Nils B. Nilson, born October 11, 1837, in Norway, became a pioneering farmer in Lincoln County, South Dakota. After emigrating to the U.S. in 1867, Nilson initially settled in Fayette County, Iowa, before moving to Canton Township in 1869, where he began farming with limited resources. Despite hardships like living in a wagon and enduring grasshopper plagues, he established a successful 210-acre farm. A dedicated Republican and Lutheran, Nilson married Carrie Anderson in 1863, and they raised nine children. His farm’s success, built from humble beginnings, stands as a testament to his perseverance and hard work.
Nils B. Nilson, a representative farmer of Lincoln County, was born in Norway on the 11th of October, 1837, and is a son of Nels and Margaret Nilson, who passed their entire lives in that far distant land of the north. The subject was reared and educated in his native country, whence he emigrated to the United States in 1867, locating in Fayette County, Iowa, where he remained until 1869, when he drove from Fayette County through Iowa, with ox-teams, taking up government land in Canton township, where he has developed and improved a valuable farm. His first dwelling was a log house, but when he first came to the county his financial resources were represented in the sum of fifty cents after paying necessary expenses; flour was selling for six dollars per hundred pounds; he had neither sugar nor coffee and no stove, being compelled for some time to do his cooking over the campfire, while the first few months he lived in his wagon. At the time when the grasshoppers swept the country and destroyed the crops, Mr. Nilson managed to provide for himself by burning lime from rock secured on his place, the product being sold all over this section. He now has two hundred and ten acres, well improved and yielding good returns, so that he can look back with no regret on the trials and labors of the early years. He gives his attention to diversified farming and has on his place a good orchard and an attractive grove. He is a Republican in his political proclivities and he and his family are members of the Lutheran church.
In 1863 Mr. Nilson was married to Miss Carrie Anderson, this being before his emigration to America, and they have nine children, namely: Andrew, who is a successful farmer in Lyon County, Iowa, married Anna Rynes and they have six children; Anders, who resides in Canton, married Nettie Hanseth and they have three children; Nicholine is the wife of Ludvig Danielson, a farmer of Iowa, and they have four children; Marie is the wife of Hans Craning, of Canton, and they have four children; Lena, who was formerly a successful school teacher, is now the wife of Jesse Feay, a farmer in Iowa, and they have three children; Olephine is the wife of Albert Runsvold, of North Dakota; Emma remains at the parental home; Nels is in North Dakota; and Ludvig is still beneath the home roof.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.