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The brothers Nel, after whom Nelspruit would be named, had been trekking homewards with their sheep in September 1890. They were concerned to discover an Englishman camped on Riverside actually preparing to plough this land, and told Hugh Lanion Hall that he could not possibly escape
Malaria during the coming summer months. Undeterred, H.L. Hall continued to work the farm and create a livelihood for him and his wife Grace, and proceeded with the planting of some of the first agricultural crops in the vicinity of Nelspruit.
Hall had adapted to this region over ten years of rigorous transport riding, some of which had been done with his friend
Percy Fitzpatrick. Because of this background he had a vast knowledge of livestock and survival techniques. He had just given up transporting riding, choosing instead to start farming on Riverside, a farm on hire from the Transvaal Government. He had married Miss Grace Donaldson a year before at Avoca, east of
Barberton, and together the two would be some of the first pioneers to open up the Lowveld to agriculture.
The proposed railway line between Lourenco Marques and Pretoria probably influenced Hall in his choice of location. And this proved to be a wise choice, for Nelspruit soon became centre for surrounding growth points.
The Anglo-Boer war caused a set-back for the area. Hall's fortunes declined with it. He was, however, able to successfully re-organise his farming after the war. His endeavours demonstrated that the local soils were productive under capable management and that almost any crop could be grown.
At the same time farming had slowly started taking off in other areas of the Lowveld. The Barberton Valley had been growing crops since gold first attracted people to the area. Agricultural shows had even be held before the Anglo-Boer War. The Milner settlement had been established in White River in 1905 when British ex-soldiers were given plots of land in the area. There were also smaller pockeys of activity at Komatipoort, Hectorspruit, Malelane, Kaapmuiden, Alkmaar, Schagen, Karino, Schoemanskloof, Sabie and Acornhoek.
The people involved in this farming activity wanted progress in the form of better roads, additional railway lines and other servics. Government was however unable to provide these at a rate acceptable to the population. The local community discussed the possibility of forming a Farmers Association as a means of communicating with the authorities, and were suddenly spurred into action when Captain Elphick of Malelane formed a farmers association - the Lowveld Eastern Transvaal Farmers Association. It was for this reason that a number of the Nelspruit community approached Percy Wilhelm to act as convenor.
The Lowveld Farmers Association was established on 23 August 1913. Mr Percy Wilhelm convened this inaugural meeting to create an organisation which in its mandate set out to develop the area centred on the then hamlet of Nelspruit.
Those present at this meeting were Wilhelm, Elphick, Hall, Lawrence, Vogt, Sheppard, van Kloeg, van der Plas, Hammerton, Brown, P Bester, Fourie, Schatz, Venn, L Raubenheimer, Bosman, Erasmus, van Loggerenberg, A E Bester, Blackmore, Dwyer and Smith.
Captain Elphick was elected as chairman to control the proceedings, who then invited the farmers to join the newly formed Lowveld Eastern Transvaal Farmers Association. This suggestion was however turned down because it was felt that the Association should be based at Nelspruit.
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