Charles B. Nelson

NELSON, ELLSWORTH, MATHERS, ROBINSON, LEET

Posted By: Diane Wilson (email)
Date: 7/29/2002 at 21:01:21

Captain Chas. B. Nelson stands conspicuous as one of the defenders of the Union during the bloody days of the rebellion. His father, Charles C., was a native of Vermont; his mother, Laura (Ellsworth) Nelson of the State of New York, and it was in Wayne county of that Old Empire State that on the 11th day of October, 1825, Charles B. Nelson was born. In 1840 the family emigrated to Winnebago county, Illinois, and there continued farming. In 1847, at Beloit, Wisconsin, Captain Nelson married Miss Maria Mathers, daughter of Daniel and Roxana Mathers.
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In 1861, he responded to the call of his country by enlisting as a private in Company A of the Fifteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered into service September 27. In June 17, 1863, C. B. Nelson was promoted to First Lieutenant, and served in that capacity until January 14, 1864, when the regiment was mustered out of service. But Lieutenant Nelson was not the man to remain at home and see his country in need of help. He therefore within ten days after reaching home had a company of one hundred men enrolled, and on the 2d day of February they were mustered into service as Company H of the Forty-seventh Wisconsin, with Captain Chas. B. Nelson as their leader. This company served until the close of the conflict, being discharged September 13, 1865. Thus it can be seen that Captain Nelson served nearly four years, during which time he was in many hard fought battles, besides numerous skirmishes. At Dallas’ Woods, May 28, 1864, he was severely wounded, by being struck in the right shoulder by a piece of shell, thus totally disabling his right arm for three years. He never has regained its full use.
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After the conflict was ended, Captain Nelson came to Clarksville, as his family had removed to that place, in 1863, and he soon settled on section 3, Jackson township, where he still resides, and will undoubtedly spend the remainder of his life, as he here owns 400 acres of fine land, well improved, and his home is surrounded with all the necessaries of the best social life.
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Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have had six children. Their oldest daughter died in 1865, and their oldest son was killed by the fall of a limb at Ft. Sill, Indian Territory, in 1877. The four children living are – Lillian, now Mrs. Willis O. Robinson, of Bloomington, Nebraska; Charles, Carrie, now Mrs. Charles Leet, of Santa Barbara, California, and Wesley. The mother of Captain Nelson now resides with him. She has spent the last ten years traveling in various parts of the United States, and although she has now reached her eighty-sixth year, she is in apparent good health, and still enjoys traveling by railroad.
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Source: History of Butler and Bremer Counties, Iowa
Union Publishing Co., Springfield, IL, 1883
Pages 601-602