Summary Information
Nelson-Bradt Family Papers and Photographs
1864-1996
Mss 1045; PH 6532
1.0 c.f. (2 archives boxes) and 373 photographs
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of members of the Nelson-Bradt families, early settlers of northern Wisconsin and ancestors of Senator Gaylord A. Nelson, primarily documenting his mother, Mary Bradt Hogan Nelson. Others documented are Sheldon Elisha Bradt, Civil War veteran and farmer of Northport; Anton Nels Nelson, resident and doctor of Clear Lake; Marah Janet Nelson Lee, temporary resident of Chung-King, China (circa 1934-1945) and Dane County Democratic Party activist; and Christian Nelson, a Norwegian immigrant. The collection includes family correspondence; political correspondence, most notably from Robert M. La Follette, Jr.; general correspondence; memorabilia; news clippings; family histories and newsletters; a nursing scrapbook; and copies of naturalization, military, and birth records. In addition, the collection contains photographs of Nelson-Bradt family members; informal photographs of Gaylord Nelson in childhood and early adult life; photographs of residents of Clear Lake, Wisconsin; photographs from A. N. Nelson's training at Marquette University School of Medicine and his general practice; and photographs of Mary Bradt Nelson's training at the Trinity Hospital School for Nurses.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss01045 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
William A. Bradt, born in New York, was married to Mary Gillepsie. They had several children, including Sheldon Elisha Bradt, who was born in 1847 in Troy, New York. The Bradt family came to Winnebago County, Wisconsin in 1850 and settled on a farm in Rushford Township, south of New London. Raised in Wisconsin, Sheldon Bradt later volunteered for service in the Union army and was mustered into service in February of 1864. Bradt served in Company F, Eighteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, and was captured by the enemy in October 1864 at Allatoona Pass, Georgia. Bradt was mustered out of service in July of 1865 and returned to Winnebago County, Wisconsin until 1866, when he relocated to Waupaca County. In 1879, Sheldon Bradt married Hannora “Nora” O'Brien who was the daughter of Felix O'Brien and wife Mary from Ireland via Canada. Felix and Mary came to Wisconsin in 1848 and settled on a farm in Northport in Mukwa Township, Waupaca County, Wisconsin where Hannora was born on August 23, 1849. According to family history, the O'Briens were the first white settlers to Mukwa and Nora, their fourth child, was the first white baby born in Waupaca County.
Nora and Sheldon Bradt raised three children, Mary, George, and Eugene, on the O'Brien farm in Mukwa. The farm was located closest to Northport, in the northern section of Mukwa. The next closest village at the time was New London. The records report the family residence as Northport, New London, and Mukwa interchangeably; however, at some point in the early part of the 20th century, Northport ceased to exist and New London became consistently used as the place of residence.
Nora and Sheldon's daughter, Mary Janet (also known as Marie Jeanette Bradt), was born in New London, Waupaca County, Wisconsin, on June 25, 1882. After graduating from high school, Mary Bradt went on to attend the Trinity Hospital School for Nurses, in Milwaukee and was married briefly to Sylvester S. Hogan (circa 1906) who died a year later. Bradt belonged to the first graduating class of 1907 and worked as a head nurse in Milwaukee hospitals until 1910, when she married Anton Nels Nelson (born Nels Anton Nelson) who was the son of Christian Nelson (also known as Christen Nilsson) and Regina Paulina Olsen.
Christian Nelson emigrated from Norway in 1866 and settled in Thorp, Clark County, Wisconsin, where he married Regina Paulina Olson on June 15, 1876. Nels Anton Nelson (or Anton Nels Nelson, or A. N. Nelson) was the first child born to the couple on February 20, 1878. Four more children were born after Nels Anton including Ove Malling (1880-1975), Gertrude Cecelia (1883-1970), Mamie (1885-1918), and Alma (1895-1964).
