Biography of Wiley Nelson, Sebastian Co, AR

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SOURCE: History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford,
Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed 
Publishing Co., 1889.
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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 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.