My Genealogy Hound

Wiley Nelson, farmer, was born in Sevier County, Ark., in 1840, and is a son of William and Sarah (Mitchell) Nelson, who were born in North Carolina and Alabama, respectively. They removed from Alabama to Sevier County, Ark., about 1837, where the father died when our subject was about three years old, and the mother died during the war. Mr. Nelson was of Irish descent, and Mrs. Nelson was a member of the Methodist Church. Wiley received a very limited education when a lad, and upon the outbreak of the war joined Company F, Nineteenth Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, being first stationed at the Arkansas post. He then spent nearly three months imprisoned at Camp Douglas, now Chicago, after which he was taken to Richmond, Va., where he was exchanged and sent to the Army of Tennessee, at Chattanooga. He participated in the Georgia and Atlanta campaign, returning with Gen. Hood, and after the engagements at Franklin and Nashville joined Johnston’s army in North Carolina, with which he surrendered. He then returned to Sevier County, where he was married, in 1865, to Helen, daughter of the Hon. David Carroll and Catherine Price. Mr. and Mrs. Price were born and reared in Alabama and Kentucky, respectively, and Mrs. Nelson is a native of Crawford County, Ark. Mrs. Price died in 1870, but Mr. Price is still a resident of Washington County, Ark. He was a soldier in one of the Indian wars, and represented Crawford County in the Legislature when it included Sebastian County. For many years he served as justice of the peace. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. They have a family of nine children. After the war they settled in Washington County, and in 1873 came to Sebastian County, where Mr. Nelson rented land for five years. He then purchased his present farm of 110 acres, near Huntington. In politics he is a Democrat, his first presidential vote having been cast for Seymour. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M., and one of the self-made and respected citizens of the township.