Nils F. Nelson Biography


	This biography appears on pages 207-208 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				NILS F. NELSON. 

	Nils F. Nelson, who is engaged in the drug business in Milbank, 
and who is also a manufacturer of cigars, is a native of Sweden, born 
March 15, 1873, a son of Nils F. Nelson, who was born in 1833 and died 
in 1911, having spent his entire life in the land of his nativity. In 
his early life he engaged in the lumber business there, but later 
turned his attention to farming and became very successful. He had 
lived retired, however, for five years prior to his demise. In his 
family were four children: Mrs. Christina Swanson, who resides in 
Stockholm, South Dakota; Anna Charlotte, the wife of John Olson, and a 
resident of Minneapolis; Augusta, the wife of Fred Lofquist, a farmer 
living near La Bolt, this state; and Nils F. The father of this family 
was a devout member Of the Lutheran church and was an' active woirker 
in church and educational circles. 

	Nils F. Nelson was reared under the parental roof to the age of 
fifteen years and during that period attended the public schools. 
Foreseeing that there was no future for him in his native land and 
having heard and read a great deal about the freedom and opportunity 
for advancement in this country, he decided to leave home and 
accordingly in 1888 set sail for the United States, his sisters having 
preceded him to this country He made his way at once to South Dakota, 
where lived two of his sisters. He lived with his sister, Mrs. Swanson, 
and for a short time attended school. He then spent four months with a 
gang of workmen on the railroad. He next engaged in work in the harvest 
fields and later spent one winter in the lumber camps of Wisconsin. He 
then went to Eau Claire, that state, and worked for a time in a grist 
mill and hater was employed in a sawmill in Minneapolis. After spending 
some time in the harvest fields of the north, he engaged as clerk in a 
drug store in Milbank, working for F. W. Poppe there for three years. 
He was then engaged in a similar capacity in Minneapolis for four 
years. During all this time he had carefully saved his earnings in the 
hope of some day engaging in business on his own account, and to this 
end, in 1898, he embarked in the drug business in Milbank. He began in 
a small way, but success attended him from the beginning. In 1906 he 
also opened a cigar factory and now manufactures over five hundred 
thousand cigars per year, this output being disposed of to the local 
trade. He gives his entire attention to his varied business interests 
and this has constituted the secret of his success. 

	He is a member of the National Guards and at one time was first 
lieutenant of the organization. He gives his political support to the 
republican party He has attained highs rank in Masonry, being a member 
of the Mystic Shrine at Aberdeen. He also holds membership with the Odd 
Fellows and the Knights of Pythias and in these organizations has 
passed through all of the chairs, while of the Fraternal Order of 
Eagles he is also a member. He has made the best possible use of the 
opportunities that have been presented and today stands among the 
successful and enterprising young business men of his section of the 
state.