Bio of NELSON, Christ (b.1869), Hennepin Co., MN ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Laura Pruden Submitted: June 2003 ========================================================================= Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ======================================================== EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical ======================================================== Vol II, pg 696-697 CHRIST NELSON Denmark has furnished a valuable class of citizens to the new world. They have brought with them from the old country the unremitting energy and perseverance characteristic to that nationality, and in a great majority of cases have attained suc­cess in the management of varied business affairs. To this class belongs Christ Nelson, who is engaged in woolen manufacturing on an extensive scale. He was born in Horsens, Denmark, on the 30th of October, 1869, a son of Christen and Mette Nelson. In the acquirement of his early education Christ Nelson attended the public schools of his native country and at an early age started in to learn the knitting trade. In 1891, at the age of twenty-three years, he came to the United States and for the first seven years was engaged as traveling salesman for a woolen goods concern. In 1899 he established a business for the manufacture of sweaters, at 1922 Riverside avenue, which he conducted on his own account. Subsequently he was forced to seek larger quarters and removed to 504 Cedar avenue. He is still active in the conduct of this enterprise, of which he is the sole owner, and it is one of the largest industrial interests in the Northwest. At first Christ Nelson sold sweaters to consumers but his business grew to such proportions that he quit the retail trade and now sells to jobbers only. He made this change in 1911. In 1918 he organized the Consumers Woolen Mills Association, of which he is president and treasurer and majority stockholder. The success Mr. Nelson has achieved is well merited and he has earned the confidence and esteem in which he is held by his fellowmen. In his business life he has been a persistent, resolute and energetic worker, possessing strong executive powers, and added to a progressive spirit, ruled by more than ordinary intelligence and good judgment, there has been a native justice which has expressed itself in correct principle and practice. He has followed this one line of work his entire life and there is no phase of it with which he is not thor­oughly familiar. Every year Mr. Nelson makes a trip to Europe to study conditions and get new ideas on machinery and manufacture. He takes advantage of every oppor­tunity for legitimate advancement. On the 8th of June, 1892, was celebrated the marriage of Christ Nelson to Miss Maren S. Nelson and to their union six children were born: William, Marie M., Alfred, Edward, John and Carl. The eldest son, William Nelson, is a lieutenant in the United States navy. He was appointed to Annapolis by F. M. Nye, in 1911, and was graduated in 1915. He then entered Boston Tech but his attendance at that institution was interrupted by the entrance of the United States into the World war. During the war he served as assistant constructor at the Navy yard in Philadelphia and at the close of the war returned to Boston Tech, graduating in 1920. He is now assistant chief naval constructor in the navy; Miss Marie M. Nelson is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, class of 1918. She is a young woman of high intellectual attainments and is teaching mathematics in the Minneapolis school; Alfred Nelson is a salesman for the Singer Sewing Machine Company and Edward is a salesman for a special machinery company in Chicago. John is studying law in the legal department of the University of Minnesota and Carl is specializing in engineering at the University of Minnesota. Mrs. Nelson's demise occurred in June, 1922. Her death came as a severe shock to her family and many friends. She was an unassuming, home-loving woman and was prominent in the club and social circles of this city for many years. In his political views Mr. Nelson is a stanch supporter of the republican party and the principles for which it stands. Although he has never sought nor desired public preferment, he is one of the most energetic promoters of the city's advancement and his aid can always be counted upon in the furtherance of any movement for the bene­fit of the community at large. Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason; a member of Khurum Lodge, No. 112, F. & A. M.; Minneapolis Consistory; and Zuhrah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is conceded to be an exemplary member of the craft and is very popular in Masonic circles. He is an active contributor to the Civic & Commerce Association and from 1915 to 1919 was supreme officer of the Danish Brother­hood of the United States. In 1919 he resigned but is still doing some outside work in behalf of the organization. The progressive steps in the life of Christ Nelson are easily discernible and each forward move has brought him a broader outlook and wider oppor­tunities.