MR. AND MRS. NELS J. NELSON
Nels J. Nelson, who follows farming on section 31, Kensett township, Worth county, was born in Norway on the 8th of December, 1849, his parents being Jacob and Torbjor (Torgeson) Nelson, who came to the United States in 1850, when their son Nels was an infant of but six months. The family home was established in Dane county, Wisconsin, where they resided for four years, and then started westward with Iowa as their destination. They made their way to Winneshiek county, where the parents continued to reside until called to the home beyond.
Nels J. Nelson was reared upon the old homestead farm, his youthful days being spent in the usual manner of the farm-bred boy who divides his time between the work of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the labors of the fields. He supplemented his district school education by a business course in the Breckenridge school at Decorah, Iowa. It was in the year 1875 that Mr. Nelson came to Worth county and in the following fall he purchased his present farm, comprising one hundred and sixty acres of rich and productive land situated on section 31, Kensett township. Throughout the intervening period, covering more than four decades, he has resided upon this place. He came to Worth county with a capital of but four hundred dollars and today he has one of the best improved farms in Kensett township and is ranked with the most substantial and representative citizens of the community. His prosperity is the direct result of his indefatigable efforts and energy. He has displayed sound judgment in the conduct of his farm and everything about his place is indicative of the progressive spirit by which he is ruled.
On the 14th of January, 1879, Mr. Nelson was united in marriage to Miss Helena Olson, of Winneshiek county, Iowa, where her birth occurred, her parents having come to the United States from Norway in I854. She passed away April 16, 1908, and was buried in Elk Grove cemetery, Brookfield township. To Mr. and Mrs. Nelson were born six children: Letta; Ida; Gilbert; Gertrude, deceased; Gertrude, the second of the name; and Ella. The living children are all at home.
In his political views Mr. Nelson is a republican and for six years he served as a member of the county board of supervisors, discharging his duties in that connection with marked promptness, fidelity and capability. He is a public spirited man and one of Worth county's foremost citizens. His business affairs are carefully and wisely managed and his farm property is the visible evidence of his life of well directed energy and thrift
Transcribed by Gordon Felland - July 14, 2005 (picture added 11/26/06)