After graduating from Thorp High School in 1896, A. N. Nelson attended Marquette University's School of Medicine and graduated valedictorian in 1907. After graduation, he set up his own practice in Clear Lake, Polk County, Wisconsin where he lived until his death in 1958. Mary Bradt and Anton were married October 10, 1910 and had four children: Margaret, Marah Janet, Stannard, and Gaylord. Gaylord Nelson would later become Governor of Wisconsin and United States Senator.
Scope and Content Note
The collection is organized in two series, FAMILY PAPERS and PHOTOGRAPHS.
The FAMILY PAPERS series is divided into General family, Bradt family, and Nelson family. The General family papers include Nelson-Bradt family histories and newsletters; memorabilia; and news clippings.
Material related to the Bradt family branch includes correspondence to Mary Bradt Nelson (1904-1960), mainly from her father and friends; correspondence regarding her political and civic activities (1917-1941), including letters from Robert La Follette, Jr. as chairman of the Republican State Central Committee of Wisconsin; a nursing scrapbook (circa 1907); childhood essays (circa 1893) and speech notes (circa 1922). There is also correspondence (1878-1886) belonging to Nora (O'Brien) Bradt, from Maurice O'Conner, presumably her cousin still living on Prince Edward Island, and copies of Sheldon Bradt's military and naturalization records.
The Nelson family branch is represented by little material, but it includes correspondence and memorabilia for Anton Nelson, Mamie (Nelson) Farley, Stannard Nelson, Gaylord Nelson, and Janet (Nelson) Lee. The correspondence belonging to Janet (Nelson) Lee is written to her parents during her time in Chung-King, China with her husband and in New York (1915-1959). The Gaylord Nelson material includes letters from primary school classmates; birth certificates; memorabilia; and a booklet (1943) from the School for Medical Department Enlisted Technicians, where he was an x-ray technician.
The PHOTOGRAPHS series reflects the arrangement of the Family Papers and includes portraits and informal photographs (1880s-1950s) of Nelson-Bradt family members, both immediate and extended; informal prints of Gaylord Nelson as a child and a young adult, alone and with siblings, and Gaylord with his U.S. Army x-ray class (1943). There are images from A. N. Nelson's time at Marquette University with classmates (circa 1906) and the exterior of his general practice in Clear Lake (circa 1916); of A. N. Nelson and his sister Gertrude at the Lydell residence in Centuria, Wisconsin (circa 1906); of Mary Bradt Nelson at Trinity Hospital School for Nurses and Milwaukee County Hospital's operating room (circa 1907); of the New London High School girls' basketball team (1898-1899); of children (identified and unidentified), often outside playing with toys (early 1900s); and of Clear Lake residents and other miscellaneous individuals (early 1900s).
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Janet Lee, Madison, Wisconsin and Gaylord Nelson, Washington, D.C. Accession Number: F61-011, M75-037; also materials formerly cataloged as PH 2208, PH 2211, PH 2213, PH 2224, PH 2231, and PH 3764
Contents List
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Mss 1045
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Series: Family Papers
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Subseries: General family
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Box
1
Folder
1
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“Bradt Family News” and History, 1990-1996
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Memorabilia, 1898-1964
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Nelson Family history and background
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Box
1
Folder
4
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News clippings
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Subseries: Bradt family
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Mary (Bradt) Hogan Nelson
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Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
5-6
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1904-1920
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Box
2
Folder
1-4
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1920-1960
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Box
2
Folder
5
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Undated
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Box
2
Folder
6
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Nursing scrapbook, circa 1907
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Box
2
Folder
7
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Political activities, 1922-1941
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Box
2
Folder
8
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Red Cross Committee, Polk County Chapter, 1917-1923
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Box
2
Folder
9
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West Wisconsin Pioneer Cemetery Association, 1927-1930
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Box
2
Folder
10
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Wisconsin Association of School Boards and related, 1924-1930
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Box
2
Folder
11
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Wisconsin Conference of Social Work, 1921-1931
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Box
2
Folder
12
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Writings, undated
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Box
2
Folder
13
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Nora (O'Brien) Bradt, 1878-1886
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Box
2
Folder
14
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Sheldon Bradt, 1864-1865, 1880s, 1916, 1928
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Subseries: Nelson family
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Box
2
Folder
15
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Anton Nels Nelson, undated
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Gaylord Anton Nelson
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Box
2
Folder
16
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Birth certificates, 1916, 1985
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Box
2
Folder
17
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Correspondence, 1920-1945
