Nelius Julian Nessa, M. D. Biography This biography appears on pages 276-277 in "History of Dakota Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm NELIUS JULIAN NESSA, M. D. Dr. Nelius Julian Nessa, who since the fall of 1909 has engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery at Sioux Falls, was born upon his father's farm in Fillmore county, Minnesota, November 3, 1880. His father, John N. Johnson Nessa, was the second white child born in Preble township, Fillmore county, his natal year being 1853. He was a son of Nels Johnson Nessa, who was born in Norway and came to America in 1848. He made farming his life work and in 1853 located in southeast Minnesota, being one of the first Northmen who settled there in pioneer days, and is still living, one of the last living pioneers in that community. His son, John N. Johnson Nessa, was a prominent political leader of the northwest, active in the republican party, which elected him to the state legislature of Minnesota. The mother of Dr. Nessa bore the maiden name of Josephine Larsen but was American born. Her parents were also pioneers in southeast Minnesota. In both tile paternal and maternal lines Dr. Nessa is descended from a worthy Scandinavian ancestry. His youthful days were spent on the home farm in Fillmore county and he attended the local schools. Later he became a student in the Decorah (Ia.) Normal School and engaged in teaching in 1898-9. He afterward entered the University of Minnesota, where he remained for six years, pursuing a broad and liberal course and graduating in 1901 as a pharmaceutical chemist. He then decided to study medicine and after four years devoted to the principles of the science was graduated in 1905 and received his professional degree. He then located at Brewster, Minnesota, where he continued in practice for four years after which he went to Chicago for post-graduate work. In the fall of 1909 he located in Sioux Falls, where he has since remained and in the interim he has built up a large and distinctively representative practice, having the patronage of some of the best families of the city. In June, 1914, Dr. Nessa was married to Florence Bankson, a daughter of John A. and Lottie (Johnson) Bankson, who immigrated to this country from Sweden in their youth. Mrs. Nessa was born in Sioux Falls and previous to her marriage taught in the public schools of her native city. Dr. Nessa was reared in the Lutheran faith. His political support is given to the republican party but he is without desire for public office. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons having attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite and also crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also connected with the Elks lodge, being their exalted ruler for 1915, with the Country and Commercial Clubs and is interested in all that pertains to the welfare and progress of city, state and nation, cooperating in many movements which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride.