Protestant church. He is now taking the world easy, having performed his part in the active duties of life, and in possession of a comfortable competence, enjoys the association of his family and friends, being accorded the confidence and esteem of all who know him.
JOSEPH S. Nelson.
Joseph S. Nelson, a hardware dealer of Cambridge, has conducted an enterprise of this character for the past twelve years and is widely recognized as a successful and representative business man of the town. He has long been a prominent factor in the public life of the community, having acted as mayor of Cambridge for five years and now serving as justice of the peace. His birth occurred in Kendall county, Illinois, on the 25th of March, 1853, his parents being Sebert and Jane (Hill) Nelson, who were born, reared and married in Norway. They crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1848, purchasing and locating on a farm in Kendall county, Illinois, where Mr. Nelson passed away in 1863. He and his wife and a daughter all died of typhoid fever within three weeks of each other.
Joseph S. Nelson was reared under the parental roof, obtaining his early education in the Norwegian schools of his native county. Subsequently he attended the Lutheran College at Decorah, Iowa, studying the English, German, Latin and Norwegian languages. After leaving that institution he came to Story county in 1871 and during the following two years taught in the district schools. On abandoning educational interests he became identified with general agricultural pursuits, being engaged in farming until 1892. In that year he accepted a position as traveling salesman with the Deering Harvester Company, representing the concern for about six years. On the expiration of that period he embarked in business on his own account as a hardware merchant, opening a store at Cambridge, where he has remained for the past twelve years, enjoying an extensive patronage.
In 1873 Mr. Nelson was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Thompson, of Lee county, Illinois, by whom he had eight children, four of whom still survive, namely : Jennie, the wife of the Rev. Ole Norem, a Lutheran minister of St. Paul, Minnesota ; Amanda, the wife of Carl Anderson, a jeweler of Sioux City, Iowa; Tillie, the wife of Dr. George Ingledue, an osteopathic physician of Sioux City, Iowa ; and Andrew, who is now in his senior year at Still College of Des Moines.
Mr. Nelson is a republican in politics and has long been an active worker in the local ranks of the party. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have called him to several positions of public trust. He has served as assessor of Union township for four years, likewise held the office of assessor in Palestine township for a similar period and has