Scope and Contents This collection consists wholly of personal correspondence from Nelson to his wife, Hal Fraley Nelson. Much of it is of a highly personal nature but there is a substantial amount of more general interest. The bulk of the correspondence falls in the period July 1917 to December 1918. During this time the newlywed couple were separated while Nelson finished his term as Treasurer of Gratiot County, Michigan and his wife ran her insurance agency in Ardmore, Oklahoma.The...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of Nelson's war diaries, several transcriptions, a narrative describing Nelson's war experiences, and a muster roll. Nelson wrote his diaries in shorthand. Included are his original diary for 1864, typed and handwritten transcriptions of the 1864 diary, and a typed transcription of Nelson's diary for 1865 (the original is not included in the collection). The narrative, written by Nelson's son Gaylord Nelson, is based on Wilbur Nelson's diary for 1863 and his...