the city schools of Racine, which he left at the a of 13, on the death of his mother. There he began industrial life, and in 1893 accompanied his father to Withee, in Hixon Township, Clark County, where, they were joined later by a sister and two brothers. The father had settled on an 80-acre tract of wild land, which Ole C. B. helped to clear. In 1898 he became engaged in road construction, he and his brother Charles building a half-mile of turnpike road two miles north of Withee. In the following year they built half a mile of the main road from Withee to Thorp, and in 1900-1901 they constructed two and a half miles of road north and west of Withee.

Residing on his father's farm until after his marriage, in 1905, Ole C. B. Andersen moved to a twenty-acre tract in the village of Withee, it forming the south half of the southeast of the southwest quarter of Section 34. While living there he followed the painter's trade. In February, 1911, the Withee Co-operative Creamery Company was organized, Mr. Andersen assisting, and becoming its first president. He also served as its secretary until February, 1913.

A Republican in politics, Mr. Andersen may be said to have begun political life in January, 1903, when he was appointed clerk of the town of Hixon to fill the unexpired term. In 1904 he was elected chairman of the township, and thus became a member of the county board, serving for three years. For some years after that he took little part in public affairs, but in 1910 was census enumerator for Hixon Township. He was, however, by this time well known in the county, and has gained a reputation as a man of good business ability and a thoroughly reliable citizen. It was, therefore, no surprise to his friends when, in November, 1912, he was elected on the Republican ticket to the office of treasurer of Clark County, the duties of which he assumed in January, 1913, selling his property in Withee and moving to Neillsville, where he has since resided. As county treasurer he made a good record, holding the position until January, 1917, when, having been elected county clerk in previous November, he then assumed his new duties.

On June 28, 1917, was appointed by President Wilson as clerk of the Exemption Board of Clark County, which office, under the new rules, is now known as that of his.  Since June, 1917, Mr. Andersen has owned his residence in Neillsville. He belongs to the local Odd Fellows Lodge, and also to the Masonic Lodge which he joined June 28, 1905. Mr. Andersen's rise in public life has been gradual, but has been built on a sure foundation that of character. He is known as a man who has "made good" in every position of responsibility in which he has been placed, and his steady habits and unassuming manners have made him personally popular.

On June 28, 1905, Mr. Andersen began domestic life, being united in marriage with Thyra Lorentzen, who was born in June, 1876, daughter of Rasmus C. and Hanne (Thompson) Lorentzen. Her father, who died April 1, 1917, was a farmer in Hixon Township, where the family has resided since 1902. Mrs. Andersen is a graduate nurse, having studied her profession and received her diploma at the Augustana Hospital in Chicago. She and her husband are the parents of four children-Eleanora, Agnes, Frederick and Emily.