Johan Edward Nelson, who went by the name of Edward, was born in 1871 in Ellsworth, Pierce County, Wisconsin to immigrants from Sweden: Aaron Warren Nelson and Johanna M Johnson Nelson. Edward married Emma Maria Gross on June 2, 1898 in Ellsworth, Pierce County, Wisconsin. Edward and Emma were the parents of 4 children: Orlando, Edith, Elda and Emmaline. They continued to live in Ellsworth through the 1920's. In the 1930 and 1940 census Edward and Emma were shown to be living in River Falls, Pierce County, Wisconsin.
Edward died in 1948 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and is buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery there. He preceded Emma in death by 15 years. She is also buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Edward's brother Walter wrote many stories about their life in Wisconsin. Here is an excerpt from one of them.
"Our family heard that there was homestead land in Pierce County, Wisconsin, not far from Red Wing, Minnesota, where we were presently living near relatives, so the family struck out for there and found what they wanted in Section 25, town of Ellsworth. It was railroad land, sold for 4.00 per acre, and it was all heavy timber. In the fall of 1870, the family left Red Wing and started our home near Ellsworth. A log shanty was built by cutting down trees, pulling the logs by hand to the site where the house was to stand, and by winter of 1870, had a good warm house to live in. Before the house was finished, all slept in the open, gathering leaves for beds. This was really primitive living. There was much game for food. Flour had to come from Prescott, Wisconsin, a two day trip with ox teams.
The timber was cut down and rolled into big piles and burned. The winter wheat was sown by hand between the stumps so in the year of 1871, we had our first crop of wheat. This, was taken to the Harshman Flour Mill Pond at Lost Creek, about a mile and a half away, and had it ground into flour. There was a special arrangement for paying for the grinding, as there was no money, so the mill took a toll of one of every eight sacks ground. Now our family added flour to our food stores and there was no lack of bread.
My father told me he went to 40 logging bees where the logs were skidded by oxen, piled up, and burned and crops sown between the stumps. The grain which grew was cut by hand with a cradle and bound in bundles, also by hand, and set up in shocks.
My family didn't live in the little shanty very long. They built a two-story house and it is still a part of the old farmhouse near Ellsworth, Wisconsin. The downstairs had one big room that was the living room, a kitchen and dining room, and two bedrooms...one for my grandmother. Upstairs were two big rooms with two beds in each room. This was quite a big house at that time.
By this time, our family had grown from one girl, Augusta, born in 1869 in Sweden, to include three boys...Edward, Emil and Pere Victor. Pere Victor died of quinsy when he was two years old. As the acreage of the farm increased, so did the children....three more boys, Oscar, Victor and myself (Walter). Then the two girls arrived...Amanda and Selma.
When I was five years old, father and mother took me to Minneapolis with them for a visit. Mother had two brothers living there...one was a carpenter and one a tailor. I remember the street cars were pulled by horses. From Minneapolis we went to Clear Lake, Wisconsin. My oldest sister, Augusta, was married to a minister and he had a Swedish Congregational Church there.
I will never forget the big smoke stacks on the locomotive...they looked like the one that is now on the old train in the St. Paul Depot. It was really a thrill to travel by train. When people would want to compare with something fast in those days, they would say, "It goes as fast as a train!" "
(Originally written by Walter Nelson, Edward's brother, for the "Nelson Saga.") and which was published in the Pierce County Herald and the Republican Eagle Newspapers in Wisconsin.
Edward died in 1948 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and is buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery there. He preceded Emma in death by 15 years. She is also buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Edward's brother Walter wrote many stories about their life in Wisconsin. Here is an excerpt from one of them.
"Our family heard that there was homestead land in Pierce County, Wisconsin, not far from Red Wing, Minnesota, where we were presently living near relatives, so the family struck out for there and found what they wanted in Section 25, town of Ellsworth. It was railroad land, sold for 4.00 per acre, and it was all heavy timber. In the fall of 1870, the family left Red Wing and started our home near Ellsworth. A log shanty was built by cutting down trees, pulling the logs by hand to the site where the house was to stand, and by winter of 1870, had a good warm house to live in. Before the house was finished, all slept in the open, gathering leaves for beds. This was really primitive living. There was much game for food. Flour had to come from Prescott, Wisconsin, a two day trip with ox teams.
