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Note: [Lla&hia.ftw]
Lars Nelson left Sweden at age 24 and lived in Denmark, and then Germany for a few years. He then immigrated to America in 1873, staying in Delaware for a few years, and then in Iowa. Mary Nelson claimed to have been born in Manson, Calhoun County, Iowa. Other reports show they may have lived in Pomeroy, Calhoun County, Iowa (Calhoun is northwest of the center of the state - four counties east of Nebraska and four counties south of Minnesota border).
The 3/1/1892 "Des Moines Leader" reports Calhoun County of 1860 was a "wilderness of ponds and sloughs, alternating with patches of tough prairie grass, vegetation of such rank growth as to be useless for hay or pasturage, fit only for the habitat of muskrats, coyotes, frogs and mosquitoes." The county's 1860 population was 147 [http://www.cal-net.net/~rclib/calhoun_county.html]. Between 1890 and 1900 its population increased from 13,107 to 18,569. Since 1900 the population has steadily declined. Farming produces 1/3 of its gross income.
Lars Nelson was a farmer and real estate developer - he was one of the major promoters in the selling of land to the Swedish settling here from Nebraska and Iowa in 1892 through 1896, the last year being the year he and his family moved to Texas. ("Swedes in Texas in Words and Pictures, 1838-1918"; and Cole, Edith Fae Cook "Crosby's Heritage Preserved, 1823-1949").
Lars actually accompanied many of the Swedes to Crosby on their train trips (page 94, statement of Oscar Nelson in "Swedes in Texas..", supra). He then set up a real estate office in Crosby.
He became partners in several enterprises in Crosby. He also farmed rice and cotton and operated the first Crosby taxis service ("Crosby Heritage.." page 105).
Lars had a room and boarding residence at 506 Kernohan, Crosby, Texas. It was located across the street from the home of Theodore Anderson and Lar's daughter, Mary Nelson Anderson, where my father, Leroy L. Anderson, was born as were his two sisters, Madeline and Alice. The boarding house across the street was convenient for Leroy, as his wife-to-be, Harriett Idell Galbreath, was living there when she began her teaching career in 1920's. She also stayed in Dr. Cutler's home across the street and west of Theodore's homestead.
The following is an excerpt from the book "Swedes in Texas," page 1108:
"Lars Nelson is one of the first Swedes who settled in Crosby, twenty miles east of Houston. He was a landbroker for a while and contributed to the colonization of the area and the settlement of the Swedes. He was born in Gustaf's congregatioon, Skane, in 1842, left Sweden at the age of twenty-four and lived in Denmarkand Germany for a few years. In 1873, he immigrated to America, where he first lived in Delaware and then in Iowa. He came to Texas in 1896 and after a short stay in Houston he settled in Crosby.
"In 1874, Mr. Nelson married Miss Johanna Ros, of German descent, and born in 1849. Their children are: Annie, John, Ida, Mary, Oscar and Emil. They are members of the Swedish Methodist Church."
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Mr. Natalie Smith states that other records shows Miss Johanna Ros was "Born in Germany of Danish descent" because the area she was born in was on the border of Denmark and Germany, switching boundary lines a number of times. Her parents were definitely "Danes." [Nelson/Reidland News, Volume VII, Number 1, Winter, 2000 - editor: Natalie Smith]
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The 1860 census index shows a Lars Nelson in Mitchell and Winnebago Counties, Iowa; and in two counties of Minnesota; 13 in Wisconsin, and one in Indiana.
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