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THE MILLER AND THE MISSUS
   Peter Nielson & Edna Snow Nielson  

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TRIBUTE TO PETER AND EDNA NIELSON

By Frank C. Robertson.

  Nielson Family Reunion, 1995. Click photo for full image.

In these days when a man’s worth is estimated by the number of dollars he has accumulated, it is a notable experience to see a man honored simply because of the respect he has won by his character, integrity and good works.
    The other night my wife and I joined hundreds of other people in paying our respects to Peter Nielsen [sic] and his good wife, of Springville, on their fiftieth wedding anniversary. It revived my waning faith in humanity to see the sincere way in which these fine, warm-hearted people were honored, and I know that every compliment and good wish was well-earned.

    Peter & Edna, 1960. Click photo for full image.

Bishop Nielsen [sic] and his family were among the first people we became acquainted with in Utah County, and our friendship has ripened through the years. Most people have some goodness about them, but it’s something they have to work hard to acquire; a few people have a genius for it. They are like the professional athletes who have that little extra something which lifts them far above the ruck and run. I think I have not known more than a dozen such men in my life, and Bishop Nielsen [sic] is one of them. They have more than a solid sense of right and wrong. Where some of us can boast of one or two outstanding virtues they seem to combine them all. Name the qualities we all respect and they have them. A sense of justice, mercy, charity, generosity, tolerance, kindliness, loyalty, and a love for all mankind is an ingrained part of their nature. They are without envy, conceit or selfishness. They can be good, and do good without seeming to have to work at it. They are men you can point to and say truthfully, "This would be a good world to live in if all men were like that." They are men and women who are a credit to their country, their community and their church. They are people whose influence will live long after they have gone. The Chopping Block salutes Mr. and Mrs. Nielsen [sic] with humility and gratitude for the privilege of having enjoyed their friendship.

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Typed from Xerox copy of clipping of the tribute, which copy was sent to me by Susan Parrott. There is no citation for the newspaper source.

REMINISCINGS OF PETER NIELSON WHEN HE WAS 75 YEARS OLD

I was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1881, and christened a Lutheran. My earliest recollections are of the apartment house where I lived with Mother, Father already being in America. My mother left our home each day to work. She was a tailor of men’s suits. The first thing kids were taught was the name of their street and the number. Most of the children of the working class were left long hours to shift for themselves, and the one thing they had to know was their home address. My address was 42 Princess Street. One of the days that I was alone, I fell down the stairs and poked a stick in my eye. The money that Father had sent for us to join him and the money which Mother had been saving had to be used to try to save my eye. This was not to be. I lost the vision of one eye.

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    Axel, Peter & Ane, with older Peter in insert. Click photo for full image.

