Nels S. Johnson Biography

	This biography appears on pages 579-580, 581 in "History of Minnehaha 
	County, South Dakota" by Dana R. Bailey and was scanned, OCRed 
	and edited by Joy Fisher, http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000031
.

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JOHNSON, NELS S., better known as N. S. Johnson, was born near the city of 
Risoer in Norway, August 5, 1833.  In early life he was a sailor, and came to 
New York for the first time when he was twenty years of age. During the eighteen 
years he was a sailor he filled about all the positions there were, from cabin-
boy to captain. He has sailed pretty nearly everywhere, and there are few 
European ports he has not visited.  At one time he was a gold-digger in 
Australia.  He came to the United States the second time in 1865, and during the 
next few years was at work upon the rivers and lakes in this country.  In l868 
he took up some land in Iowa, but left there for Dakota in the fall of 1872, 
when he secured land in Lincoln county, which he afterwards disposed of and came 
to Sioux Falls and opened a paint shop, and when that did not pay him enough, he 
went to work in a lumber yard. He was industrious and economical, and whenever 
he could save a dollar he put it into real estate, and is today "well fixed" as 
the saying goes. He is a man of positive convictions, and always ready to stand 
by them. He has written several books in the Norwegian language, which have been 
published in this country.  They are upon religious subjects, and his views, as 
set forth in his publications, are of the liberal order.  He is a thoroughly 
honest man and a good citizen, and although he never held any political office, 
still, he is quite a factor in Minnehaha county politics.