Allison Nelson
Encyclopedia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, as well as a brigadier general
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
in the Confederate army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
His father, John B. Nelson
John B. Nelson
John B. Nelson is an American Republican politician, former mayor of Phoenix, Arizona former member of the Arizona House of Representatives and a current member of the Arizona Senate....
, who ran Nelson's Ferry
Historic ferries of the Atlanta area
There were several historic ferries around the metro Atlanta, Georgia area, for which many of its current-day roads are named. Most of the ferries date back to the 1820s and 1830s, to carry travelers across the Chattahoochee River or several other smaller rivers...
across the Chattahoochee River
Chattahoochee River
The Chattahoochee River flows through or along the borders of the U.S. states of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers and emptying into Apalachicola Bay in the Gulf of...
, was an early DeKalb County
DeKalb County, Georgia
DeKalb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population of the county was 691,893 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is the city of Decatur. It is bordered to the west by Fulton County and contains roughly 10% of the city of Atlanta...
settler who was murdered in 1825, when Allison was three years old, by John W. Davis.
During the Mexican-American War, Captain Nelson served with another future mayor, Cicero C. Hammock
Cicero C. Hammock
Cicero C. Hammock was the 22nd and 24th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, during the Reconstruction era.-Biography:Born in Walton County, Hammock served in the United States Army during the Mexican-American War, where he served with another future mayor, Captain Allison Nelson...
, as well as the father of mayor John B. Goodwin
John B. Goodwin
John Benjamin Goodwin was born in Cobb County, Georgia, USA the son of and attended school in Powder Springs.He moved to Atlanta in 1870 and studied law at Gartrell & Stephens and a year later was admitted to the bar....
– Private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
Williamson H. Goodwin – in the Kennesaw Rangers. Later he became a brigadier general under General Narciso López
Narciso López
Narciso López was a Venezuelan adventurer and soldier, best known for an expedition aimed at liberating Cuba from Spain in the 1850s..- Life in Venezuela, Cuba, and Spain:...
, attempting to free Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
In a close election for mayor, Nelson, running as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, defeated the Know Nothing
Know Nothing
The Know Nothing was a movement by the nativist American political faction of the 1840s and 1850s. It was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholic immigrants, who were often regarded as hostile to Anglo-Saxon Protestant values and controlled by...
candidate, Ira O. McDaniel, but resigned in July when the city council reduced a fine he had levied on two young men for destroying city property, thus leaving John Glen
John Glen (mayor)
John Glen was born in Laurens, South Carolina and moved to Decatur, Georgia in 1826 where he worked as a clerk in the Superior Court of DeKalb County.He moved to Atlanta in 1850 to work for the Georgia Railroad which he did for 41 years....
as acting mayor.
Nelson left for Kansas
History of Kansas
The history of Kansas, argued historian Carl L. Becker a century ago, reflects American ideals. He wrote: "The Kansas spirit is the American spirit double distilled. It is a new grafted product of American individualism, American idealism, American intolerance. Kansas is America in...
during the border disputes, then moved to Meridian
Meridian, Texas
Meridian is a city located in Bosque County in Central Texas. The population was 1,491 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bosque County, Texas.-Geography:Meridian is located at ....
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, where he was involved with Indian affairs, serving under Lawrence Ross
Lawrence Ross
Lawrence Ross is an author of historical texts and fiction . He was born in Los Angeles, California and attended Loyola High School and then University of California, Berkeley and UCLA, where he earned a degree in History...
and in 1860 was elected to the state legislature. During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
he served as a brigadier general in the Confederate army until he contracted typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
in September 1862 and died a month later. He was buried in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals