California Biographies

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

Source:
History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin 
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from 
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176


JOSEPH Y. NELSON. A successful and highly respected citizen of Fresno county is 
Joseph Y. Nelson, who, sixteen years ago, became the owner of his present ranch, which con- 
sists of forty acres of as good land as the section affords. The family which is represented 
by Mr. Nelson in California has long been connected with the agricultural interests of Essex 
county, Mass., where father and grandfather, both named Daniel, were born, lived and died. 
The father married Mary Hoyt, also a native of that section. 

Born June 22, 1849, m Essex county, Mass., Joseph Y. Nelson was reared to manhood upon 
the paternal farm, his inheritance of the thrifty qualities of the New Englander being added to 
by years of practical training. In 1876 he came to California, locating in Yolo county, where he 
carried on farming for two years. He then went north to Oregon and followed the same 
pursuits in eastern Oregon from 1879 to 1882. The following year he once more located in 
California, then becoming a resident of Fresno county. A few years later he purchased his 
present property of forty acres and with the passing years has brought it to a high state of 
cultivation, twenty-five acres being given over to the cultivation of wine and raisin grapes, 
while the remainder is devoted to orchard and general farming pursuits. He has made a suc- 
cess of his work and is known throughout as a man of ideas, practical methods and an enter- 
prising spirit. 

The marriage of Mr. Nelson occurred in Yolo county in 1877 and united him with Alice Crea- 
son, of Missouri. They are the parents of two children, Frank and Aimee. In his political con- 
victions Mr. Nelson adheres to the principles advocated in the platform of the Republican 
party.