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| Lester Edwin Nelson age 16 |
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| WW1 1918 France |
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Home from war, Washington D.C. 1919
Unknown friend, Lester and sister Etta (Grandma Annette) |
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| Lester about 1948 |
Lester Edwin Nelson had such an interesting life. He was Grandma Annette's older brother and one that she relied on for advice, financial help and reassurance after her divorce. He didn't like farming and wanted to pursue other interests. He served in WW1 in one of the ammunition depots in Mehun, France. He received his LLB degree from the University of Minnesota in June 1916. Shortly thereafter, he enlisted in the Ordnance Corp. for the war.(For you that cringe at spelling errors, this is a correct spelling!) During his stay in France, he met many people and even learned French so he could converse with those he was living with. I think it came easy for him and he did quite well. Some of those he met and continued to correspond with were; Simone Ginouvier and her family and the Pillivuyt family who owned and operated a porcelain manufacturing plant. It is quite a famous commodity and now you can buy them on Amazon!
http://www.pillivuyt.fr/en-pillivuyt-historique.php
I think he fancied Simone but had met her a little too late as she was already "going" with a young man, James Parks, an American Army Clerk. She married him in 1918. Lester was a prolific letter writer and kept in contact with many of those he met for many years. He also enjoyed photography and I'm sure would love all the gadgets and technology that we camera buffs use today.
After coming home in 1919, he worked for a time in Washington D. C. and then in St. Paul, Minnesota. He had a number of "lady friends", namely; Ellen Dashiell, Lola Miller, Marian Outland, and Myrl Gough. The last one in particular was a favorite, and he visited with her and her family in Lynchburg, Virginia one Christmas while he was living in Washington D.C..Shortly thereafter, she left Washington D.C. and he never saw her again. Of her he wrote,"she was one of the finest girls a man could know." He never quite found the right woman to marry and in Grandma's book she states that it was a very big regret. He once wrote, " there is no one to write to or come home to." He would have been a good father and husband. He was a very religious man, attending the Methodist church. He worked in private firms and then as the lead attorney in the Alcohol Tax Unit. He wrote an extensive legal book entitled,
Nelson's Liquor Laws and Cases, which was used as a textbook for many years and is still in print today but not used, of course. In 1948, he retired at age 58. He planned to travel, lecture and write, but things rarely go as planned. He was bored after such a busy life and in 1949 he returned to Washington D.C. to see about getting his previous job back. It was not to be. Frustrated, lonely and exhausted, he suffered a slight nervous breakdown and spent a few weeks in a Veterans hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He eventually returned to Minneapolis and lived for a time with his cousin Doris Feigal and her husband Dick. On August 1, 1950, he suffered a gall bladder attack and died shortly after surgery. He was sixty. Even though he didn't fill his life with his own family, he made an impression on so many people through his work, church, various clubs and organizations he was associated with. I admire him for his devotion to his parents and family, his love of travel and adventure, his love of the law and he was especially proud to be an American. Another great member of the Nelson family. Our tree is just full of them!
