Iver Lawson (December 21, 1821 – October 5, 1871) was a Norwegian-American real estate investor and newspaper publisher. Together with

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

and

Knud Langeland Knud Langeland (October 27, 1813 – February 8, 1886) was an American editor, farmer, and politician. Born in Samnanger, Norway, Langeland taught school in Norway. In 1843, Langeland emigrated to the United States and settled on a farm in R ...

, he was the founder of the ''

Skandinaven ''Skandinaven'' was a Norwegian language newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois from 1866 until 1941. Background ''Skandinaven'' was established by three Norwegian immigrants; John Anderson, Knud Langeland (1813–88), and Iver Lawson (1 ...

'' newspaper in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Biography

Iver Lawson was born as Iver Larson Bø at Bø in

Voss Voss () is a municipality and a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages include Bolstadøyri, Borstrondi, Evanger, Kvitheim, Mjølfjell, Opphe ...

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipal ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. He migrated to the United States in 1844 with his brother, Steffen Lawson. Two other siblings, Boarky Lawson and Knud Lawson, had migrated earlier. Iver Lawson came to prosperity buying and selling real estate in Chicago during the mid-19th century. He entered city politics in the 1860s. He was a Chicago City Marshall, a member of the

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mont ...

(representing the 15th Ward from 1864 through 1868) and an

Illinois state representative The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

. He was also one of the organizers of the First Lutheran church of Chicago in 1848. ''Skandinaven'' was established by three Norwegian immigrants;

, and Iver Lawson. John Anderson administered the newspaper while Knud Langeland served as the first editor of ''Skandinaven''. Iver Lawson was an investor and landlord who provided a location and facilities.

Personal life

Lawson married Melinda Nordvig. They had two sons, Victor Fremont Lawson (1850-1925) and Iver Norman Lawson, Sr. (1865-1937) He died on October 5, 1871. After his death, his son, Victor Lawson, took over the administration of his father's estate, which included his real estate holdings and interest in ''Skandinaven''.''Biography of Victor Freemont Lawson''
(Inventory of the Victor Lawson Papers)

Biography

Personal life

Footnotes

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