John Lemon Nelson and Dolly May McNeill-Nelson married in 1850, and appear on record together in Virginia that same year. They raised nine children, most of them in Pulaski County, Arkansas. This page gathers what we know about them, the places tied to their story, and the sources it comes from.
Ancestors
- John Lemon Nelson — b. abt 1830, d. 1921
- Dolly May McNeill Nelson — b. 1835, d. 1918
Places of Interest
- Alexandria, Virginia — the 1850 census household
- Arlington, Virginia — an undated residence, recorded in the Register of Free Negroes
- Saline County, Arkansas — the 1860 census residence, and the family’s first appearance in Arkansas
- King and Queen County, Virginia — the 1870 census residence
- Big Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas — the 1880 census residence
- Pulaski County, Arkansas — where the family settled and both are recorded as having died
The 1900 census records the couple at Owen Township, in the same county. That is where their son’s own family group begins.
Children
- Minerva Nelson — 1855 to 1935
- Jane “Jennie” Nelson — 1857 to 1922
- Henry Benjamin Nelson — 1860 to 1923
- Rosetta “Rosa” Nelson — 1862 to 1920
- Neal A Nelson — 1864 to 1932
- Mary Nelson — b. 1868
- John Lemon Nelson II — 1870 to 1938, whose own family group has its own page
- Melinda Nelson King — 1872 to 1935
- Caroline “Callie” Nelson — 1875 to 1933