# Knute Nelson *Norwegian-born American attorney and Republican politician; 12th governor of Minnesota (1893–1895) and United States Senator from Minnesota (1895–1923).* Knute Nelson (born Knud Evanger; February 2, 1843 – April 28, 1923) was a Norwegian-born lawyer and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] officeholder in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He sat in both states' legislatures, including the [[Minnesota Senate]], and in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was the 12th [[Governor of Minnesota]] from 1893 to 1895 and represented Minnesota in the [[United States Senate]] from 1895 until 1923.[^1][^2] Wikipedia gives his Senate service as 28 years and 55 days and calls it the longest of any senator from Minnesota.[^1] Wikipedia credits Nelson with promoting the [[Nelson Act of 1889]]. In its account, the act was meant to concentrate Minnesota's Ojibwe (Chippewa) on one reservation in western Minnesota and to divide their communal land into allotments for individual households. Land left over could be sold to any buyer, non-natives included. Wikipedia compares the act to the Dawes Act of 1887, which applied to Native American lands in the Indian Territory.[^1] The sources assembled for this article do not include the text of the 1889 act, its legislative history, or a vote record. For the act's terms, the record here rests on Wikipedia's summary alone.[^1] His papers are held by the [[Minnesota Historical Society]].[^3] ## Early life and education His mother, Ingebjørg Haldorsdatter Kvilekval, gave birth to him outside marriage at Evanger, close to Voss, and called him Knud Evanger. The uncle who baptized him entered Helge Knudsen Styve as the father. Wikipedia describes that attribution as unconfirmed and notes other theories, one involving the outlaw Gjest Baardsen.[^4] In 1843 his uncle Jon Haldorsson sold the farm where mother and son lived and left for Chicago. She then took Knud to Bergen and worked there as a domestic servant.[^4] The two emigrated on borrowed passage money and landed at Castle Garden in New York City on July 4, 1849, when Knud was six. Immigration records entered him as "Knud Helgeson Kvilekval".[^4] They travelled by the Hudson River, the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes to Chicago, where Jon, now a carpenter, took them in. Knud worked first as a house servant and then as a paperboy for the *Chicago Free Press*.[^4] In the fall of 1850 his mother married Nils Olson Grotland, also from Voss. The family moved to Skoponong, a Norwegian settlement in Palmyra, Wisconsin, and Knud took the surname Nelson from his stepfather.[^4] ## Military service By the spring of 1861, when Nelson returned to Albion, Wikipedia describes him as a "low-tariff, anti-slavery, pro-Union Democrat". That made him part of a minority in a region that backed [[Abraham Lincoln]].[^5] In May 1861 he and 18 other Albion students enlisted in a state militia company, the Black Hawk Rifles of Racine. They declined to be sworn in under that company and won transfer to the 4th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. Wikipedia describes the regiment as "all-American" and made up mostly of native-born men.[^5] Nelson sent half his pay to his parents to help clear the debt on their farm. The regiment moved from Racine to Camp Dix near Baltimore, Maryland, and then into combat in Louisiana.[^5] After the 4th Wisconsin became a cavalry unit, Nelson was wounded at the Battle of Port Hudson on May 27, 1863. He was taken prisoner and freed when the siege ended. He served as an adjutant and was promoted to corporal.[^5] ## Political career ### Local politics in Wisconsin Nelson completed his studies at Albion at the top of his class. He also gave his first recorded campaign speech, on Lincoln's behalf.[^6] He read law in Madison in the office of William F. Vilas, and in the spring of 1867 Judge Philip L. Spooner admitted him to the Wisconsin bar.[^6] His Madison practice sought clients among Norwegian immigrants and advertised in the Norwegian-language newspaper *Emigranten*.[^6] With help from Eli A. Spencer, he won Dane County's seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly, whose session opened on January 8, 1868. He won a second term and did not run for a third.[^6] In the Assembly he took part in a dispute within Norwegian communities over schooling. He sided with public, non-sectarian schools over schools run by Lutheran clergy.