WILLIAM A. NELSON.-The name of William A. Nelson has been long and prominently associated with the agricultural interests of Sullivan county. He was born in Honey Creek township, Vigo county, Indiana, April 7, 1833, a son of John J. and Emilia (Cruse) Nelson, both of whom were born in Kentucky. Coming to Vigo county in 1823, they lived there until their removal to Curry township in Sullivan county in 1838, enrolling their names among the county's earliest pioneers. Mr. Nelson became prominently known as a farmer and hunter, farming the tract of one hundred and twenty acres which he entered from the government and the subsequent additions of eighty and forty acres each, thus making him the owner of two hundred and forty acres. Six children were born to John J. and Emilia Nelson, as follows: Mary A., James and Susan, deceased; William A., the subject of this review; Eliza J., deceased; and Margaret E. Williams, whose home is in Kansas.
After his marriage William A. Nelson was given forty acres of land by his father, and he farmed that little tract for two years, in that time also conducting a huckster wagon. In the spring of 1864 he laid aside his business duties to become a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting on the 10th of October, in Company C, First Indiana Heavy Artillery, and he was discharged on the 10th of October, 1865, after participating in the one battle of Fort Spanish. Returning after the close of the conflict to his little farm in Sullivan county, he again began running his huckster wagon and finally purchased a threshing machine and continued its operation until his retirement in 1891. He is now the owner of a farm of forty-seven acres of rich and fertile land.
On the 30th of October, 1856, Mr. Nelson was married to Armilda A. Shoemaker, who was born on the farm on which she now resides, November 27, 1842, and to their union has been born five children: John T., deceased; Hattie Frakes, of Shelburn; William A., Jr., who married Alice Harris and resides in Curry township; Lucetta Frakes, of Fairbanks township; and Ozro, at home with his parents. Mr. Nelson is a member of Gaskin Post, G. A. R., at Farmersburg, and in compensation for his army services he now receives a pension from the government of twenty dollars a month. He is a stanch Republican in his political affiliations, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist church.