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Kinyon Digital Library

History of Adair
County, Iowa, 1915.

Biographical.  Volume 2.

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E. W. Nelson.

E. W. Nelson, who devotes his attention to the pursuits of dairying and farming with gratifying success, is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of rich and productive land on section 2 and 3, Grand River township.  His birth occurred in Knox county, Illinois, on the 24th of September, 1869, his parents being M. A. and Virginia Nelson.  The mother, a native of Illinois, died in that state when our subject was but nine months old, and the father subsequently came to Iowa, now making his home in Winterset, this state.  They had two children, E. W.; and a daughter who is deceased.

E. W. Nelson, left motherless in infancy, was reared by his grandparents until eleven years of age and then secured employment on a farm.  In the acquirement of an education he attended the common schools when opportunity offered.  In 1888, when a young man of nineteen, he came to Iowa and here worked as a farm hand until the time of his marriage in 1892.  Following that important event in his life he operated a rented farm for three years and then bought a tract of land in Harrison township, Adair county, which he cultivated for four years.  On the expiration of that period he disposed of the property and embarked in the mercantile business, successfully conducting an enterprise of that character for five years.  He then sold his store and during the next four years cultivated a rented farm in Lee township, at the end of which time he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on sections 2 and 3, Grand River township, where he has carried on agricultural pursuits continuously since.  He has erected modern and substantial buildings on the property and in connection with the raising of cereals is also engaged in dairying, owning a herd of Holstein cows.

In 1892 Mr. Nelson was united in marriage to Miss Nancy E. Murphy, a native of Adair, Iowa, and a daughter of Leon and Polly Ann (Roberts) Murphy, both of whom were born in Indiana.  They came to Iowa in an early day and here spent the remainder of their lives.  Their children were nine in number, six of whom still survive.  To Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have been born four children, as follows:  Stella M., who is now engaged in teaching school;  Jimmie, who is deceased;  Arley, at home;  and Clyde, who has also passed away.

Politically Mr. Nelson is a democrat but has never sought nor desired the honors and emoluments of office as a reward for his party fealty.  Fraternally he is identified with the Aborhill camp of the Modern Woodmen of America, in which he has filled all of the chairs, and both he and his wife attend the services of the Methodist Episcopal church.  Realizing the fact that zeal and energy constitute the basis of success, he has pursued his work diligently, and this combined with honorable business methods has gained him a place among the highly respected and substantial citizens of Adair county.

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