Nobles County MN Archives Biographies.....Nelson, Hans 1833 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com October 19, 2006, 6:50 pm

Author: Arthur P. Rose (1908)

  HANS NELSON, of Ransom township, is one of the very first to locate in that

township, and he is one of the very few there who are living on their original

homestead. He owns a half section of land on sections 20 and 19.



  Mr. Nelson was born in Norway Dec. 19, 1833, the son of Nels and Betsy

(Jenson) Hansen, both of whom died in Norway, the former when Hans was only

three years old. Our subject was raised on his father's farm and made his home

there until he was nearly twenty-one years of age. He came to the United States

in 1854 and located in Iowa county, Wis., where he engaged in farming until

1871. During his residence there he entered the union service during the war of

the rebellion, enlisting in the 49th Wisconsin volunteer infantry in January,

1864, and serving a little less than one year. He saw service in Missouri, most

of his time being spent guarding prisoners and on provost duty.



  In the month of November, 1871, Mr. Nelson, accompanied by Gullick Gullickson,

came to Nobles county and took as a soldier's homestead the northwest quarter of

section 20, Ransom township, and remained in the county seven or eight weeks. He

then returned to Wisconsin, but came back in the spring of 1872 and spent the

summer here. He broke out a part of his land, erected a "shack," and then

returned to his old home. In the spring of 1873 he came back to his homestead

with his family and has ever since made his home on the place. He added to his

original quarter section later by the purchase of another quarter adjoining.

During the grasshopper days Mr. Nelson did not suffer so severely as many of,

the pioneer settlers did. He raised only a limited acreage of grain, devoting

most of his energies to the raising of stock, and so was enabled to weather the

hard times brought on by the hoppers, and was not obliged to take the relief

offered to the destitute.



  Mr. Nelson was married in Iowa county, Wis., in the fall of 1856 to Caroline

Davis, nee Peterson, a native of Norway. They are the parents of the following

named children: Ellena (Mrs. Jens Langseth), of Indian Lake; Liza (Mrs. Fred

Thompson), of Dewald; Nekolena (Mrs. C. D. Thompson), of Johnstown, Nebraska;

Julia (Mrs. J. O. Arewick), Silverton, Orgon; [sic] Anna M., Laura E. and Hannah

S., who live at home. Mr. Nelson is a member of the Lutheran church of Ransom

and is one of the charter members.



Additional Comments:
Extracted from:



AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF NOBLES COUNTY

MINNESOTA

BY

ARTHUR P. ROSE



NORTHERN HISTORY PUBLISHING COMPANY 

WORTHINGTON, MINNESOTA 

PUBLISHERS

1908

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