76 Facts About Knute Nelson

Knute Nelson was baptized by his uncle on their farm of Kvilekval, who recorded his father as Helge Knudsen Styve.

Knute Nelson was accepted to the school held by Mary Blackwell Dillon, an Irish immigrant with linguistic talents.

Knute Nelson proved himself an apt though undisciplined student; he later recalled being whipped up to three times a day.

Still in his teens, Nelson joined the Democratic Party out of admiration for Stephen A Douglas of Illinois.

Knute Nelson picked up most of the work of the farm, but maintained his commitment to education.

Olson was not supportive and Knute Nelson often had to scrounge to find money for schoolbooks.

Knute Nelson returned to Albion in the spring of 1861, when the American Civil War had started.

Knute Nelson's parents opposed his volunteering, but he saw it as his duty.

Knute Nelson sent half his soldier's pay to his parents to help retire the debt on the farm.

Knute Nelson seems to have enjoyed army life, noting that the food was better than at home.

Knute Nelson shared his fellow soldiers' frustration at not being put into battle soon enough.

Knute Nelson's unit moved from Racine to Camp Dix near Baltimore, Maryland.

On May 27,1863, after the 4th Wisconsin became a cavalry unit, Knute Nelson was wounded in the Battle of Port Hudson, captured and made a prisoner of war.

Knute Nelson served as an adjutant, was promoted to corporal, and briefly considered applying for a lieutenant's commission.

Knute Nelson was deeply concerned about what he considered the ambivalent attitude among Norwegian-American Lutheran clergy toward slavery, and thought that too few of his fellow Norwegian Americans from Koshkonong had volunteered.

Knute Nelson returned to Albion and completed his studies as one of the oldest students, graduating at the top of his class.

Knute Nelson gave his first campaign speech of record on behalf of Lincoln, and drew praise from the faculty.

Knute Nelson opened his law practice in Madison, where he appealed to the Norwegian immigrant community, advertising in the Norwegian language newspaper Emigranten.

Knute Nelson became Madison's unofficial representative of the Norwegian community.

Knute Nelson was reelected to a second term in the Assembly, as he had quickly learned how to get things done in politics.

Knute Nelson got involved in a divisive debate about public and parochial schools in Norwegian communities, taking the "liberal" side that promoted public, non-sectarian schools rather than those run by Lutheran clergy.

Knute Nelson was five months pregnant by the time of their marriage and, because of Nelson's poor relations with local Lutheran clergy, they were married by Justice of the Peace Lars Erdall in a private home.

Knute Nelson bought a 120-acre homestead in Alexandria, a claim that was contested but which he won.

Knute Nelson became an accomplished trial lawyer, was elected the Douglas County attorney, and acted as the county attorney for Pope County.

Knute Nelson became a champion for the economic development of the Upper Country through the introduction of the railroad.

Knute Nelson was put forward as a Republican candidate for the Minnesota Senate in 1874, running against banker Francis Bennett Van Hoesen, who was aligned with the Grange movement and state Anti-Monopoly Party.

Knute Nelson was caught between his allegiance to the Douglas County Republicans, who were staunch Davis supporters, and his land office constituency, who favored Ramsey.

Knute Nelson spent more time on the issue of extending the railroad infrastructure into the Upper Country.

Knute Nelson's constituents elected him in large part to resolve the gridlock that prevented the completion of the railroad extension from St Cloud west to Alexandria and beyond.

The bill met with controversy from both sides of the issue and was ultimately amended to the point that Knute Nelson first sought to table it and then abstained from voting on it.

Knute Nelson secured rights-of-way for virtually the entire line from Alexandria to Fergus Falls, negotiating with many stakeholders for every tract of land.

Knute Nelson was invited to deliver the "oration of the day" at the United States Centennial on July 4,1876, in Alexandria, exactly 27 years after he had immigrated to the United States.

The rivalry between Kindred and Knute Nelson centered to a large extent on the two competing railroads in the Upper Country, the Northern Pacific in Kindred's corner and the Great Northern in Knute Nelson's.

Kindred spent between $150,000 and $200,000, but Knute Nelson won handily, overcoming massive election fraud in Northern Pacific counties.

Knute Nelson served in the United States House of Representatives from March 4,1883, to March 4,1889, in the 48th, 49th, and 50th congresses.

Knute Nelson did not always follow the orthodox Republican line in the House.

Knute Nelson was frustrated by what he perceived as the House's lack of effectiveness.

Knute Nelson got involved in long debates about pension issues for Civil War veterans.

Knute Nelson worked to strengthen his candidacy for governor, though historians suggest that his ultimate goal was the US Senate.