[^6] ## Marriage and family In 1868, after his first election, Nelson married Nicholina Jacobsen, a native of Toten, Norway, in a civil ceremony held in a private home.[^7] While he lived in his Madison office during his legislative years, she and their newborn daughter Ida stayed with her family in Koshkonong.[^7] Nicholina died in 1871, aged 33. In 1875 Nelson married Hulda Benson, and they had further children.[^7] ## Minnesota frontier In 1870 Lars K. Aaker invited Nelson to open a practice in Alexandria, in Douglas County. Nelson also visited Fergus Falls, then moved to Alexandria with his wife and newborn son Henry in August 1871.[^8] He was admitted to the Minnesota bar that October. His practice centered on land cases referred to him by Aaker, a land agent, and he won a contested claim to a 120-acre homestead.[^8] He was elected [[county attorney]] of Douglas County, also acted as county attorney for Pope County, and promoted railroad development in the region.[^8] ### Minnesota state senator The Upper Country Republican "Aaker faction" put Nelson forward for the Minnesota Senate in 1874. His opponent was banker Francis Bennett Van Hoesen, who was aligned with the Grange movement and the Anti-Monopoly Party. Nelson took 59% of the vote and four of the district's five counties.[^8] The first question he faced as a state senator was whether to return [[Alexander Ramsey]] to the U.S. Senate for a third term.[^8] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - The Minnesota Legislative Reference Library keeps a governor record for Knute Nelson.[^2] - The Minnesota Historical Society holds the *Knute Nelson Papers* (finding aid 00373).[^3] ### When - July 4, 1849: Arrived at Castle Garden, New York City.[^4] - January 8, 1868: The Wisconsin State Assembly session in which he held Dane County's seat opened.[^6] - August 1871: Moved to Alexandria, Minnesota.[^8] - 1874: Elected to the Minnesota Senate with 59% of the vote.[^8] - 1889: The Nelson Act, which Wikipedia credits him with promoting.[^1] - 1893–1895: Governor of Minnesota.[^1][^2] - 1895–1923: United States Senator from Minnesota.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Knute Nelson* (revision 1381379630, retrieved 2026-10-25), lead section — establishes birth and death dates, offices held, the governorship (1893–1895), Senate tenure of 28 years and 55 days, and the Nelson Act of 1889 summary and Dawes Act comparison. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knute_Nelson [^2]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Knute Nelson* (governor record) — establishes the Library's record of Nelson as a governor of Minnesota. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/mngov/governor?gov=21 [^3]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Knute Nelson Papers* (finding aid 00373) — establishes that the Society holds Nelson's papers. https://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00373.xml [^4]: Wikipedia, *Knute Nelson* (revision 1381379630, retrieved 2026-10-25), "Early life and education" — establishes birth circumstances, the emigration route, the July 4, 1849 arrival, and the adoption of the surname Nelson. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knute_Nelson [^5]: Wikipedia, *Knute Nelson* (revision 1381379630, retrieved 2026-10-25), "Military service" — establishes the May 1861 enlistment, the 4th Wisconsin, and the May 27, 1863 wounding and capture at Port Hudson. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knute_Nelson [^6]: Wikipedia, *Knute Nelson* (revision 1381379630, retrieved 2026-10-25), "Political career" — establishes the bar admission in 1867, the Assembly seat beginning January 8, 1868, and the second term. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knute_Nelson [^7]: Wikipedia, *Knute Nelson* (revision 1381379630, retrieved 2026-10-25), "Marriage and family" — establishes the marriages of 1868 and 1875 and Nicholina Nelson's death in 1871. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knute_Nelson [^8]: Wikipedia, *Knute Nelson* (revision 1381379630, retrieved 2026-10-25), "Minnesota frontier" — establishes the 1871 move to Alexandria, the bar admission, the county attorney posts, and the 1874 Senate race with 59% of the vote. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knute_Nelson