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Knute Nelson papers, 1860-1966
Biography/History:
Knute Nelson was born in Vosse Elven, Norway, on February 2, 1843. In 1849 he and his widowed mother emigrated to the United States, settling first in Chicago (1849-1850), then in Dane County, Wisconsin, where he enlisted in the Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment (1861-1864) during the Civil War. Following the war he graduated from the Albion Academy and studied law in a Madison, Wisconsin, law office, being admitted to the bar in 1867 and then serving as a representative in the Wisconsin assembly (1868-1869).
In 1871 he moved with his family to Alexandria, Minnesota, where he practiced law while farming a homestead tract. He served as Douglas County attorney (1872-1974), Minnesota state senator (1875-1878), presidential elector (1880), University of Minnesota regent (1882-1893), and fifth district representative to Congress (1883-1889). He was elected governor of Minnesota in 1892 and 1894, which post he resigned in 1895 to run successfully for the United States Senate, where he remained until 1923. Nelson was chairman of the Senate judiciary committee and the senate committee on public lands, and was active on the commerce and Indian affairs committees. His most notable legislative measures included the Nelson Bankruptcy Act (1898) and the act creating the Department of Commerce and Labor (1902), and he was also active in the establishment of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Nelson also supported a low tariff, a federal income tax, Prohibition, the Sherman Act, and the League of Nations. He died on April 28, 1923, during his fifth senatorial term.
The above information was taken from the following sources: Dictionary of American Biography, vol. XIII (1934); Who Was Who in America, vol. I (1968);Minnesota Biographies (1912), Book of Minnesotans (1907), Minnesota Historical Society Collections, vol. XIII (August 1908).
The Minnesota Historical Society Archives contains a large collection of Knute Nelson.
Scope and Content:
Papers concerning a Norwegian-born attorney and statesman: Clippings, correspondence, genealogy, transcripts and translations of letters, and speeches. Papers include: Nelson's translation of the Norwegian Constitution (1895, 27 p.); Pedigree chart prepared by Ralph Rolland who shares some of the ancestry; clippings and copies of newspaper articles on observances of the 150th anniversary of Nelson's birthday. "Program ved minnehøgtiti, 14. Aug. 19”; Transcripts of letters written by Nelson's mother to her mother (Dec. 23, 1863) and her niece (Dec. 8, 1868); and letters from Nelson to his cousin Anders Bergo (1899-1923), collected by T.C. Blegen; other copies in the America Letters collection.
Nine Civil War letters translated by Nora O. Solum for Dr. Millard L. Gieske, Summer 1965. The letters were edited by Gieske and published in "Norwegian-American Studies," v.23 (1967) pp. 17-50 (along with letters written in English). The originals are in the Nelson Papers, Minnesota Historical Society Correspondence concerning the translation (some with Gerhard B. Naeseth and correspondents in Dane co.) includes considerable detail about the Drosvold/ Drogsvold family, including a questionnaire filled out by Annie Drosvold Norgarn.
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Marion J. Nelson articles, 1971-2002
Articles by Nelson, and clippings about him. "American woodcarvers from Telemark." Telemark Historie no 8., 1987, pp. 24-53. (photocopy) "Paintings by Minnesota Norwegians 1870 to 1970." The Norseman, March 2000 pp. 13-16 (photocopy); A review of his Three Landsverks: the art of an immigrant family (1990) is in Telemark historie no. 12, pp. 158-159. (library collection). "Luther College pioneer memorial" (by Tarkjel Landsverk), article by Frieda Nowland, Telesoga May 2002. NAHA in 1994 published a book he edited, Material culture and people's art among the Norwegians in America. Added Nov. 6, 2013: "Herbjørn Gausta, Norwegian-American Painter" (offprint of Americana Norvegica Vol. III, Studies in Scandinavian-American Interrelations, 1971). -
Mathias N. Nelson correspondence, 1886-1985
Nelson lived in St. Paul, Minnesota; Minot, North Dakota; and Calgary, Alberta. The letters to Nelson are mainly from relatives in Norway.
Contents:- Anne H. Flaa correspondence, 1886-1893
- Letters to Mr. M.N. Nelson, 1911-1985
- Eskild Lovseth correspondence, 1890-1918
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Nelson Olsen Nelson correspondence and articles, 1891-1991
According to Jon Wefald (A voice of protest, NAHA, 1971, p. 14), Nelson "was one of the most interesting Norwegian figures in the world of American industry." Born in Aust-Agder fylke, he immigrated with his family first to Texas, then to St. Joseph (Buchanan co.) Missouri. (Naeseth, 1847:487) He grew up on his father's farm, and a 165 enlisted in the Union army, advancing to second lieutenant in the regular army by the end of the war. After working in St. Louis for a year, he returned to St. Joseph. From 1870 to 1872 he lived in Hiawatha, Kansas, but then returned to St. Louis and 1877 founded the N.O. Nelson Manufacturing Co., which became on e of American's largest building and supply corporations. "He set up a cooperative industry controlled by employees and consumers, and 1886 introduced a profit-sharing plan." He established a "model industrial village" in Leclaire, Illinois. "In 1915 Nelson turned over 50 grocery stores, 3 meat markets, a condiment factory, a large dairy plant, and a truck farm to his employees." He spent his last years in Los Angeles, disillusioned because his innovations did not inspire worker to rise above material things. See article on Nelson in Dictionary of American Biography, v. 13 (1934).
