John Ernest Nelson

NELSON, BARKER

Posted By: Larry Nelson (email)
Date: 11/4/2001 at 05:53:08

John Ernest Nelson was born on 19 May 1878 at Mt Zion, Van Buren Co., Iowa. He married Grace Gertrude Barker on 1 June 1905 and had five children, Conley, Merle, Jean, Paul and Roberta. He attended the Birmingham Collegiate Institute in Birmingham and the Capital City Commercial College in Des Moines, Iowa. His ribs were broken while tending a horse, which crushed him against the stall. He underwent 10 to 11 operations, many at the Mayo Clinic by the brothers Mayo. His wife Grace and daughter Jean dressed and tended his wound daily for almost 25 years. He managed his farming business from horse-back as he was unable to endure the pain of bouncing around on farming equipment. He died at the family homestead on 1 June 1936.