SOREN R. NELSON.
Left an orphan at the age of fifteen years, his mother having died when he was fourteen, and his father having died a year later, Soren R. Nelson came to this county, on money borrowed from relatives, with his sister and three brothers. After the estate of his parents had been settled, and he had received the two hundred and fifty dollars which he had pledged to his relatives in repayment for an advance made to pay the passage of himself and his sister and three brothers to America, the bank in which the money was deposited failed and most of the money was lost. Undaunted by this early misfortune, Soren R. Nelson applied himself diligently to make the most of his opportunities in the new world. As a consequence he is today regarded as one of the substantial and influential business men of Exira, this county, where he owns a garage and where he is extensively engaged in dealing in automobiles and implements.
Soren R. Nelson's parents, Rasmus and Catherine (Sorenson) Nelson were farmers in their native land, the little kingdom of Denmark, but when Soren R. was a year old they moved to Germany and there the elder Nelson farmed until his death in 1892. His wife died one year previously, in 1891. They left a family of five children, of whom Soren is the eldest, the others being Agnes, Nels, Robert and Hans. Agnes is living in Colfax, Iowa; Nels and Robert are in the implement business at Brayton, Iowa, and Hans is deceased.
Soren R. Nelson was born in Denmark on October 24, 1876. Following his father's death, his mother having passed away the year before, he persuaded his relatives to loan the five children enough money to come to America. He promised to pay them when their parents' estate was settled. Arrangements were made and thus the five orphans came to America and located in Audubon county with an aunt. When the estate was settled the modest sum of two hundred and fifty dollars was left, and out of that it was necessary to repay the money they had borrowed from relatives. The money was sent to this country and was placed in a bank at Chicago, Illinois. While the money was on deposit the bank failed, and Soren R. and his brothers and their sister lost almost all of the two hundred and fifty dollars. This was their first financial experience in America. Fortunately, Soren R. Nelson had received an excellent elementary education in Germany and after leaving school he taught for a short time.
Upon arriving in this country the five Nelson children located first near Brayton, this county, where the boys worked as farm hands. Soren R. Nelson was thus engaged for three years, after which he was engaged to teach school in this county and was thus employed for twelve years, after which he engaged in the hardware and implement business at Brayton. He remained at Brayton for four years, and then engaged in the implement and automobile business at Atlantic, and is proprietor of the Cass County Implement Company, which was incorporated for five thousand dollars in 1912. In the year 1911 he purchased a half interest with H. A. Nelson & Company, implement dealers, of Exira, which interest he later sold and in February, 1913, started in the garage and automobile business. Mr. Nelson has the agency for the Ford automobile in this county and also handles a complete line of implements.
On November 24, 1898, Soren R. Nelson was married to Ida Nelson, daughter of L. P. and Marie Nelson, to which happy union four children have been born, Violet, Ralph, Perle and Marie. Mrs. Soren R. Nelson was born in Cass county, Iowa, her parents being natives of Germany and Denmark, respectively. Upon his arrival in America, L. P. Nelson located in Des Moines, Iowa, and there was married. For a time he worked in a brickyard. In 1878 he removed to Elkhorn. Iowa, where he took up farming. Subsequently he moved to a farm three and one-half miles west of Exira, in this county, where he is now living. He and his wife are the parents of nine children, Anna, Rosa, Hans, Ida, Martha, Mary, Ray, Arthur and Albert, all of whom are living in this county.
Mr. and Mrs. Soren R. Nelson are members of the Danish Lutheran church. Mr. Nelson is a member of and active in the fraternal affairs of the Modern Woodmen of America, and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Atlantic. He served for seven years as assessor of Oakland township, and was mayor of Brayton for two years. Politically, he is identified with the Republican party. He is recognized as an enterprising and energetic citizen and is held in the highest regard by all who know him.
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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. 570-572.
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