Butte County
Biographies
NIELS ANDERSEN NIELSEN
NIELS ANDERSEN NIELSEN.—By the exercise of good judgment, and by perseverance, Niels A. Nielsen of Gridley, Butte County, has
been able to demonstrate that a man starting at the bottom can by industry and
well-directed effort attain to a position of prominence, and build up a home.
He was born at Aero, Denmark, January 18, 1866, and is the son of Niels Andersen and Bertha Katrine
(Henricksen) Nielsen, well-to-do farmers owning a
farm near Tverby, Denmark. The mother died at the age
of sixty-four years, while the father is still living, aged eighty years. Eight
of the children born to this worthy couple are still alive, Niels A.
being the third eldest. He was reared on the home farm and educated in the
local schools of his native province. When he was old enough, he was set to
work as a farm hand, and continued in that occupation, laboring for very small
wages. He served the regulation time in the Danish army in 1887, and received
an honorable discharge. In the spring of 1888, he landed on the American shore,
and ever since he has been a loyal citizen of the land of his adoption. He had
but a small sum of money when he reached Kane County, Ill., but he did have the
determination to make a success of his labors if it were possible to do so. He
readily found work on a farm, and remained there until the fall of 1888, when
he had saved enough money to bring him to the Pacific Coast, the ultimate end
of his journey.
When he arrived in San Francisco, Mr.
Nielsen entered the employ of the street railway company, and retained his
position after the United Railway Company became the owner of the lines, until
1906. During the intervening years he had saved his money, and he then decided
that he would strike out as a rancher. He had become familiar with the
conditions on the Coast and, with his knowledge of farm work as carried on in
his native country and in Illinois, felt equal to the undertaking. Going to
Butte County, he invested in fifty acres of land under the Sutter-Butte canal,
two miles southeast of Gridley, the same being part of a large grain field, and
he at once began making improvements by erecting the buildings necessary for a
home. He planted English walnut trees and ten acres of peaches and other
varieties of fruits; checked the land, and planted twenty-five acres to
alfalfa; installed a pumping plant, with a gasoline engine for pumping water for
domestic use; and put in a hay scale, as well as a full complement of modern
machinery and implements. Soon he had a dairy of twenty cows that were bringing
in a snug monthly income, some hogs that meant ready money in the markets, and
in time fruit and nuts to add to his yearly profits.
In 1897, in San Francisco, Mr. Nielsen was
united in marriage with Anna Warming, born near Tondern,
North Schleswig, of an old Danish family. Her father,
Hans Warming served in the Danish army and took part in the War of 1864
with Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Nielsen have two daughters, Bertha and Anita,
students at the University of California at Berkeley. Mr. Nielsen is a
member of Mission Lodge, No. 169, F. & A. M., in San
Francisco. In their adopted county, Mr. and Mrs. Nielsen have won many
friends, who appreciate their enterprise and public spirit.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
13 October 2009.
Source:
"History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Page 1249, Historic Record Co, Los
Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Marie Hassard.
Golden Nugget Library's
Butte County Biographies