Matthew Nelson

Matthew Nelson was a Pisces who was born in 1879 in New Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was the oldest of fifteen children (twelve of whom survived past infancy). He met his wife, Amy, while working in Donegol, Ireland. He later traveled to work in Liverpool, England, before the family moved to Marshall, Michigan in the United States. This probably means that he accumulated one heck of an accent.

(No, I am not a professional genealogist.)

Matthew was a professional mechanic and craftsman. He was able to make tools. He met Amy Ludlam in Donegol while they were both working to set up a knitting factory. Amy was born in Leicester, England in 1884 (she was a Taurus, in case you were curious). I don't know too much about her, but I do know she was also a woman of skill, and could make lace.

Matthew did what he could to find work and start a business while they lived in Scotland. Amy gave birth to two children there and gave birth to a third in England. By that time, Matthew was working in a mechanic's shop in Liverpool, but his ambitions were greater. In 1910, the family moved to Marshall, and Matthew got a job at an auto shop. He soon opened his own shop and was successful. He also had the first car in Marshall and gave people rides to those who did not (as a service, of course).

One horrible experience the family had to endure was the death of their oldest son, John, shortly after they arrived in Marshall. I have a letter that speaks about that incident, so we'll cover that in a future post.

Matthew and Amy had five more children after arriving to Marshall. In an ironic and sad turn of events, Matthew was struck by a car and killed on Halloween, 1943. Amy survived him until her passing in 1970.

If I am incorrect in any of this information, please let my know in the comments and I will amend it.