Nelson, Alexander P.

Born: 1828-04-05 Richland County, Ohio

Died: 1905-07-19 Warren County, Illinois

Flourished: Henderson County, Illinois

Alexander P. Nelson was a physician, army officer, and army surgeon. Nelson's mother died when he was very young, and he moved with his father to Missouri in 1839. In 1844, they moved to Warren County, Illinois. Nelson left home and followed the gold rush to California in 1850 but decided to return to Illinois after only seven months. He began studying medicine, eventually becoming a student and worker at the hospital and infirmary in St. Louis, Missouri. Nelson started his own practice in Terre Haute, Illinois, in 1854. That same year, he married Sarah A. Jamison, with whom he had three children. They relocated to Oquawka in 1857 and then again to Kirkwood, Illinois, in 1859, where Nelson began working as a surgeon. Following the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Eighty-Fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. The members of the regiment elected Nelson first lieutenant and he stayed with the unit through the Kentucky Campaign, after which he became an assistant surgeon. He resigned near the end of 1863 and entered Rush Medical College. Nelson graduated the next year and opened a permanent practice in Kirkwood.

History of Mercer and Henderson Counties (Chicago: H.H. Hill, 1882), 1359-360; Oquawka Spectator (IL), 26 July 1905, 4:1; Gravestone, Center Grove Cemetery, Kirkwood, IL.