Bio: Hon. Alfred T. Nelson, Claiborne Parish, LA 
Source: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana 
The Southern Publishing Company, Chicago & Nashville, 1890 
Submitted for the LAGenWeb Archives by: Gwen Moran-Hernandez, Jan. 2000


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Hon. Alfred T. Nelson, of Homer, La., is a native of Georgia, his birth occurring in 
Campbell County on June 19, 1835, his father being Lieut. James F. Nelson, a native of 
Virginia, and a prominent man. The latter went to Georgia with his parents when a child, 
and there grew to manhood and married Delilah Camp, a native of Georgia. He followed the 
occupation of farming in Georgia, and there reared his family, moving to Claiborne Parish 
in 1854, where he made a farm and resided until his death in 1872. He served as deputy 
sheriff and sheriff of Campbell County, Ga., for twelve consecutive years, with great 
credit to himself, and also officiated in other public positions of trust and responsibility. 
He acquired his title of lieutenant by having served in one the old Indian wars in Georgia. 
His widow yet survives him. Of the children which she bore her husband, six grew to mature 
years. Alfred T. Was the third in order of birth, and grew to manhood in Georgia, receiving 
only a moderate education, but considerably improved in subsequent years. On September 4, 1854, 
in Floyd County, Ga., he married Miss Permelia C. Camp, an estimable lady of that State, and 
afterward, in the same year, moved to Louisiana, settled in Claiborne Parish, and engaged in 
farming, continuing until the war. March 4, 1862, he entered the Confederate service, in 
Company G, of the Twelfth Louisiana Regiment of Infantry, and served with the same until the 
end of the war. He participated in many bloody engagements, among which were the second battle 
of Corinth, Baker Creek (Miss.), Resaca (Ga.), the Atlanta campaign, Franklin (Tenn.), Nashville 
and several engagements in North Carolina, and was present at the surrender at Jonesboro, N. C., 
in 1865. He reached his Louisiana home in June, 1865, and the following year engaged in farming, 
and has continued the same with marked success ever since. His farm is in Ward No 7, six miles 
from Homer. His efforts as a husbandman have been highly successful. He began with 160 acres, to 
which he has since added until he now owns about 1,400 acres, and, in addition, has given his 
children good and extensive farms. He has been one of the most successful farmers of the parish. 
In 1888 Mr. Nelson was elected to the State Legislature, and represented his parish with 
distinction, being on some of the most useful committees. He has taken strong grounds against the 
Louisiana Lottery, and is a prominent Democrat. He served as president of the Farmers' Alliance of 
this parish for two years, and was elected merchant of the Alliance's co-operative store of this 
parish. This store was opened in the fall of 1889, and is large, well established, well conducted 
and prosperous. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson, with their family of seven children - six sons and one 
daughter - moved to the town of Homer in the fall of 1889. The children (who are all grown) and the 
parents are all members of the Methodist Church, Mr. Nelson being steward. He is a man of more than 
ordinary intelligence and force of character, and deservedly, from his high social qualities, stands 
among the most prominent citizens of the parish. He is a member of the Masonic and K. of P. fraternities.

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