Nils Torstenson was born on May 30, 1830 to Torsten Nilsson Saltkjelen and Randi Olsdatter Kjodnes on a farm called Gr�to in L�rdal, Sogn, Norway, the oldest of seven children. On December 6, 1852, in a double ceremony with his sister Martha, Nels married Gjertrud Johannesdatter from Yttri under Rikheim. Born on March 16, 1829, her parents were Johannes Knutson Sletten and Ingeborg Jensdatter Erismarki. Three children were born in Norway to Nels and Gjertrud: Randi, born May 1, 1853; Bertha (Brita), born October 16, 1855; and Ingeborg, born April 8, 1860. In 1861 the family came to America with Nils' parents and siblings. They arrived in Quebec after a long, difficult 13 week voyage during which they had spent some time lost in fog near Greenland. In America, Nils and his siblings adopted the surname Nelson. They lived first in Crawford County, Wisconsin, where at least for a while in 1863 Nels and Gjertrud and their family appear to have stayed with the Robert and Malina (Hillestad) Mellem family, who had emigrated from Hafslo, Sogn, Norway in 1854. This is when Nels and Gjertrud had another daughter, Olena, born April 11, 1863. The family story is that Olena, as a baby, was born in or lived in the same house with my great grandfather Robert Mellem, Robert and Malina's youngest child, who was also born in 1863. Nels and Gjertrud stayed in Crawford County until 1864, when they moved to Goodhue County, Minnesota long enough to have another daughter, Bell (Ingeborg), born January 24, 1865. Also in 1865, Nels and Gjertrud moved to Havana Township, Steele County, Minnesota where they would spend the rest of their lives. They had two more daughters in Steele County: Hannah (Johanna), born July 8, 1867 or 68; and Gjertina, born in 1869. Nels and Gjertrud were living with their daughter Olena's family in Havana Township when they died on the same day, March 28, 1909. According to family story, Nels had been an invalid for some time when, unexpectedly, Gjertrud died. The family was concerned about how Nels would take the news and they gathered around his sickbed to tell him. His response was that if Gjertrud was gone, then he was ready to go too. And before the day was over, he too died of natural causes. Both are buried in the Thompson Cemetery.
Nearest relatives in this cemetery: Nils' parents Torsten and Randi Nelson; Nils' sister Martha Anderson; Nils' brother Thomas Nelson; Nils' sister Mary Johnson Odegard; daughter Randi Nelson; daughter Bertha Johnson; daughter Olena Hillestad; daughter Gjertina Nelson (probable)
to Who's Who in the Thompson Cemetery