After a great delay, the money was again accumulated and we were to leave for America. I was vaccinated and inoculated for four diseases. This, on top of my eye accident and not being a robust child, I became desperately ill. At Liverpool, England, we had to change ships and we boarded one from the Mediterranean loaded with Greeks, Turks, Mongols, many of whom had small pox and typhus. Because I was ill, they made Mother and me move down to the bottom of the ship and travel those many weeks without ever seeing the sky or having one person to whom we could speak. Each day my mother suffered a thousand deaths fearing I would die and be tossed into the ocean as they were doing with others who died. She had left Denmark thinking she would be travelling with the returning missionaries who were also on the ship, but the missionaries were afraid of the diseases and did not go down to see her.
    When at last we landed at Ellis Island, I was taken from my mother and she feared I was to be sent back. By a miracle, I was okayed by the health department and Mother and I proceeded by train across the continent to the end of the train line at Juab County, Utah. My first impression of America was at this station. We stepped from the train into a maze of wagons, buggies, and oxcarts who came from all the surrounding territory to pickup freight and to meet other emigrants coming into this territory.
    All our earthly possessions were in a wooden box. The box was unloaded from the train and Mother and I sat on the box waiting for someone to come for us. Night fell and no one came. The station agent locked up and took Mother and me to his home until word could be sent to my father where we were. The stations agent’s wife found out that Mother could sew and sew she did all the time we were there. That was good as it paid for our board and room. We were finally united with Father and arrived in Elsinore.
    In 1889, I was baptized in the Dirty Devil River in Piute County, by Ole Okerlund. To this day I remember how cold the water was, though it was June.
    Upon completion of their home, Axel was called to go to Loa, Utah, to start a mill for I. J. Riddle, Jr. While living there they saw their first Indian. They were Grass Valley migratory Indians who had had a battle around Glenwood, Utah, and had killed some whites. White Horse Chief had been responsible for the killings. This very group came to Axel’s mill begging for flour. They became very friendly to this Danish family and gave Peter arrows, moccasins, a pony, and many trout from Fish lake. The Indians were frequent visitors to the mill and Axel found them most interesting, but his little foreign wife was terrified. They would come to the window of her little house and pound on the window and call "let me in!" Sometimes she would hide in terror, other times [she] let them in. Strangely enough, she with her Danish and they with their Indian jargon would converse quite clearly. When it was time for the Indians to migrate, it was their habit to kill those who were too old or sick to travel and keep up with the group. It became Axel’s job to hide the old Indians until the tribe moved on.
    Once again he was asked to return to Elsinore and from there was sent to Escalante, Utah, to start a new mill. At this time, he helped the Hermanson and Michael Harrison families to emigrate from Denmark.
    In 1893, he was called on a mission to the Southern States. He was a muscle and trick man. Willard Bean, a former Utah boxing champion, was his companion. Their mission field was Mississippi and Louisiana. They were often mobbed, and as often surprised their hecklers by taking them on–one or two at a time–to wrestle and box. Some of their best friends and most stalwart converts came from these surprise meetings. These two missionaries walked from their headquarters to New Orleans to see John L. Sullivan fight an English boxer.
    Upon his return, he built an Opera House and dance hall in Elsinore, and returned to Loa, Utah, where he bought the flour mill of Hugh J. McClennan. This was the first mill he ever owned. It was a new "rolling" mill in contrast to the "burr" mill which was a stone grinding process.
    While in Loa, Peter was called on a mission. Upon completion of this mission, Axel, his wife and son Victor moved to Richfield. Peter stayed to operate the mill in Loa. The Richfield mill was purchased from Andrew Poulson. During the years in Richfield, Axel was again called to serve a mission, this time to London. He returned and operated the Richfield mill until it burned down in 1925. They moved to Los Angeles but after a few years returned to Richfield and built a Feed and Produce store. They remained there for three years and moved to Springville and bought the mill there. Two years later Ane Sophie Larson Nielsen died of a heart attack. Axel became a temple worker in the Manti Temple, and there married Karen Christensen. He remained in Manti until his last illness at the age of 89. He returned to Springville to Peter’s home where he died of a stroke. Nine years earlier, at the age of 80, he had had a prostate operation. Otherwise he had never had a sick hour.
    I began the first grade of school in Elsinore when I was 9 years old. Chloe Bean was my teacher. I didn’t know much English as Danish was spoken at home. At 17, I had finished the "fourth reader" and sent to the Brigham Young Academy from October to March. My teachers were L. E. Eckerson, Caleb Tanner, Prof. Wolf, Bro. McKendrick, Haldmar Ostlund.
    In February 1903, I went on a mission to the Northern States with headquarters on Pauline Street in Chicago. I served for two years and eight months. Asael Woodruff was my first Mission President and later German E. Ellsworth. In 1904, the missionaries were given a thirty day leave to attend the St. Louis’ World’s Fair. Travel was cheap because we could ride on clergy rates of one cent a mile. We boarded the train all right but ended up in Niagara Falls. We also made a trip on a steamboat down the Mississippi to New Orleans. I travelled extensively throughout the mission with President Ellsworth. We visited Winnipeg where we met many Josephites. Most of my mission was spent in St. Paul and Minneapolis.
    When my mission was over I expected to return to Loa and marry Reba Blackburn, but when I reached there she had already married Ed Okerlund. This put a new climate on affairs. I continued to run the mill in Loa. One day I stopped in at Lon Billings’s store and spotted a new clerk, Edna Snow. In a matter of months we were married in the Salt Lake Temple.

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PETER NIELSON1

Born at Copenhagen, Denmark, 7 June 1881
Baptized by Ole Okerlund, Loa, Utah, 5 August 1889
Confirmed by President Willis Robinson, 5 August 1889
Schooling commenced at Elsinore, Utah
Ordained an Elder by William H. Morrell [Monell?], 10 May 1903
Ordained a Seventy by Fredrick G. Pectol, 11 February 1906
Married to Edna Snow by President Winder at Salt Lake Temple, 6 June 1906
Endowed at Salt Lake Temple, 15 May 1903
Patriarchal Blessing by E. H. Blackburn
Mission to Northern States, Set apart by Apostle Woodruff, went 12 [19] May 1903
Returned from Mission, October 1905
Migrated from Denmark to U.S.A., Utah, September 1884
Vocation: Flour Miller
Height: 5 feet 8 inches, Weight: 160 pounds
Color of eyes: Gray, Color of Hair: Brown
General Condition of Health: Good
Specially interested in Flour Milling
Died at Springville, 5 January 1966
Burial, 8 January 1966

Important Events, Etc.

April 20, 1919, Sustained as Second Counselor to Bishop N. C. Paulson
June 19, 1921, Sustained as First Counselor to Bishop F. M. Ogden
Set Apart by Elder Melvin J. Ballard, April 20, 1928 [9 written over 8],was nine years in Bishopric of Richfield, Utah, First Ward
Bishop of the Springville Third Ward, 1929
Patriarch of the Kolob Stake, 13 April 1947

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