Horace Nelson
American politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Horace Aloysius Nelson (February 16, 1878 – 1962)[1] was a Penobscot political leader and the father of dancer and actress Molly Spotted Elk.[2]
February 16, 1878
Horace Nelson | |
|---|---|
| Penobscot Representative to the Maine Legislature | |
| In office 1921–1922 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Horace Aloysius Nelson February 16, 1878 Indian Island, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | 1962 (aged 84) |
| Children | Molly Spotted Elk |
| Education | Dartmouth College |
Early life and education
Nelson was born to Peter "Dindy" Nelson and Mary Francis Mitchell Nelson on Indian Island, a Penobscot reservation near Old Town, Maine. He attended Old Town High School and, at age 22, was the second Penobscot to graduate (after baseball player Louis Sockalexis).[1] He was the first to study at Dartmouth College,[3] graduating around 1904.[4]
Career
Nelson served as the Penobscot Representative in the Maine Legislature from 1921 to 1922 and as the Penobscot governor from 1939 to 1941.[1] In addition to trapping, fishing, and gathering sweet-grass for his wife, Philomene Saulis Nelson (1888–1977), to make baskets from,[4][5] which were standard tasks for Penobscot men, Nelson also contributed to the family household by keeping a vegetable garden and he had a variety of paid jobs such as ferry master to Indian Island, surveyor, security guard, and laborer working for a shipbuilder and a railroad company. Music was his hobby and he occasionally played for the Penobscot Indian Band and encouraged his children to play music.[1]
