| Summary: | in the Nelson family since then. Cecelia Lillehaugen was born near Hayfield, Minn, on Jan. 12,1887, the first child in her family to be born in the United States. She moved with her parents, Tosten and Sigrid Lillehaugen, to Perth Township in Walsh County, where she lived until she was married to C. Theo Nelson on August 1, 1910. C. Theo and Celia were the parents of six children, five daughters and one son. Valborg, born in 1920, died at the age of six weeks, Aleda, the oldest, died in January 1932 at the age of 20. Aleda was a 1930 graduate of Michigan High School. The other four children in the Nelson family are Laila, Theresse, Viola and Rudolph. C. Theo. Nelson was clerk of the Enterprise school district in 1915-1916 and was a member of the school board from 1923-1935, the last six years being chairman of the board. He was active in the Nonpartisan League and also served as a committeeman for the AAA, the early days of the farm program. His involvements in church activities and the Equity Elevator were in the Whitman-Sarnia area. Cecelia Nelson was a busy homemaker, tending a large house, gardening and milking the cows. The Nelson home was one of the few in the area with electric lights prior to Rural Electrification; they had their own light plant which generated electricity. Celia was active in the Ladies Aid of her church, serving in the various offices. She also was a member of the Whitman Homemakers Club when it was formed. She was an excellent letter writer and during World War II kept a complete scrapbook of clippings of people she knew. All five of the Nelson children received their grade school education at Pelto and several of them, a year or two of high school. The four younger children were graduated from Whitman High School in the years from 1931 to 1941. Laila attended Aaker's Business College in Grand Forks and was employed in the insurance field before moving to Seattle, Wash, in 1941. She was married to Edwin Maudslien in 1942, and they have continued to make their home in Seattle. They have three sons and a daughter, each married and living in western Washington. Theresse is also a graduate of Aaker's Business College in Grand Forks and was employed at Red River National Bank before moving to Seattle in 1942. She was married to Edwin Lundby in 1945. They moved to Perth Township in 1946, where Edwin died in 1948. Theresse and her daughter Eunice lived on the Nelson Farm until 1957, when they moved to Moorhead, Minn. Eunice is now Mrs. Larry Stenberg of Greenbush, Minn, and the mother of six children. Viola attended the University of North Dakota for two years, moving to San Diego, Calif, during World War II. She was married to Vaughn DeMarce, who died in 1961. Vi continues to reside in LaMesa Calif, and is employed as an eligibility worker by San Diego County. She has two married sons. C. Theo Nelson died shortly before reaching his 65th birthday in 1949. Cecelia Nelson died on Nov. 16, 1963 at the age of 76 years. Rudolph and Beverly Nelson Rudolph Nelson, the son of C. Theo and Cecelia Nelson, was born May 26, 1924, on the family farm in Enterprise Township. He attended school at Pelto through the ninth grade and graduated from Whitman High School in 1941. He married Beverly Anderson of Devils Lake, N.D. on August 30, 1957. They reside on the home farm which they purchased in 1958. They have three children, two sons and a daughter, Corwin, Dana and Kristie. They attended grade schools at Pelto and Brocket and all graduated from Lakota High School. Cory graduated from North Dakota State University in 1981 with a Degree in Agricultural Engineering. He is married to the former LaRae Ritteman of Lakota, N.D. LaRae is a graduate of Moorhead State University with a Degree in Accounting. They live in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, where Cory is a Research Engineer for Allis Chalmers and LaRae is employed by Unicare Corp. Dana is attending Moorhead State University at Moorhead, Minn. Kristie is attending Lutheran Bible Institute at Issaquah, Wash. Rudolph and Beverly have been active in school, church and community affairs and Rudolph is currently serving as a Director of Nodak Rural Electric Cooperative, at Grand Forks, N.D. They are members of Sarnia United Lutheran Church at Whitman, N.D. Rudolph and Beverly Nelson Jacob and Sophia Niemi Jacob Niemi and Anna Sophia Raketti were married in Finland in 1885. The two oldest children Ida and Andrew were born there. They came to America in 1890 and first settled in Franklin, Minn, before coming to Enterprise Township Nelson Co. where they homesteaded and lived there until their deaths. Mrs. Niemi passed on in 1916 and Jacob in 1934. They had 11 children, there are five surviving children, several grandchildren and great grandchildren. The family attended rural Lutheran church north of Brocket. Ida the oldest daughter is 96 years old now. She and her husband and family lived in Oakland, Calif. The last two years she lived with her daughter, Inez Jolley. She moved into a home in April, as she needed special care. The old days are thought of as the "horse and buggy days" so when the family car was purchased it was a happy occasion. Fond memories are of the very hospitable neighbors, and the families visiting back and forth. Recreation was playing horseshoes, baseball, and sleigh rides in the winter. Afterwards, lunch was served to all. August and Nikkolena Olson August Mattias Olson and Nikkolena Johanson Amundson were married at Calumet, Houghton Co. State of Michigan. August, at the age of twenty-six and Nikkolena, at the age of twenty. August was born in Finland, June 4, 1857 and died Oct. 13, 1942 at the age of 85 years at their farm home. Mrs. Olson was born in Hammerfest, Norway on Oct. 9, 1862 and died Jan. 13, 1933. She was 70 years old. Both were Lutherans. At the age of twelve, August left Finland and went to Norway until he immigrated to the United States. He made his home in Calumet, Michigan, where he worked as a miner for five years. It was there that he met Nikkolena 72 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited in Multi-page TIFF Editor.
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