Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/1009

 HISTORY OF GOODHUE I OUNTY 871 upon which he carried on general farming until his death, in August, L893. The mother died in July. L902 Oscar F. Nelson, a rising young business man of Goodhue, was horn April 1!). 1877, son of Peter Nelson, who came to America from Sweden in L876, locatingin Vasa, Goodhue county, Minnesota, where he worked at the carpenter trade for about three years. He then bought 160 acres iu Goodhue township and followed general farming up to the time of his death, March, 1895. The mother died in November, 1906, a1 St. Paul, They had four sons: X. John, engaged in the banking business at Eas1 Grand Forks, N. D.; E. Allied. Editor of the I hillock Minn.) "Weekly"; Frank J., a partner of Alfred in the news- paper, and Oscar P. One sister died in infancy. Oscar P. received his educal ion in the schools of his neighborhood. Shortly after leaving- school he entered the secret service of Pinkerton at St. Paul for two years. 1897 and 1898. He then purchased the old homestead and took up farming for eight years, after which he sold the farm, January 1. 1907, and with a partner, C. R. Johnson, entered the hardware business in Goodhue village, carrying a full supply of goods usually handled in such a store, including farm machinery and carriages. This establishment has been very successful in every way. Mr. Nelson was married June 27, 1901, to Lorena G. Johnson, daughter of C. R. and Emma (Sundell) Johnson,, the former a native of Delaware and the latter of Buffalo, N. Y. Mr. Johnson came west, and still farms in Goodhue township. Airs. Johnson died March 17, 1907. To Mr. and Mrs. Nelson there have been born two children : Bernice L., born December 7, 1902, and Vernon Sidney, born June 18, 1907. Fraternally Mr. Nelson associates with the Knights of Pythias, several Masonic chapters, including the Knights Tem- plar, the Modern Woodmen and the Yeomen, in the latter of which he serves as foreman. Politically he is a Republican and has served as a member of the town board two years and as clerk of the school board three years. He has also been village re- corder. In all of these public capacities he has given much satisfaction, and in private life he enjoys the esteem of a large circle of friends. Christian R. Johnson, hardware merchant, of Goodhue village, was born December 19, 1842, in Denmark, where he lived until 1857, when he came to this country with his parents. He at- tended the American schools a short while after his arrival here, and worked with his father for a time, after which he pur- chased 220 acres of land in Goodhue township, where he carried on general farming until January 1, 1907, when he engaged in the hardware business in company with O. F. Nelson, in the village of Goodhue. This partnership still continues, and the