Nelson Family Script

Hello All. It's so nice to see all of you once again. I see the years have been good to you. For those that don't know me, my name is Eliza J. Nelson, wife to William Monroe Nelson. I want to thank the library for highlighting my husband's family. It is such an honor. In those days we were all pioneers, struggling to make a place for all. My husband was born in the little town of Lenna in the year 1896 to Thomas and Minnie Nelson. We were married in Eufaula in the year 1916 and children came soon after. Between our children and a growing grocery business we kept so busy. I believe we had our grocery business for 32 years. The first store was located on Border Avenue. I can remember it like it was yesterday, placing my boys in a cardboard box so that they could play while we ran the store. The Nelson family has been very successful in this community concerning business. Take a look at Nelson's Feed Store. It was purchased in 1934 and is in the family to this very day. The building has been remodeled and expanded and may I say it is looking quite sharp. The extended Nelson family is quite huge with many of us living all over the United States but the original family tree began when Edward Monroe Nelson married Mary Jane Pruitt in Dallas, Texas on May 9, 1866. They are found on the 1910 McIntosh County census. To them were born 10 children. Edward served in the Confederacy in the Civil War. After Edward died, Mary Jane received his pension from the War Department. She briefly moved to Washington, living with her daughter Belle and son-in-law John McGuaghy until 1925. That year, she returned to her beloved Eufaula to be near her other children, grandchildren and others. Mary Jane Pruitt Nelson died in Eufaula on February 2, 1928. She was 77 years old. There are so many things I would like to tell you about my husband's family, but there just is not enough time, so I invite all of you to please take a look at our family history album. It was prepared by Betty Reams Nance, great granddaughter of Edward Monroe Nelson. Please take a look at it. You just may see a picture of someone you haven't seen in a very long time.