Dr. Amos F. Nelson
 

The most elaborate history is perforce a merciless abridgment, the historian being obliged to select his facts and materials from manifold details and to marshal them in concise and logical order. This applies to specific as well as generic history, and in the former category is included the interesting and important department of biography. In every life of honor and usefulness there is no dearth of interesting situations and incidents, and in summing up such a career as that of Dr. A. F. Nelson, skilled and widely known veterinary physician, the writer must need touch only on the more salient facts, giving the keynote of the character and eliminating all that is superfluous to the continuity of the narrative. The gentleman whose name appears above has led an active and useful life, not entirely void of the exciting, but the more prominent have been so identified with the useful and practical that it is to them almost entirely that the writer refers in the following paragraphs.

Dr. Nelson was born March 15, 1869, in Boone county, Indiana. He is a son of Thomas J. and America Alice (Leak) Nelson. The father was born in Jackson township, this county, in 1838, and here he has devoted his life to farming and is still residing. His wife, who was a native of Hendricks county, Indiana, died when our subject was ten years old, he being the eldest of four children; the other three were named Odelia A., Ondis A. and Amanda Eldora.

John H. Nelson, the paternal grandfather, was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, which at that time was the home of Indians, who were then besieging the white settlers, and a brother of John H. Nelson was killed and scalped at the age of thirteen years, after the siege had been apparently raised. John H. and his brother Whitson finally left the "dark and bloody ground country" and came to Indiana, locating, first, near Greencastle, later removing to Boone county, locating in Jackson township, but Whitson established his permanent home in Marion county. Thus the Nelsons were among the early settlers in this locality and the name has been a familiar one for three-quarters of a century throughout this section of the state. To John H. and Mary Nelson four sons were born, namely: Jesse, Andrew, Thomas and John, also five daughters, Mrs. Elizabeth Heath, Mrs. Bathsheba Davidson, Mrs. Nancy Chavers, Mrs. Patsy Coombs, and Mrs. Julia Wall. Only three of this family survive at this writing, Thomas J., father of our subject; Mrs. Heath and Mrs. Chavers. John H. Nelson was a prominent man in this locality in the early days, and he at one time was representative from Boone county to the state legislature one term. He rode to the state capital on horseback, accompanied by G. W. Gibson, at that time a noted Indiana politician.

Thomas J. Nelson and America Alice Leak were married in June, 1868, and to them four children were born, namely: Amos F., subject of this sketch; Odelia A., now the widow of George H. Scott; Ondis A. was next in order; and Amanda Eldora, now Mrs. George Keaney. The death of the mother of the above named children occurred in December, 1879, and the father never remarried. His children were reared in different families. Amos F. went to live with his grandfather Lawrence Leak, with whom he remained until the latter's death. Shortly afterward he began working out and attending the public schools during the winter. He had a stanch friend in George K. Isley with whom our subject made his home during school days.

A. F. Nelson was married to Lenora E. Patterson, in March, 1888. She is a daughter of John B. and Hannah E. (Spohr) Patterson. These parents were from Montgomery county, Indiana, and are still living on a farm in Boone county, where they have ever been highly respected. To our subject and wife one child has been born, Elsie Fern Nelson, whose birth occurred June 9, 1889, and who was called from earthly scenes on October 27, 1896.

Dr. A. F. Nelson entered Chicago Veterinary College in the fall of 1899, later entered the Indiana Veterinary College in Indianapolis, from which he was graduated April 1, 1901, and in the fall of that year he re-entered Chicago Veterinary College, and was graduated from there in April, 1902. He successfully passed the civil service examination for veterinary inspector in the Bureau of Animal Industry, in June, 1902, and was appointed to this position on October 1st following. He gave eminent satisfaction in every respect, proving to be one of the most able and faithful men in the service, but after a year and a half of this work he resigned and located at Lebanon, Indiana, where he has since maintained an office and is enjoying a lucrative and constantly growing business, and he now ranks as one of the leading veterinarians in the state. For the past five years he has filled the chairs of clinical medicine and meat inspection at the Indiana Veterinary College in a manner that has reflected much credit upon his ability and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned. For the past two years he has been secretary of the Indiana Veterinary Medical Association, and was appointed state veterinarian by Gov. Samuel M. Ralston, March 25, 1913. He has discharged the duties of this important office in a manner that has proven the wisdom of the governor in his selection.

Politically, Dr. Nelson has been loyal to the Democratic party since reaching his majority. However he has never been an office seeker, but he was elected a member of the city council of Lebanon, and served from January 1, 1910, to March 25, 1913, during which time he did much for the general improvement of the city, especially the second ward, which he represented.

Dr. Nelson is an assiduous student and keeps fully abreast of the times in all that pertains to his work. He is an obliging, unassuming and companionable gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet.

Submitted by: Amy K. Davis
Source: "History of Boone County, Indiana," by Hon. L. M. Crist, 1914