Karelius Nelson (1868-1937)

From the Sisseton Weekly Standard, October 23, 1914.

  From North Dakota, we journey to that state's southern neighbor to highlight the life of Karelius Nelson, a Swedish native who was elected to three terms in the South Dakota House of Representatives. Following his resettlement in the United States, Nelson resided in Minnesota, where he farmed, and later engaged in railroad work. After migrating to Roberts County, South Dakota he entered into the grain elevator business and before his legislative service was elected as Roberts County clerk of courts. The son of Nils and Karin Nelson, Karelius Nelson was born in Varmland, Sweden on May 2, 1868. 

  Nelson's formative years were spent in Sweden, where he attended public school. He later took a special course in mathematics. At age eighteen he left Sweden for a new life in the United States, and first settled in Minnesota. For the next several years he worked at farming and on the railroads, and in 1892 removed to Roberts County, South Dakota. Here he established a farm, which, by the turn of the 19th century consisted of "three hundred acres of fine land." Nelson returned to Minnesota in October 1894 to marry Maria Sophia Erickson (1863--1941), to who he was wed for forty-three years. The couple would have seven children, Cora (1895-1987), Mamie Edith (1897-1988), Carl Arthur (1898-1962), Ruth Mabel (1900-2001), Agnes (1902-1929), Karin (1905-1921), and Nels Gottfred (1909-2000).

  For the majority of his life, Nelson followed farming in Roberts County and entered the business sector of his community with his time as secretary of the White Rock Telephone Company. He also entered the grainery business, being the secretary of the Farmer's Elevator Company in Rosholt. He was active in the Lutheran Church and entered local politics when he was elected as a township supervisor. He later won terms as a school clerk and justice of the peace, and in 1914 entered into the race for Roberts County clerk of courts. He proved successful at the polls and was elected that November, and went on to win a second term in 1916.

From the 1919 South Dakota Legislative Manual.

    In 1918 Karelius Nelson announced his candidacy for the South Dakota House of Representatives, and in November was elected. Taking his seat at the start of the 1919-21 term, he was named to the committees on Appropriations, Dairy Products, and Statistics. In November 1920 Nelson won a second term, and from 1921-23 served on the same four committees from the previous session.

  Following his second term, Nelson was affiliated with the Rosholt Community Bank as a director, and in 1930 won a third term in the statehouse. Little else is known of Nelson's life after the completion of his term in 1933, except notice of his death on February 15, 1937, in Breckinridge, Minnesota. Nelson was survived by his wife Maria, who, following her death in 1941, was interred alongside him at the St. Joseph Cemetery in Rosholt, South Dakota.

From the South Dakota State Manual, 1931.