Adolph Lincoln Nelson (1888–?) was the inventor of the

Nelson Bohnalite Nelson-Bohnalite was the name of a piston developed by Adolph Lincoln Nelson in the 1930s and 1940s. The pistons were licensed to Bohn Aluminum and sold to all the major auto manufacturers at the time. These were some of the first pistons to us ...

piston A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tig ...

. He was born in

Oneida, Illinois Oneida is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 state ...

, raised in nearby Galesburg and migrated to

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

where he worked for Premier Motor car. When that company folded he went to Detroit after a stint in Dayton working for the

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

on the synchronized airplane-based machine gun. He married Ada Gruber and had 7 Children. They lived in the Palmer Woods area of Detroit. (Parkside) Certain materials from his engineering career are in the archives at the University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library.

References

20th-century American inventors 1888 births Year of death missing {{US-inventor-stub