Niels Joseph Nielsen was born 11 March 1855 in Aarvard, Denmark. His mother, Ane Margrethe Pedersen, died when Niels was a boy, and his father, Jens Nielsen, soon remarried. The family converted to the LDS faith after missionaries arrived in Denmark, and Niels served a mission when he was 18. When he came back from his mission, he found his family making plans to move to the United States. Niels and his father moved to the U.S. around 1878, later sending for Niels's stepmother and two sisters. The family settled in Sanpete County.

Minnie Schiller was born 10 April 1862 in Weston, Missouri. Her father, Johannas Ferdinant Schiller, and mother, Johanna Beatta Heidersbach, moved to the United States in 1861. Johannas served in the Union Army while Minnie was a toddler.

Minnie married John Ellis 27 November 1878 in St. Joseph, Missouri. The next year the couple had a child, Annie Rose (a.k.a. Anna Rosa, Anna Rose), who tragically died four days later. Unable to tolerate John's alcoholism, Minnie soon divorced her husband. In 1880 or 1882 she married another man, William Carlos Shaw, and bore another daughter named Maybell. William would not earn income for the family, so Maybell divorced him as well.

Minnie had no intentions of ever remarrying until she met Niels, a fellow employee at a restaurant kitchen in Colorado. It was after they were married in 1885 when Minnie discovered Niels was Mormon, and she soon accepted the faith. Niels adopted Maybell, and the couple had eight children together, six of whom lived to adulthood.

The Nielsens moved to Fairview, Utah in 1886. Thus began a lifetime of moving around Utah. In 1898, the Mormon General Authorities "called" the Nielsens to help establish the town of Giles in Wayne County. Life in Giles was very hard, and the family moved to Sunnyside around 1902 to try better prospects. Niels had much success as a rock mason, and the family had a stable life in Sunnyside, but the Nielsens decided to move back to Giles around 1906 to fulfill their calling. Unfortunately, a few years after the Nielsens arrived back to their home in Giles, Blue Valley suffered a terrible flood that destroyed homes, farms, and animals. LDS authorities released the settlers from their callings, freeing them to settle elsewhere.

The Nielsens moved from Blue Valley to the Provo Bench (Orem) in the Spring of 1909. In 1912, the family moved to Cedarview, and in 1921 they moved to Gunlock. The family moved around to find better working situations, and they seemed to have found it in Gunlock. They owned and operated a small general merchandise store in the front of their home, and Niels continued in the adobe bricks business. In the Spring of 1929, the Nielsens sold the home and the store to their son John and moved to Manti to be near the temple and their old friends.

Minnie died in Manti on 26 November 1939; Niels died two days later. They were both buried in Manti on 2 December. The collection includes various versions of their story, as told by their children who remembered the events and the grandchildren who constructed the family's history.