My Genealogy Hound

Louis F. Nelson, M. D., a resident of Edina, was born in Frederick City, Md., June 21, 1827, and is a son of Madison and Josephine (Marcilly) Nelson, both natives of Maryland. The father was an eminent lawyer and jurist of that State, and was for twenty years one of the judges of the supreme court of that State, where he died some fifteen years ago. The mother was of French descent, and died there in 1882. They were the parents of seven sons and three daughters. Our subject was reared to manhood in his native State, and finished his education at St. John’s College, Maryland. At the age of seventeen he began to read medicine with Dr. William Tyler, a prominent medical practitioner of Frederick City. He also attended lectures at the University of Maryland, in Baltimore, in 1848-49, and was a house student in the Baltimore infirmary during this time. He graduated at the head of his class from the first named institution in 1849, and commenced to practice in Frederick City, but in 1850 went to Chicago, where he practiced for two years. In 1853 he came to Marion County, Mo., and purchased a farm near Palmyra, upon which he lived and successfully followed his profession continuously until 1875, with the exception of a short time spent in Quincy, Ill., and Chicago. He then came to Edina, where he practiced for four years, and then went to Faribault, Minn., where he remained four years, but in 1884 returned to Edina, and is now in possession of a fairly large and lucrative practice. In 1852 he married Mary Jefferson, a native of Vermont, and is now the father of four children: Arthur (a dentist, in Chicago), Clara, Elizabeth H. and Louie Lee. In politics the Doctor is an uncompromising Democrat. Himself, wife and family are members of the Catholic Church, As to our subject’s ancestry, the following sketch, written by a talented lady relative in Chicago, speaks for itself: “Dr. John Nelson, an English gentleman of means, with a university education, came to Maryland about 1703, and settled in what became Frederick County. His son, Dr. John, and the latter’s son, Dr. Arthur, inherited the love of medicine from the above, and also inherited the family landed estate. His son, Dr. Arthur, owned large tracts of land on the Potomac, in Maryland, and upon the Shenandoah River, in Virginia. He was an ardent patriot, and served with honor as one of the committee of safety, and a member of other patriotic organizations. The Nelson homestead of 1,000 acres adjoined the Point of Rocks, Md. There Roger Nelson, our subject’s grandfather, was born. He was an ardent patriot, and enlisted in the Revolutionary war, being lieutenant of the Fifth Brigade of the famous Maryland Line. He was wounded in thirteen places at the battle of Camden, and left on the field as dead, but recovered and served until the end of the War, becoming brigadier-general. After the war he filled various high positions, and practiced law successfully in Frederick, Md. He was for several years a member of the Maryland Senate, and represented the State in the National House of Representatives from 1804 to 1810, when he was appointed judge of the Upper District of Maryland (a life position), and died in office June 7, 1815.”