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Nelson, Knute

Sessions Served  red ball graphic  Other Information


Map of Alexandria
Alexandria, MN

Senate 1875-78 (District 39)

Party when first elected:  Not Available

Counties Served:  Big Stone, Douglas, Grant, Lake, Pope, Stevens

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Date of Birth: 02/02/1843 Date of Death: 04/28/1923
Birth Place: Evanger, Voss/Vosse Elven Birth County:  Birth Country: Norway
Other Names:
Gender:  Male Religion:  Lutheran
City of Residence (when first elected):  Alexandria

Occupation (when first elected):  Lawyer/Farm Owner

EDUCATION

Albion Academy, Wisconsin; Secondary; Graduate, June 1865
Studied Law; Office of Senator William F. Vilas, Madison, Wisconsin; Admitted to the Wisconsin Bar, Spring 1867

OTHER GOVERNMENT SERVICE

Military4th Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment/Volunteer Infantry (United States Civil War, Capture of New Orleans, Siege of Vicksburg, Battle of Baton Rouge and Bisland; Wounded and Taken Prisoner in Port Hudson Siege, Louisiana; Private and Noncommissioned Officer) 04/??/1861 to 08/??/1864
State Legislator (Not Minnesota)Wisconsin AssemblyElected??/??/1868 to ??/??/1869
County AttorneyDouglas County, MinnesotaElected??/??/1872 to ??/??/1874
Board of RegentsUniversity of Minnesota ??/??/1882 to ??/??/1893
U.S. Representative5th Congressional District, MinnesotaElected03/04/1883 to 03/03/1889
State GovernorMinnesotaElected01/04/1893 to 01/31/1895
U.S. SenatorMinnesotaElected03/04/1895 to 04/28/1923

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

Spouse: Nicolina or Nicoline Jacobson Nelson (married in 1867)
Children:
Family Members Who Have Served in the Minnesota Legislature:

GENERAL NOTES

He came to Chicago, Illinois on July 3, 1849, when he was six years old, with his mother. They next moved to Wisconsin. He moved to Alexandria, Minnesota in August 1871.

He lived on a farm in Alexandria, Minnesota.

"Politics, Republican." (Biographical Sketches of the Officers of Minnesota and the 19th Minnesota State Legislature by C.L. Hall, 1877, p. 19)

He was listed as a Republican on the list of members posted after the 1877 election. ("The Next Legislature." St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 10, 1877)

He was elected as a Republican party member to the United States Congress.

He resigned his second term as Minnesota Governor to run for the United States Senate.

He was wounded in the Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana.

He died before his term expired in the United States Senate. He died on a railroad car near Timonium/Baltimore, Maryland while returning to Minnesota from Washington D.C. His body was lain in state in the State Capitol on May 1, 1923. He was buried in Kinkead Cemetery in Alexandria, Minnesota.

Religion provided by Biographical Sketches of the Officers of Minnesota and the 19th Minnesota State Legislature by C.L. Hall, 1877.

Legislative Session: 20th (1878)   Session Details
Body: Senate Elected: 11/7/1876 Term of Office: 1/2/1877 to 1/6/1879
District: 39 Residence: Alexandria
Counties Represented: Big Stone, Douglas, Grant, Lake, Pope, Stevens
Occupation: Lawyer
Party: Republican Party Notes: "Politics, Republican." (Biographical Sketches of the Officers of Minnesota and the 19th Minnesota State Legislature by C.L. Hall, 1877, p. 19); He was listed as a Republican on the list of members posted after the 1877 election. ("The Next Legislature." St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 10, 1877)
Committees:
Joint Grasshopper Devastation
Joint Taxes and Tax Laws
Judiciary
Railroads
State Reform School
Legislative Session: 19th (1877)   Session Details
Body: Senate Elected: 11/7/1876 Term of Office: 1/2/1877 to 1/6/1879
District: 39 Residence: Alexandria
Counties Represented: Big Stone, Douglas, Grant, Lake, Pope, Stevens
Occupation: Lawyer
Party: Republican Party Notes: "Politics, Republican." (Biographical Sketches of the Officers of Minnesota and the 19th Minnesota State Legislature by C.L. Hall, 1877, p. 19); He was listed as a Republican on the list of members posted after the 1877 election. ("The Next Legislature." St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 10, 1877)
Committees:
Judiciary
Railroads
Retrenchment and Reform
State Reform School
Legislative Session: 18th (1876)   Session Details
Body: Senate Elected: 11/3/1874 Term of Office: 1/5/1875 to 1/1/1877
District: 39 Residence: Alexandria
Counties Represented: Big Stone, Douglas, Grant, Lake, Pope, Stevens
Occupation: Lawyer
Party: Not Available
Committees:
Judiciary
Railroads
Retrenchment and Reform
Legislative Session: 17th (1875)   Session Details
Body: Senate Elected: 11/3/1874 Term of Office: 1/5/1875 to 1/1/1877
District: 39 Residence: Alexandria
Counties Represented: Big Stone, Douglas, Grant, Lake, Pope, Stevens
Occupation: Lawyer/Farm Owner
Party: Not Available
Committees:
Insane Asylum
Judiciary
Railroads
Retrenchment and Reform (Chair)

OTHER INFORMATION

Articles & Books About
Cook, Mike. "Gov. Knute Nelson." Session Weekly, St. Paul: Minnesota House of Representatives Information Office, May 10, 2002, p. 23.

Knute Nelson 80th Birthday Resolution. Minnesota Journal of the House, February 2, 1923, p. 301.

Knute Nelson 80th Birthday Resolution. Minnesota Journal of the Senate, January 31, 1923, p. 191-192.

Knute Nelson 76th Birthday Resolution. Minnesota Journal of the House, February 3, 1919, p. 263.

Shutter, Marion Daniel. "Knute Nelson." Progressive Men of Minnesota, Minneapolis: The Minneapolis Journal, 1897, p. 366.

Hall, C.L. "Hon. Knute Nelson." Memoirs of the State Officers; and of the Nineteenth Legislature of Minnesota, Minneapolis: Johnson & Smith, 1877, p. 18-19.

Knute Nelson. Biographical Information from the Minnesota Historical Society's Governors of Minnesota.

Nelson, Knute. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.




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