Includes:
- Several communications by Nelson, to teachers, to associates; reprint of article from The Exponent on the Leclaire idea; articles from newspapers, 1922-1935; article "Leclaire, Illinois: a model industrial village" by Carl S. Lossau (Gateway Heritage; quarterly magazine of the Missouri Historical Society, Spring1988, pp. 20-31); article "Nelson Oliver Nelson: His vision of utopia" by June Grayson (Sons of Norway Viking, Jan. 1991, pp. 6-9); obituary (2 p. typescript) issued by the N.O. Nelson Mfg. Co.; Letters written 1891-1921 to "My dear cousin" (Grethe Christensen).
- Added November 2010: Books “Images of America: Leclaire [Edwardsville, Illinois]” by Cindy Reinhardt (Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, 2010); and A History of the Cooperative Village of Leclaire [Edwardsville, Illinois]” prepared by the, Bob Blain, Editor (Leclaire Centennial Committee, Edwardsville, Illinois, 1997).
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Oley Nelson papers, 1893-1943
Papers of a Civil War veteran: pamphlets, speeches, clippings, photographs (including one with F.D. Roosevelt), sketches of Nelson's life, and GAR mementos. Included is a pamphlet titled "The Controversy as to the Responsibility of the Augsburg Board of Trustees to the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America from 1890 to 1893," by Oley Nelson and Ole O. Onstad. "Brief History, 1st Norwegian Settlement, Story and Polk Counties in Iowa, 1855" was compiled by Nelson in 1905, and translated by him in 1930. "A Short History of the First Norwegian Settlement in Story and Polk Counties, Iowa" by Nelson was translated by Jacob Hodnefield. The clippings (1914-1938) are articles about Nelson and a few are by him. Nelson, a Slater, Iowa, farmer, merchant, and legislator, was Commander-in-Chief of the GAR in 1935. -
Rodney Nelson periodicals, 1971-1985
Issues of "Dakota Arts Quarterly" "Free Passage, a journal of prose and poetry." Some are edited by Nelson, others contain his stories and his translations of stories by Simon Johnson and J. B. Wist. The file includes a news release concerning his novel, "Home River," and "Thrudvang," a long poem (12 p. typescript, Aug. 1971). A copy of the novel is in the NAHA book collection. Stories by Nelson have been published in "Norwegian-American Studies," volumes 25, 1974, and 27, 1977.
Includes:- "Breidablik" published in "Norwegian-American Studies," v. 26 (1974, pp. 229-241); "The Popcorn Man" "Norwegian-American Studies," v. 27 (1977, pp. 256-271); "High Dakota: travels in June, 1979," ("Dakota Quarterly," Fall 1979); "Fargo: an editorial," ("Dakota Quarterly" pp. 4-5. Summer 1981); "When Bjornson came to LaCrosse by Johannes B. Wist, translated by Nelson ("Dakota Quarterly" pp. 14-18, 20-21. Spring 1982); "Zachaeus" by Knut Hamsun, translated by Sverre Arestad ("Dakota Quarterly" pp. 28-34). "Breidablik" by Nelson ("Free Passage" no. 7. Pp. 9-11, 21); Editorial ("Free Passage" nos. 8 & 9); "The stories of Simon Johnson" translated by Nelson ("Free Passage" special issue); from "Fire Fortaellinger:" Inga from the grove, Louis Alfred & John Otto. Jim's last day, the quarantine, from the archives of the NAHA. "from "Diggings" an episode from the novel, which Johnson wrote in English. Clipping: "Island Park and meaning uncovered: ("Fargo Forum" Jan. 27, 1985)..this clipping is about the Vigeland statue of Henrik Wergeland); clipping: "The death of Oskar Nordstrom" ("Earth Journal" Spring-Summer 1977).
- "Thrudvang" long poem. (12 p. typescript)
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Theodore G. Nelson biography, 1936-1957
Scrapbook Memories, a compilation (160 p.) covering family history and the experiences of a Norwegian American who was active in politics in North Dakota, where he was secretary of the Independent Voters' Association, which opposed the Non-partisan League. He moved to Oregon in 1933 where he became active in cooperative marketing, real estate, and retirement home movements.
Includes a campaign card and circular when Nelson ran for the Senate (1936). Biography outline: Church Chancels; Closing Curtain; Co-op Chores; Family Footnotes; Farm Frontiers; Norse Niche; People and Places; Personal Palaver; Political panorama; Realtors Realm; This and That; and What and Why -
Thomas Nelson papers, 1894-1935
Born Tobias Nielsen Jensveen, 1848-1935, and was a farmer from Kindred, North Dakota.
Includes:
Daily account book kept from 1894-1917 (household, livestock and crops)
Ledger includes subscription list for Christiania Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church, Kindred, N.D.
notebook issued by WM. Deering and Co.
1935 Wheat Allotment Contract
The Blizzard, by Albert Harris
Author was teaching in North Dakota at the time (boarding at the Kjos residence, location unknown)
My Safety Pledge, issued by the North Dakota Safety Council (automobile, 1927).
Three photographs of Tom Nelson family and farmhouse, circa 1915. -
William A. Nelson collection, 1983
Publication by William A. Nelson called "Stories and Poems of the Hills and Homes of Rollag" -
Sivert Nerheim articles, 1970-1975
Articles by and about Nerheim, his sister, Olina Solbu, and his family.
Includes:- Article, 25 pages, "The Farm Nerheim at Ølen, Sunnhordland" (n.d.); Article, 2 pages, "My First Journey to America, Year 1909" (n.d.); Article in the "Minnesota Posten," "A Memorable Norway Tour" (17 January 1975); Genealogy chart and articles regarding the Nerheim family (n.d.); Article, "My Childhood Days" by Olina Solbu (n.d.); Article "Min Barndoms Dage" by Olina Solbu (n.d.).