JOHN NELSON.
There is perhaps no record in this volume which more clearly demonstrates the force of industry and honesty in the affairs of life than does the life history of John Nelson, a well-known hardware and furniture dealer and also an undertaker in Exira, Iowa. Almost every civilized country on the face of the globe has sent its representatives to the Hawkeye state, and there is no more important or valuable element in the citizenship of Iowa than that which has come from the little kingdom of Denmark. John Nelson was among the native sons of Denmark who crossed the Atlantic to America, and here found excellent opportunities which he has improved, and has become a successful man, and one whose efforts have been of value to the community where he has lived.
John Nelson was born on October 14, 1868, in Denmark, the son of Andrew and Mary (Michelson) Nelson, both natives of Denmark. The former was a farmer and followed that occupation in his native land until his death in 1896. His wife had died twelve years previously in 1884. He served in the Danish-Prussian War. He and his wife were the parents of five children, Nels, John, Meta, Anna and Maren, and all are still living in Denmark except John.
John Nelson received his education in the schools of his native land, and after leaving school he took up the trade of buttermaking, which he followed for twelve years in Denmark. During that time he served eleven months in the Danish army, and after his discharge from the military service, he came to America in 1896, and located at Edwards, Colorado, where he secured a position as a buttermaker in a creamery, remaining there for one year, after which he came to Audubon county, Iowa, and took charge of the creamery at West Hamlin, Iowa, where he remained for five years, and then purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres. He operated this farm for one year and then engaged in business at Exira, Iowa, with Schrauger & Johnson Furniture Company. Mr. Nelson was with this firm for a year and a half, and then engaged in business for himself, and now carries the largest stock of furniture and hardware in Exira. He started this business in July, 1905, with a complete line of hardware, furniture and farm implements. During the fall of 1914 he sold out his stock of implements. John Nelson is well known in this section of the county as one of its most successful and substantial business men. He very thoroughly deserves his large trade and the liberal patronage of the people of Audubon county from the fact that he has been scrupulously honest in all of his dealings with the public.
John Nelson was married 1897 to Anna Marie Green, the daughter of Peter Green, and to this union six children have been born, Helene, Margaretha, Oscar, Adolph, Fred and Marga. Margaretha died at the age of eleven years, and Marga died when young.
Religiously, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are members of the Danish Lutheran church, in which they take an active interest, and to the support of which they are liberal contributors. Mr. Nelson has long been interested in the fraternal circles of his home city. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Exira, and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Danish Brotherhood, and in all of these fraternal organizations he has been prominent since he first became a member. In politics, Mr. Nelson is identified with the Democratic party, and has served as councilman of Exira, and also as a school director, and in both these positions he has discharged his duties to the entire satisfaction of the people of his community.
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Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 635-636.
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