The Nelsen Family

The Nelsen Family came to America from Denmark. Jens NEILSEN was born 3 June 1853 in Denmark. His father was Neils LARSEN; his mother, Eliz. Marie HANSEN. Jens came to the United States in 1873 and was a naturalized citizen.

Jensine (Sine) PETERSEN was born 2 February 1854 in Swenborg, Fyen, Denmark. Her father was Peter JENSEN. On her death certificate, her mother's name is given as Marie HANSEN. This may be an error on the part of the informant who may have been thinking of her husband's mother’s name instead. Jensine also came to the United States in 1873.

Jens and Jensine were married about 1880 at Kankakee, Illinois, and lived there for another couple of years. The couple moved to Alta, Iowa, in 1882 where they farmed until 1899. In 1899 the family moved to Minnesota and farmed in Des Moines River Township, Murray County, Minnesota. Jens and Sine had 10 children, 8 of whom were still living and were listed with the family in the 1900 census.

Jens died 4 December 1903 in Des Moines River Township, Murray County, Minnesota of heart failure. His wife Sine was named the administratrix of his estate. In the probate papers she clearly signed her name NEILSEN.

After Jens death, Sine lived in Westbrook for a time, then with a daughter in North Dakota and then back in Murray County with her sons. She was a practicing midwife to many neighbors and her family. Jensine died 11 July 1931 in Des Moines River Township. Sine’s son Ned was named the administrator of her estate. At this point Ned signed his name first as NELSEN and then later as NIELSEN. His brother Victor signed his name as NELSEN. The probate papers state "...(All of the men named in this paragraph hereof being also variously known by the sir names [sic] of Nelsen, Neilsen and Nelson)." Sine’s will (16 June 1924) divides up her property, including her share of the land from Jens’ estate, equally amongst her remaining 7 children. However, the probate papers do not further mention her daughter Elsie M. PETERSON.


Nat Peter NEILSEN was born 4 February 1883 at Linn Grove, Buena Vista County, Iowa, to Jens and Sine (PETERSEN) NEILSEN. Anna Hansine BUSK was born 20 August 1884 in Westbrook Township, Minnesota, to Christian Hansen and Anna Kirstine (HANSEN) BUSK. The first time Ned and Anna saw each other was just before 1900 when Ned came up from Iowa with his father to look for land and they stopped in at the BUSK’s. In 1902 Anna moved with her family to Summit, South Dakota. When they were going to get married, they drove a team of horses to Summit. Ned’s sister Marie went with them. Ned and Anna were married 9 November 1904 at the BUSK home.

The couple lived all of their married life near Westbrook, Minnesota. They farmed in Des Moines River Township, Murray County, until 1943 when they moved into Westbrook. Anna died in Westbrook, 1 May 1973; Ned died in Westbrook, 12 January 1980. Both are buried in the Westbrook cemetery just north of town, as are Ned’s parents.


Please check out my family tree and see if we are related. I have provided two views for you to peruse. The first is presented as a "Dynamic Family Tree". The other is in a linked sequence of Family Group Sheets.

 
 
 
 

Ned and Anna Nelsen, about 1904

 

Ned and Anna Nelsen, about 1954
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Photo galleries

My mother was one of twelve children in a very close family. Most of the her brothers and sisters settled near the Westbrook, Minnesota, area where they grew up. As their children grew into adulthood and started moving away, the family began to worry that they (us cousins) would grow up without knowing each other. To avoid that from happening, they started an annual family reunion they called the Cousins Picnic to bring the family back together.

I must admit that I did not attend very many of these gatherings from the time I left home until just before my mother died, but I have been fairly regular the last few years and would like to share some of the photos that I have here. (If you would like to add names for the people I haven't identified, I would welcome receiving that information and will add it to the captions.)


Pictures from the 1994 Cousins Picnic in Westbrook, Minnesota...

Pictures from the 1994 Cousins Picnic in Westbrook, Minnesota...

Page  1,  2,  3,  4


 
Pictures from the 1995 Cousins Picnic in Westbrook, Minnesota...

Pictures from the 1995 Cousins Picnic in Westbrook, Minnesota...

Page  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8


 
Pictures from the 1997 Cousins Picnic in Westbrook, Minnesota...

Pictures from the 1997 Cousins Picnic in Westbrook, Minnesota...

Page  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7


 
Pictures from the 1998 Cousins Picnic in Westbrook, Minnesota...

Pictures from the 1998 Cousins Picnic in Westbrook, Minnesota...

I will get these pictures posted as I have time...


 
Pictures from the 2002 Cousins Picnic in Westbrook, Minnesota...

Pictures from the 2002 Cousins Picnic in Westbrook, Minnesota...

I will get these pictures posted as I have time...


 
Pictures from the 2007 Cousins Picnic in Westbrook, Minnesota...

Pictures from the 2007 Cousins Picnic in Westbrook, Minnesota...

I will get these pictures posted as I have time...


 

The set of linked family group sheets and the name index were created with a program written by Rob Jacob and called GedPage.

The dynamic family tree is created by a program written by Michael Horey and called DFTCom (Dynamic Family Tree Compiler)

Gedpage link
 
DFTCom link