Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Nelson, Oscar 1867 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com May 10, 2007, 7:32 pm Author: Emma E. Forter (1917) OSCAR NELSON. Sweden has given to Kansas many of her best representative men and women, and among the number who have located in Cottage Hill township, Marshall county, who are recognized as among the prominent and successful citizens of the county, is Oscar Nelson, who was born on August 19, 1867, in the southern part of Sweden and is the son of John E. and Anna S. (Larson) Nelson. John E. and Anna S. Nelson were also natives of Sweden, and there received their education. Some years after their marriage and after two of their children had been born, they decided to seek a home in America. John E. Nelson was born on December 3, 1834, and when he was thirty-four years of age, in 1868, he and his wife and two children came to the United States. After a voyage of five weeks on a sailing vessel, the family landed on the shores of the United States. Mr. Nelson lived in this county until the time of his death on June 27, 1913. On their arrival in this country, they came direct to Kansas and located at Waterville. He soon took a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in section 5, Cottage Hill township, Marshall county. He had money enough to pay for his homestead right and to buy a cow. The next spring he bought a team of horses and an old breaking plow and at once began the task of getting his land ready for the crops. He built a log house in which the family lived for some years and where two of his children were born. During the winter of 1869, which was one of the worst for snow in that section of the country, he worked for the railroad company at shoveling snow from the tracks, working all the way from Waterville to Atchison. In time the farm was thoroughly developed and improved and here Mr. Nelson engaged in general farming and stock raising with much success, and at the time of his death he was the owner of two hundred acres of prime land. He and his wife were active members of the Swedish Lutheran church, Mr. Nelson being one of the organizers of the local church in the township and of the school in district No. 44. Mrs. Nelson is now living with her son, Oscar, and enjoying her remaining years on the old farm which she assisted in developing. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson were the parents of the following children: two girls that died in infancy in Sweden; Charles A., a dairyman at Moneta, California; Oscar; one that died in infancy, after the family came to the United States, and Victor, now deceased. Oscar Nelson received his education in the schools of district No. 44, Cottage Hill township, and one term in the high school at Waterville. He wras reared on the home farm and as a, lad and young man assisted his father with the development and operation of the place. He remained at home until 1897, when he purchased his present farm. The place, now one of the ideal farms of the township, was at that time unimproved and undeveloped. The splendid buildings, fine groves and well-cultivated field are all the result of the hard work and good management of Mr. Nelson. As a farmer and stockman he is recognized as one of the progressive and substantial ones of the county. He keeps a fine lot of cattle and hogs and his crops are among the best grown in that section of the state. In 1916 he made an exhibit of corn at the fair and received most favorable comment for its excellent quality. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company at Waterville and in the County Fair Association. On December 29, 1897, Oscar Nelson was married to Hildor C. Daw, the daughter of John and Caroline (Jacobs) Larson, natives of Sweden, where they spent their lives. Mrs. Nelson was born on September 15, 1871, in Sweden, where she lived until 1893. On coming to the United States she located in Chicago, Illinois, where she lived until her marriage four years later. To Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have been born three children, Richard E., Edwin E. and one that died in infancy. Richard E. was born on January 16, 1899, and Edwin E. was born on December 2, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are members of the Lutheran church and are prominent in the social life of the district. Politically, Oscar Nelson is identified with the Republican party and has always taken a keen interest in the affairs of the township and county. In 1912 he was elected clerk of his township and in 1914 was re-elected for a term of two years. For twenty years he served as clerk of the school district and resigned that position in 1914. He has always been interested in the schools of the township and is one of those progressive men who believe in the best schools. To him good roads and good schools are two of the essential elements in the growth and development of the community. He remembered when the roads were but trails over the prairie, and his recollection is vivid with reference to the many covered wagons wending their way over the winding trails. The log house that his father built was made from logs cut on Coon creek, one and one-half miles west of the old homestead. The lumber that was needed was obtained at the sawmill at Cleabourne and required four days to make the trip, a distance of only eighteen miles. There were no bridges over the streams and many times the water was too high to ford. These conditions and the devastating prairie fires that often raged in that section, made the life of the family for the first few years a hard one. Additional Comments: Extracted from: History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions by Emma E. Forter Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/marshall/bios/nelson422gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ksfiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb