After the death of his father, a twenty year old Osuld Torrison used his savings to pay passage for himself, his mother, and three siblings from Norway to America. This leadership, ambition and industrious spirit would serve him well in his new homeland. His first two years in Manitowoc County were spent working as a clerk in a Manitowoc Rapids general store. He then moved to the city of Manitowoc to hold the same position at the Baker and Beardsley Store. By 1853, he purchased the merchandise and opened the O. Torrison and Co. Store at Sixth and Commercial Streets (Commercial Street is now Maritime Drive), which would eventually grow into one of Wisconsin’s largest mercantile operations.

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