Oscar Adolph Anderson

Era: World War I

Military Branch: Army

He served in World War I. He served in Europe.

He joined the U.S. Army in 1917, when he was 19 years old.

He attained the rank of Sergeant and served in the infantry as a motor sergeant.

He was born in Isanti County, Minnesota, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Farnquist, in 1897. His widowed mother remarried in 1902, and he took his stepfather’s name, Anderson, as his surname.

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A text summarizing his life reads as follows:

Oscar Adolph Anderson was born in Isanti County, Minnesota, in August, 1897. His name was originally Oscar Adolph Farnquist. His mother and father had two children, Oscar and Florence; she was born in 1898. Oscar’s family moved to Sparta, Minnesota, on the Iron Range. His father died of the typhoid epidemic, and his mother moved to Duluth, Minnesota.

His mother married Carl Albert Anderson in 1902, and Oscar took his last name. Oscar attended schools in Duluth, Minnesota, and quit school in the 7th grade.

Oscar joined the Army in 1917 at the age of 19. He was a motor sergeant in the infantry. His job was to maintain the trucks and to deliver goods. Once, while he was stationed in France, he had to deliver a truckload of cigarettes to the front line. The cigarettes were donated to the men serving in the Army by the Knights of Columbus. Oscar and his buddy drove the cigarettes to the front line. They decided to keep a case for themselves just in case they weren’t offered any by the men on the line. They weren’t offered any cigarettes, so they were very happy they had hidden a case for themselves.

When Oscar returned home from the Army, he worked for Glass Block in Duluth, Minnesota. He delivered packages and he worked as a mechanic. He worked at the Glass Black mechanic station at 10th Avenue East and 3rd Street. He met and married Edna Nelson, and he and Edna lived upstairs, over the shop, until it burned down.