Nels I. Nelson
NELSON, SORBAN, SCAR
Posted By: Gordon Felland (email)
Date: 2/12/2006 at 22:33:25
The life work of Nels I. Nelson constituted a most valuable contribution to the upbuilding, business development and municipal progress of Lake Mills. He was a man whose genuine worth commanded the respect, confidence and goodwill' of all and his record proved that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously. He was one of the pioneer merchants of Lake Mills, where he continued actively in business up to the time of his demise. His birth occurred upon a farm near Calmar, Iowa, on the 7th of June, 1857, and he was a little lad of ten years when his parents removed to St. Ansgar. There he attended the common schools and afterward became a pupil in St. Ansgar Seminary, while later he continued his education in Decorah College.
Mr. Nelson had reached the age of twenty-six years when on the 3d of June, 1883, he wedded Miss Anna Christine Sorban, of St. Ansgar, and they removed to Osage, Iowa, where for three years Mr. Nelson was employed in a hardware store. On the expiration of that period he accompanied Ole Scar to Lake Mills, Mr. Scar having proposed to Mr. Nelson that they enter into partnership in the conduct of a general store. Accordingly in 1886 the Scar-Nelson Mercantile Company was organized and for years conducted the leading retail and wholesale establishment of this section of the state. After 1890 they concentrated their energies entirely upon the retail business but extended the scope of their activities to include the conduct of a butter and egg cold storage business. They erected a large brick building in Lake Mills in which to house their stock and for years they were proprietors of the leading commercial establishment of the city, carrying a very large and attractive line of goods. Their business connection was most harmonious, the partnership being continued with mutual pleasure and profit until failing health caused Mr. Scar to retire in 1912. Long before this Mr. Nelson had undertaken a new enterprise. Believing that a corn canning factory might be profitably conducted in Lake Mills, he succeeded in interesting a number of the people of the district sufficiently to buy stock and a company was thus organized, of which Mr. Nelson was elected secretary and general manager. He bent his energy toward the successful establishment and management of the new undertaking, which from the first proved a profitable one, sending out a large output annually. For a year he was in the real estate business. He improved many farms and the estate owns two farms in Iowa and three in Minnesota, which are rented.
Mr. Nelson had been a resident of Lake Mills for but a brief period when he became an active factor in the control of public as well as private affairs. His fellow townsmen recognized in him a citizen of worth and ability and in 1889 elected him a member of the town council, which position he filled almost continuously for fifteen years, exercising his official prerogatives in support of many measures and movements for the public good. In 1893 he was elected mayor of the city and he was also a most earnest supporter of the public school system, serving for a number of years on the board of education and acting also as president of the board.
It was ill health caused by too heavy business cares that led to Mr. Nelson's death, which occurred at the Lawrence Sanatorium in Minneapolis on November 23, 1915. His wife had passed away April 8, 1915, and her loss was one from which it seemed he could not recover. He had always been most devoted to his family and was a loving husband and a kind and indulgent father. He is survived by two children, Irving and Eda. Mr. Nelson held membership in various fraternal organizations and in Masonry had attained the thirty-second degree. He was a very active and helpful member of the United Lutheran church, assisting materially in its business management and making generous contribution to its support. He cooperated in all plans and movements for the public good and his support could always be counted upon to further any measure that tended to advance the welfare and upbuilding of his city. His was an honored name, for he was ever thoroughly reliable in his dealings. His business was conducted along constructive lines and his path was never strewn with the wreck of other men's fortunes. He held to high ideals and embodied lofty principles in all that he did. There are many beautiful memories connected with his life—memories of his large friendships, his business ideals and his public spirit. His work was indeed of great worth to Lake Mills. A modern philosopher has said: "Not the good that comes to us, but the good that comes to the world through us, is the measure of our success;" and judged not by what he received but by what he gave, the life of N. I. Nelson was certainly a most successful one.
~Source: History of Winnebago and Hancock Counties, Iowa, 1917, Vol. II, page 557.
__________________________________________~photo added 11/18/09, contributed by Ken Moen
~source of photo: Lake Mills 40th anniversary High School 1896-1936; Lake Mills Alumni, pg 124
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