The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 978 

JOHN NELSON.

John Nelson is a prominent Yakima manufacturer, and inventor whose skill and
ingenuity, combined with the recognition of a need among fruit growers, led to
his invention of the Nelson fruit grader, which has been placed upon the market
and is now being rapidly sold. Mr. Nelson is a native of Sweden. He was born May
15, 1800, and is a son of Johannes and Lisa (Anderson) Nelson, who came to the
United States in 1878 and located at Dassel, Minnesota. The father was a farmer
by occupation, devoting his life to that pursuit until his labors were ended in
death. Both he and his wife passed away in Minnesota.

In his youthful days John Nelson learned the carpenter's trade, which he
followed at various points in Minnesota, remaining a resident of that section
of the country until 1909, when he removed to Yakima and soon afterward
purchased a fruit ranch near Selah. There he still makes his home and is engaged
in the raising of apples and pears. He has well developed orchards, in which he
utilizes the latest scientific discoveries for the care and protection of the
trees and for handling the crops. In the course of his business he recognized
the necessity of a good fruit grader and on the 25th of December, 1913, after
carefully considering and thinking over the matter, began the work of inventing
the Nelson fruit grader, which he brought to perfection. He then organized the
Nelson Manufacturing Company of Yakima and began the building of these graders.
For this purpose he has established a well equipped plant supplied with all
necessary machinery, and he is turning out a grader which is finding a very
rapid and ready sale on the market. It is built of excellent materials and
grades fruit to perfection. In fact it is the only grader that has successfully
handled pears. All fruit is handled in such a way by the machine that bruising
is entirely eliminated. There is no variation in the matter of size and the
machine has proven one hundred per cent, efficient in determining size and
soundness of the fruits handled. This grader soon won wide recognition as the
best that has been placed upon the market and the supply at the present time is
not equal to the demand.

On the 15th of October, 1905, John Nelson was married to Miss Clara Johnson, a
native of Stillwater, Minnesota. and to them has been born a daughter, Faith
Christine, now three and a half years of age. Mr. Nelson usually votes with the
democratic party but does not hesitate to cast an independent ballot if his
judgment so dictates. He has never been a lodge man or active in club circles,
preferring always to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his business
interests. which have constantly grown in volume and importance until he is
today widely known as a fruit raiser and manufacturer of Yakima.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in January 2008 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.