live in Arizona; Cecilia, Mrs. Frances Breneman, Jr., her husband and three children, Greg, Tommy and daughter, Tonya, who live on a farm near Niles. BENT NELSON By Eunice Nelson BENT NELSON, maternal grandfather of Eunice Nelson of Bennington, Kansas, was born April 18, 1817, in Norway, Europe, and his wife, Guri Nelson, was also born in Norway on December 19, 1821. The year of their arrival in the United States is unknown and it is assumed they settled in the Dogeville, Wisconsin area. Here Bent Nelson became acquainted with Christ Nelson who lived nearby and they both came to the Bennington community to acquire railroad land. Bent Nelson acquired the farm where William Neaderhiser now lives and Christ Nelson acquired Section One. Bent Nelson was not pleased with the herd laws so moved to the Blue Stem country near Eureka, Kansas. Here he and Mrs. Nelson lived out their remaining years and are buried in a country cemetery near Eureka, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson had the following children: Annie Nelson, who married W. B. Nelson and was the mother of Unice Nelson;  Nels Nelson, who was the grandfather of Florence Rehberg Brodine and Rachel Rehberg Graham; Ole Nelson; Louis Nelson; Jennie Nelson Rowe and Henry Nelson. W. B. NELSON This information also by Eunice Nelson W. B. NELSON, father of Eunice Nelson, was born in Norway, Europe, and came to the United States with his family when he was five years old. They landed at New Orleans and resided there for a while. It was here Eunice's aunts learned Southern cooking. From New Orleans the family went to Chicago searching for an area that resembled their native Norway. Not liking it there they moved to Dodgeville, Wisconsin. W. B. Nelson served under Sherman during the Civil War and was in Sherman's "march to the sea.'' He was taken a prisoner and while confined in a dungeon, he contracted a lung illness. After his release he was urged by a brother-in-law to go west for his health. He tried mining for gold and silver and located silver in Nevada. After this expedition, he went to Eureka, Kansas, where he met and married Annie Nelson, daughter of Bent Nelson (same surname, but no relationship). They lived in the Eureka area where two of their children were born and also near Dunlap, Kansas, where their son, George L. Nelson, was born. Many Negroes lived in the community and Mrs. Nelson retained several Negro maids to help her care for her home and children. In about 1882, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson and two of their living children came to Bennington and lived in a small house on the farm now occupied by Clarence and Fern Johnson while their home was being built on the farm Mrs. Nelson had inherited from her parents. They lived on this farm until 1900 when they moved to Bennington. Their children included: Bent, who died in infancy; Hester A. Nelson (Mrs. George Smith, known as Della and the first wife of George Smith); George L. Nelson; Eunice Nelson and Helen B. Nelson. OLSEN This sketch taken from the Kansas History of Biographies B. H. Olsen, son of Hans Olsen and Helen Nelson Olsen, was born near Madison, Wisconsin, in Iowa County, March 30,1867. Mr. Olsen's grandfather, Ole Olsen, lived and died in Norway, Europe and Mrs. Olsen with her children came to the United States and located in Wisconsin. It was there that Hans Olsen married Helen Nelson, an aunt of Eunice Nelson. In 1870, Hans and Helen Nelson Olsen moved to Ottawa County, Kansas, and took up a wild prairie farm in a country which had just been vacated by herds of buffalo which had sought new pastures in Western Kansas. Their farm is known as the G. D. Boardman farm today and it was Hans and Helen Olsen who built the house for their family of children which included: Turb, Helen, Thomas, Margaret, Henry, Carrie, Sadie and B. H., and three children who preceded them in death. RETURN NEXT