I was roaming around the Monroe Cemetery located north of Greenville. I saw a tombstone with the words ONE EYE PETE that caught my attention. On the other side is the name of Corp. Peter Nelson.
From what I could find on the internet Peter Nelson came to the United States from Denmark to avoid conscription into the Danish army. He ended up in the Civil War instead. He got the nickname One Eye Pete because he had lost an eye at a young age when a animal swiped at his face and damaged his eye with its claw.
As part of his severance pay from the military he was offered what he saw as swampland in Illinois. He felt you couldn’t grow anything there of he refused it. Today it is part of downtown Chicago, Il. He came to the Greenville area and died in 1904 and was laid to rest in the Monroe Cemetery.
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