Knute Nelson arranged to be drafted as a candidate rather than actively pursuing office.

Knute Nelson was unanimously nominated by 709 delegates as the Republican candidate for governor on July 28,1892, at the St Paul People's Church.

Knute Nelson's acceptance speech was a libertarian broadside against both Democrats and Populists; it emboldened the delegates for the campaign.

When Knute Nelson took the campaign to northwestern Minnesota, he had a minor physical altercation with Tobias Sawby, a local populist.

Knute Nelson used his governorship as a bully pulpit for modest Republican reforms intended to provide moderate alternatives to the radical Populist actions.

Knute Nelson promoted the "Governor's Grain Bill" as a way to regulate trade in grain, specifically by giving the Railroad and Warehouse Commission the authority to license, inspect, and regulate country grain elevators.

Knute Nelson ended up cooperating with his former adversary Donnelly on the "timber ring" investigation; it sought to end land claim fraud in lumber areas.

Knute Nelson convened an interstate antitrust Conference in Chicago on June 5,1893, where he spoke against the lumber trust and in favor of strengthening the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.

Knute Nelson suggested the parties engage in arbitration while demanding law and order from the strikers.

Knute Nelson left enforcement to federal marshals and arbitration to private business leaders.

Knute Nelson was handily renominated in 1894, and ran against Populist Sidney Owen and Democrat George Becker.

Knute Nelson projected the image of a systematic and scientific reformer compared to such populist speakers as Mary Ellen Lease and Jerry Simpson.

Knute Nelson demonstrated hands-on leadership in the dry summer of 1894, when the Great Hinckley Fire spread across east-central Minnesota on September 1.

Knute Nelson won the election with 60,000 more votes than Owen.

Knute Nelson's campaign for Senate was a "still hunt," consisting of building support among incoming legislators while letting Washburn think he was running unopposed for the Republican nomination.

On September 21,1894, the two candidates met at the Freeborn county fair in Albert Lea, where Knute Nelson was asked directly whether he supported Washburn's candidacy or had his own designs on the seat.

Knute Nelson's strategy was to prevent Washburn from gaining a straightforward majority in either the nomination or the election in the Republican caucus, and to appear as a unifying choice for the Republicans.

Knute Nelson had to strike a fine balance between appealing to Scandinavian ethnic pride on the one hand and affirming himself a true American on the other, and between the appearance of treachery against Washburn and maintaining an honest impression.

Knute Nelson's victory reinforced the growing influence of areas of Minnesota outside the Twin Cities, and strengthened political awareness among ethnic Scandinavians in the region.

The 54th United States Congress did not convene until December 1895, and though Knute Nelson was eager to get to work, he spent the recess traveling and working on his farm.

Knute Nelson translated the Constitution of Norway to English and studied the Free Silver issue.

Knute Nelson positioned this as an alternative to the Judiciary Committee that was much harsher to debtors.

Knute Nelson got embroiled in a bitter debate on the Senate floor on the issue of annexing the Philippines and Hawaii.

Knute Nelson always took care in public to define himself first and foremost as an American, with no conflicted loyalty to his birth country.

Knute Nelson had been planning a trip to Norway for some time, but made sure he would visit Sweden and Denmark, emphasizing his Scandinavian-American background.

Knute Nelson traveled alone and made his home town of Evanger one of the first stops.

Knute Nelson arrived at the village in a horse-drawn buggy with only his luggage and was received as an honored guest.

Knute Nelson spoke in his native dialect of Vossemal, slipping into Riksmal only when he felt it necessary to make an important political point.

From Evanger, Knute Nelson traveled to Kristiania, where he refused official honors, and to Stockholm, where he made even less fuss.

Knute Nelson had an audience with King Christian IX and a formal dinner hosted by Swenson.

Knute Nelson traveled through the contentious area of Schleswig-Holstein and the site of the Battle of Waterloo.

Knute Nelson's strategy was to align himself with celebrated national leaders, especially Theodore Roosevelt and Robert M La Follette Sr.

Knute Nelson was known more for thoroughness than charisma in his campaigns, but contributed significantly to the Republican success that year.

Nelson's son Henry Knute Nelson was elected to the Minnesota state legislature that year.

The campaign continued into 1902, when Knute Nelson made a name for himself by commandeering a handcar when his train broke down east of Hibbing, Minnesota.

Knute Nelson made his own way to Wolf Junction, Minnesota at a brisk pace.

Knute Nelson was an active senator until his death in 1923 en route by train from Washington, DC, to his hometown of Alexandria, where he was buried.