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Box
2
Folder
18
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Memorabilia, 1929-1945
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Box
2
Folder
19
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United States Army X-ray School and related, 1943, 1947
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Box
2
Folder
20
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Janet (Nelson) Lee, 1915-1959
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Box
2
Folder
21
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Mamie (Nelson) Farley, 1902, 1911, 1917-1919
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Box
2
Folder
22
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Stannard Nelson, 1927-1946
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PH 6532
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Series: Photographs
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Subseries: General
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Children, unidentified, early 1900-1912, undated
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Individuals and groups
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Identified, 1900-1908, 1924, 1940, undated
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Unidentified, 1900, 1922, 1941, undated
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Clear Lake residents, 1908, 1927, undated
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Subseries: Bradt family
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Mary Janet Bradt Hogan Nelson [A. N. Nelson's wife]
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Box
1
Folder
5
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As a young woman, 1898-1909
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Box
1
Folder
6
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As an older woman, 1925-1941
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Cousins and relatives, 1900-1913, 1950, undated
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Box
1
Folder
8-9
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Friends and classmates, 1898-1913, undated
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Box
1
Folder
10
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New London High School girls' basketball team, 1898-1899
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Box
1
Folder
11
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Trinity Training School for Nurses and Milwaukee County Hospital, circa 1905-1908
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Box
1
Folder
12
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Eugene Bradt with family at the Bradt farm [Mary B. Nelson's brother]
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Box
1
Folder
13
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George Bradt [Mary B. Nelson's brother]
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Box
1
Folder
14
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Sheldon Elisha Bradt [Mary B. Nelson's father]
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Subseries: Nelson family
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Alma Nelson [A. N. Nelson's sister], 1921, undated
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Anton Nels Nelson [Gaylord Nelson's father], circa 1906
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Box
2
Folder
2
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At medical school, in groups, with others, circa 1900-1907, 1956
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Children
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Gaylord Anton Nelson
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Childhood to early adulthood, 1918-1942
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Box
2
Folder
4
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Gaylord Junior, 1954
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Box
2
Folder
5
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United States Army x-ray school, 1943
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Box
2
Folder
6
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Margaret Nelson, 1939-1947, undated
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Box
2
Folder
7
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Janet Nelson Lee, 1933-1934, undated
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Box
2
Folder
8
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Stannard Nelson, 1923, 1944, 1951, undated
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Box
2
Folder
9
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Together, circa 1920
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Box
2
Folder
10
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Cousins and relatives, 1869, 1907, circa 1896, 1909, circa 1920
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Box
2
Folder
11
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Doctors' Corner, Clear Lake, Wisconsin, circa 1916
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Box
2
Folder
12
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Family portraits with parents and siblings, circa 1908, 1940s, 1949
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Box
2
Folder
13
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Portraits, 1896, undated
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Box
2
Folder
14
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Staying at Lydells' residence with Getrude, Centuria, Wisconsin, circa 1906
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Box
2
Folder
15
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With Mary Bradt Nelson, 1939-1959
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Box
2
Folder
16
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Gertrude Nelson [A. N. Nelson's sister], 1908-1924, 1954, undated
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Box
2
Folder
17
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Gina Olson Nelson [A. N. Nelson's mother]
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Box
2
Folder
18
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Mamie Nelson Farley [A. N. Nelson's sister], 1908, 1918, undated
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Box
2
Folder
19
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Ove Nelson and family [A. N. Nelson's brother], circa 1900-1958, undated
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