Term: Nelson, Adolphys Peter 1872 - 1927

Definition: banker, politician, Congressman, b. Holmes City, near Alexandria, Minn. He graduated from Hamline Univ. (B.A., 1897), and in the same year moved to Grantsburg, Wis., where he engaged in banking. He was connected with several banks in the Grantsburg area, was president of the Burnett County State Bank at Webster, and was also associate director of the Old Line Life Insurance Co. of Milwaukee. In Grantsburg, Nelson held local offices, which included being president of the school board, mayor, and chairman of the Burnett County council of defense (1917). He was a member (1906-1919) and president (1915-1916) of the board of regents of the Univ. of Wisconsin. A Republican, in 1918 Nelson was elected to Congress in a special election to fill the unexpired term of Irvine L. Lenroot (q.v.), and was twice re-elected, serving from Nov., 1918, to Mar., 1923. Defeated for renomination in 1922, he returned to his banking pursuits in Grantsburg. Biog. Dir. Amer. Cong. (1928); Burnett Co. ... [Grantsburg, Wis., 1950]; Superior Evening Telegram, Aug. 22, 1927; A. P. Nelson Papers.