Tampico Area Historical Society

www.tampicohistoricalsociety.com

Pg. 975

CHRISTIAN NELSON

Christian Nelson, who for a quarter of a century has been a prominent representative of the industrial interest of Morrison, his business activity and enterprise proving factors in the commercial development and consequent prosperity of the city, is a native of Denmark, his birth having occurred in Copenhagen in 1847. His parents were Peter and Anna Nelson, also natives of that country, where the father followed the harnessmaking trade.

Christian Nelson pursued his education in the public schools of his native country but his opportunities were somewhat limited and he is largely self-educated, gaining knowledge9through experience, observation and reading. He early learned the trade of a carriage body make in Denmark. the favorable reports which reached him concerning America and its business advantages and opportunities led him to seek a home in the new world and, bidding adieu to his native land in 1869, he crossed the Atlantic, locating after a few months in Morrison, where he worked at his trade in the employ of Ely & Whitcomb until 1882, when he opened a shop of his own for the manufacture of buggies. For the past three years he has been making a specialty of the Nelson breaking cart, which is now largely sold in every state i the Union, while shipments have also been made to England. His business has gradually developed into an important industrial concern, furnishing employment to a large number of workmen and the enterprise is proving very profitable.

In 1875 Mr. Nelson was married o Miss Mary Ohlinger, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1856, a daughter of George W. and Sarah (Wilt) Ohlinger. Her father was a veteran of the Civil War and in 1867 came to Whiteside county, settling in Newton township. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have become the parents of five children: Lorena, the wife of Dr. Herbert Kennedy, a dentist of Morrison; Malvern R., who follows the profession of dentistry in Chicago; Nelie, who is employed as a stenographer in Chicago; and Edith and Ruth, both at home.

The parents are members of the Presbyterian Church and Mr. nelson is connected fraternally with the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodman. His political allegiance is given to the republican party but he has no aspiration for office, preferring to concentrate his time and energies upon his business interests. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to seek a home in the new world, for in this land, where opportunity and ambition are unhampered by caste or class, he has gradually worked his way upward, meeting with the success which ever crowns indefatigable effort guided by sound judgment.