In the book's own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
Born 1870, Fillmore county
From An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota (1912)
HENRY NELSON (1876), a farmer of Lucas township and a continuous resident of the county since 187 6, was born in Fillmore county, Minnesota, March 20, 1870, and is a son of Evar and Aase (Olson) Nelson, both of whom are now deceased.
The parents were natives of Norway, and some idea of the times in which they immigrated to this country can be gained from the fact that Mr. Nelson was on the ocean nineteen weeks when coming to this country. He landed in New Orleans in 184 5 and served five years in the Mexican War, afterwards coming North and locating in Wisconsin. On his journey he visited St. Anthony Falls, Minnesota, and at that time Minnesota was still a territory and there was a single store on the present site of St. Paul. Evar Nelson was married in Wisconsin, and after a few years' residence in Fillmore county, Minnesota, he moved to Western Minnesota and purchased land in Yellow Medicine county and resided there four years.
In the spring of 1876 the Nelson family came to Lyon county and took a homestead in Lucas township. There the parents resided until their deaths, and the old homestead is now operated by their son Iver. The subject of this sketch came to Lyon county with his parents when six years old, and he attended the district schools until seventeen years of age. Afterward the boy helped his father until twenty-two years of age and then engaged in farming for himself on the place which he now owns, the northeast quarter of section 11. He has a well-improved place and is making a decided success of stock raising in addition to his general farming. Mr. Nelson has served several years as assessor of the township, as a director of school district No. 19, and for several years he was road overseer.
On November 11, 1891, our subject was married at Cottonwood to Minnie Prestegaard, a native of Yellow Medicine county. She was born November 18, 1871. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are the parents of the following children: Adelia Louise, born October 24, 1893; Gerhardt, born June 29, 1895; Hulda, born November 16, 1897; and Rudolph, born December 5, 1899. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are members of Silo Norwegian Lutheran Church of Cottonwood.
As printed in An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota (1912). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
The printed record stops around 1912. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.