Details

Collection Summary
Collection: FND002 - SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Peace Officer Memorial Program
Series: Tribute
Folder: DIG
Item: 03199
Title: Julius (Sanders) A. Nielsen
Date:
Creator:
Inscription/Marks: 1866
Summary: Sanders Nielsen - Kenmare - September 1921 Julius Alexander Nielsen (aka Sanders Nielsen), night policeman of Kenmare, was shot and killed at an early hour on September 17, 1921, by Charles Welling, a transient, who with a companion, Harry Butler, had held up a poker game and were attempting to evade detention by the officer. Following the shooting, Welling engaged in a revolver duo with Chief Kinser and was wounded in the leg but escaped. He was found hiding in a barn near a brick plant and appeared before the judge on the charge of murder. Welling and Butler entered a room in the Crystal rooming house where six transients were playing poker and held up the game, making away with $140. Both had guns. Later, the two were located at the Park Hotel eating lunch. Nielsen and the city mayor waited at the front and rear door for the robbers to depart. They concluded their lunch, and with another man, left the restaurant through the rear door. Nielsen pulled his gun and ordered them to stop, but Welling had his gun in his hand and fired, shooting Nielsen in the breast. He then stood over Nielsen and fired two more shots into his body and started to run. Butler and the other man re-entered the hotel and went back to their rooms. When leaving the alley, Welling encountered Chief Kinser who ordered him to stop. Welling shot at him and Kinser returned the fire, shooting him in the leg but Welling was able to escape. A large posse was organized to search the district for the robber at large and a few hours later, a tip was received that Welling was hiding in a nearby barn. The officers went to the farm to find Welling asleep in the barn. It was discovered during investigations that Charles Welling, 25, aka Harry Smith, was an escaped convict from the penitentiary in Ft. Madison, Iowa, where he was sentenced to serve a life sentence for murder in the first degree. Welling faced a possible death by hanging because of his previous crime but on Dec. 7, 1921, Welling was sent back to the Iowa penitentiary to serve his sentences in full. Sanders Nielsen, 55, was survived by his wife and seven children and was one of the early settlers of the section, having homesteaded there about 20 years. He had served as night police about eight months.
Red ID: FND_I_77322 Image ID: 509142 Image Notes: 10950 00002 03199

Collection: FND002 Digitized Images from Collection
Title: SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Peace Officer Memorial Program
Date:

Summary: The North Dakota Peace Officer Memorial Program honors fallen officers with highlights of their lives and careers.

Enter a subject or term in one or both of the “Search” boxes.

  • “Item Detail” searches the Title, Creator and Summary fields of all item-level records.
  • “Collection Number” searches the Collection Number field only and requires an exact match.

The “DETAILS” button provides additional information about an item, as well as the following options:

  • “Collection Summary” details the contents of the entire collection in which the selected item is located.
  • You can print the image and its corresponding details by selecting “Print".
  • “Digitized Images from the Collection” returns a list of all digitized items within that collection (available from the “Collection Summary” screen).

Click on image to expand/zoom the image view.

“Photobook home” takes you back to the main Photobook page where you can start a new search.

“Featured Collections” showcases new and/or popular collections and the digitized images within those collections.

Information on how to order copies is located here.

The collections preserved in the North Dakota State Archives include over a million images. Only a small percentage of these images have been digitized. This photo gallery provides a preview of the images that have been digitized.

For more information on the non-digitized images, please refer to the finding aids found on our website at history.nd.gov, or ask a member of our reference staff for assistance.