Horace Aloysius Nelson (February 16, 1878 – 1962) was an American

Penobscot The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic pr ...

political leader and the father of dancer and actress

Molly Spotted Elk Mary Nelson Archambaud (born Mary Alice Nelson; Penobscot pronunciation: Molly Dellis; ), best known by her stage name Molly Spotted Elk, was a Penobscot Indian dancer, actress, and writer who was born on the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation ...

(born Mary Alice Nelson).

Early life and education

Nelson was born to Peter "Dindy" Nelson and Mary Francis Mitchell Nelson on Indian Island, a Penobscot reservation near

Old Town, Maine Old Town is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 census. The city's developed area is chiefly located on the relatively large Marsh Island, though its boundaries extend beyond that. The island i ...

. He attended Old Town High School and, at age 22, was the second Penobscot to graduate (after baseball player

Louis Sockalexis Louis Francis Sockalexis (October 24, 1871 – December 24, 1913), nicknamed the Deerfoot of the Diamond, was an American baseball player. Sockalexis played professional baseball in the National League for three seasons, spending his entire c ...

). He was the first to study at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

, graduating around 1904.

Career

Nelson served as the Penobscot Representative in the

Maine Legislature The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The Legislature convenes at the State House in Aug ...

from 1921 to 1922 and as the Penobscot governor from 1939 to 1941. In addition to trapping, fishing, and gathering sweet-grass for his wife, Philomene Saulis Nelson (1888–1977), to make baskets from, which were standard tasks for Penobscot men, Nelson also contributed to the family household by keeping a vegetable garden and he had a variety of paid jobs such as ferry master to Indian Island, surveyor, security guard, and laborer working for a shipbuilder and a railroad company. Music was his hobby and he occasionally played for the Penobscot Indian Band and encouraged his children to play music.

Sources

1878 births Members of the Maine House of Representatives 1962 deaths Penobscot people Dartmouth College alumni Native American state legislators in Maine Native American people from Maine People from Penobscot Indian Island Reservation 20th-century Native Americans {{Maine-politician-stub