The timber was cut down and rolled into big piles and burned. The winter wheat was sown by hand between the stumps so in the year of 1871, we had our first crop of wheat. This, was taken to the Harshman Flour Mill Pond at Lost Creek, about a mile and a half away, and had it ground into flour. There was a special arrangement for paying for the grinding, as there was no money, so the mill took a toll of one of every eight sacks ground. Now our family added flour to our food stores and there was no lack of bread.
My father told me he went to 40 logging bees where the logs were skidded by oxen, piled up, and burned and crops sown between the stumps. The grain which grew was cut by hand with a cradle and bound in bundles, also by hand, and set up in shocks.
My family didn't live in the little shanty very long. They built a two-story house and it is still a part of the old farmhouse near Ellsworth, Wisconsin. The downstairs had one big room that was the living room, a kitchen and dining room, and two bedrooms...one for my grandmother. Upstairs were two big rooms with two beds in each room. This was quite a big house at that time.
By this time, our family had grown from one girl, Augusta, born in 1869 in Sweden, to include three boys...Edward, Emil and Pere Victor. Pere Victor died of quinsy when he was two years old. As the acreage of the farm increased, so did the children....three more boys, Oscar, Victor and myself (Walter). Then the two girls arrived...Amanda and Selma.
When I was five years old, father and mother took me to Minneapolis with them for a visit. Mother had two brothers living there...one was a carpenter and one a tailor. I remember the street cars were pulled by horses. From Minneapolis we went to Clear Lake, Wisconsin. My oldest sister, Augusta, was married to a minister and he had a Swedish Congregational Church there.
I will never forget the big smoke stacks on the locomotive...they looked like the one that is now on the old train in the St. Paul Depot. It was really a thrill to travel by train. When people would want to compare with something fast in those days, they would say, "It goes as fast as a train!" "
(Originally written by Walter Nelson, Edward's brother, for the "Nelson Saga.") and which was published in the Pierce County Herald and the Republican Eagle Newspapers in Wisconsin.
Johan Edward Nelson, who went by the name of Edward, was born in 1871 in Ellsworth, Pierce County, Wisconsin to immigrants from Sweden: Aaron Warren Nelson and Johanna M Johnson Nelson. Edward married Emma Maria Gross on June 2, 1898 in Ellsworth, Pierce County, Wisconsin. Edward and Emma were the parents of 4 children: Orlando, Edith, Elda and Emmaline. They continued to live in Ellsworth through the 1920's. In the 1930 and 1940 census Edward and Emma were shown to be living in River Falls, Pierce County, Wisconsin.
Edward died in 1948 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and is buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery there. He preceded Emma in death by 15 years. She is also buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Edward's brother Walter wrote many stories about their life in Wisconsin. Here is an excerpt from one of them.
"Our family heard that there was homestead land in Pierce County, Wisconsin, not far from Red Wing, Minnesota, where we were presently living near relatives, so the family struck out for there and found what they wanted in Section 25, town of Ellsworth. It was railroad land, sold for 4.00 per acre, and it was all heavy timber. In the fall of 1870, the family left Red Wing and started our home near Ellsworth. A log shanty was built by cutting down trees, pulling the logs by hand to the site where the house was to stand, and by winter of 1870, had a good warm house to live in. Before the house was finished, all slept in the open, gathering leaves for beds. This was really primitive living. There was much game for food. Flour had to come from Prescott, Wisconsin, a two day trip with ox teams.
The timber was cut down and rolled into big piles and burned. The winter wheat was sown by hand between the stumps so in the year of 1871, we had our first crop of wheat. This, was taken to the Harshman Flour Mill Pond at Lost Creek, about a mile and a half away, and had it ground into flour. There was a special arrangement for paying for the grinding, as there was no money, so the mill took a toll of one of every eight sacks ground. Now our family added flour to our food stores and there was no lack of bread.
My father told me he went to 40 logging bees where the logs were skidded by oxen, piled up, and burned and crops sown between the stumps. The grain which grew was cut by hand with a cradle and bound in bundles, also by hand, and set up in shocks.
My family didn't live in the little shanty very long. They built a two-story house and it is still a part of the old farmhouse near Ellsworth, Wisconsin. The downstairs had one big room that was the living room, a kitchen and dining room, and two bedrooms...one for my grandmother. Upstairs were two big rooms with two beds in each room. This was quite a big house at that time.
By this time, our family had grown from one girl, Augusta, born in 1869 in Sweden, to include three boys...Edward, Emil and Pere Victor. Pere Victor died of quinsy when he was two years old. As the acreage of the farm increased, so did the children....three more boys, Oscar, Victor and myself (Walter). Then the two girls arrived...Amanda and Selma.
When I was five years old, father and mother took me to Minneapolis with them for a visit. Mother had two brothers living there...one was a carpenter and one a tailor. I remember the street cars were pulled by horses. From Minneapolis we went to Clear Lake, Wisconsin. My oldest sister, Augusta, was married to a minister and he had a Swedish Congregational Church there.
I will never forget the big smoke stacks on the locomotive...they looked like the one that is now on the old train in the St. Paul Depot. It was really a thrill to travel by train. When people would want to compare with something fast in those days, they would say, "It goes as fast as a train!" "
(Originally written by Walter Nelson, Edward's brother, for the "Nelson Saga.") and which was published in the Pierce County Herald and the Republican Eagle Newspapers in Wisconsin.
Edward died in 1948 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and is buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery there. He preceded Emma in death by 15 years. She is also buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Edward's brother Walter wrote many stories about their life in Wisconsin. Here is an excerpt from one of them.
"Our family heard that there was homestead land in Pierce County, Wisconsin, not far from Red Wing, Minnesota, where we were presently living near relatives, so the family struck out for there and found what they wanted in Section 25, town of Ellsworth. It was railroad land, sold for 4.00 per acre, and it was all heavy timber. In the fall of 1870, the family left Red Wing and started our home near Ellsworth. A log shanty was built by cutting down trees, pulling the logs by hand to the site where the house was to stand, and by winter of 1870, had a good warm house to live in. Before the house was finished, all slept in the open, gathering leaves for beds. This was really primitive living. There was much game for food. Flour had to come from Prescott, Wisconsin, a two day trip with ox teams.
The timber was cut down and rolled into big piles and burned. The winter wheat was sown by hand between the stumps so in the year of 1871, we had our first crop of wheat. This, was taken to the Harshman Flour Mill Pond at Lost Creek, about a mile and a half away, and had it ground into flour. There was a special arrangement for paying for the grinding, as there was no money, so the mill took a toll of one of every eight sacks ground. Now our family added flour to our food stores and there was no lack of bread.
My father told me he went to 40 logging bees where the logs were skidded by oxen, piled up, and burned and crops sown between the stumps. The grain which grew was cut by hand with a cradle and bound in bundles, also by hand, and set up in shocks.
My family didn't live in the little shanty very long. They built a two-story house and it is still a part of the old farmhouse near Ellsworth, Wisconsin. The downstairs had one big room that was the living room, a kitchen and dining room, and two bedrooms...one for my grandmother. Upstairs were two big rooms with two beds in each room. This was quite a big house at that time.
By this time, our family had grown from one girl, Augusta, born in 1869 in Sweden, to include three boys...Edward, Emil and Pere Victor. Pere Victor died of quinsy when he was two years old. As the acreage of the farm increased, so did the children....three more boys, Oscar, Victor and myself (Walter). Then the two girls arrived...Amanda and Selma.
When I was five years old, father and mother took me to Minneapolis with them for a visit. Mother had two brothers living there...one was a carpenter and one a tailor. I remember the street cars were pulled by horses. From Minneapolis we went to Clear Lake, Wisconsin. My oldest sister, Augusta, was married to a minister and he had a Swedish Congregational Church there.
I will never forget the big smoke stacks on the locomotive...they looked like the one that is now on the old train in the St. Paul Depot. It was really a thrill to travel by train. When people would want to compare with something fast in those days, they would say, "It goes as fast as a train!" "
(Originally written by Walter Nelson, Edward's brother, for the "Nelson Saga.") and which was published in the Pierce County Herald and the Republican Eagle Newspapers in Wisconsin.
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