Written By Alice Gibb
In 1874, Nelson Peterson (1849-1940), a native of Sweden, decided he wanted an adventure. After a six-week Atlantic crossing, he re-united with his brother, Hans, who was living in Memphis, Tennessee. Nelson worked for his brother for some months, but couldn’t adjust to the warmer climate. So Nels headed north, spending a year working in the Chicago brickyards. For whatever reason – perhaps because the climate seemed closer to that of his homeland - Peterson decided to head to Canada. His started out working on a farm at Birr and then moved to Sloan’s coal yard in London. From there, he settled in Komoka where he found work on the trains which were supplying materials for construction of the London, Huron & Bruce Railroad. After that, he worked for farmer Hugh McDonald for two years and during the winter months, in William Vanderburg’s hotel at Hyde Park. In 1879, at age 30, he found a permanent job on the Grand Trunk Railroad as a section hand.
Now that he had a reliable job, Nels asked Mary Elizabeth Prince (1860-1916) of Hyde Park to be his wife. Mary Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of the ten children of Henry Prince and his wife, Sarah Jane Elson. Nels and Mary Elizabeth eventually had six children.
Shortly after his marriage, Nelson was transferred to Exeter as a railroad foreman, remaining there for 20 years. During his two decades on the job, he took only two weeks of holidays.
At age 50, when many men would be content to stay in a relatively well-paying job, Nels decided to tackle another adventure. This time it was homesteading in the newly-opened Rainy River district of Ontario. His farm could only be reached by traveling across the Lake of the Woods on a small steamboat. Living seven miles from the river, the Petersons soon discovered that it was a challenge to transport either supplies or livestock to their farm. Nelson was the first man to take a wagon into the district.
Since crops were small in the early years, Peterson made a living cutting railway ties and telegraph poles. Gradually roads were constructed through the bush, and the Kenora Highway was eventually built only a few miles from the Peterson farm.
In 1934, Nelson Peterson retired to Parkhill to live with his daughter, Mrs. Marshall Box. Interviewed at 85 years of age, Nels Peterson recalled Swedish farming practices and the folk stories of his native land. Suffering only from a stiff knee, he got around using a cane carved by grandson Laurence Box. After such an adventurous life, Peterson was now content to spend much of his time reading.
