Knute Nelson

Knute Nelson
United States Senator
from Minnesota
In office
March 4, 1895 – April 28, 1923
Preceded byWilliam D. Washburn
Succeeded byMagnus Johnson
12th Governor of Minnesota
In office
January 4, 1893 – January 31, 1895
LieutenantDavid Marston Clough
Preceded byWilliam Rush Merriam
Succeeded byDavid Marston Clough
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Minnesota's 5th district
In office
March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1889
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded bySolomon Comstock
Member of the Minnesota Senate
In office
1874–1878
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
In office
1868–1869
Personal details
Born
Knud Evanger

(1843-02-02)February 2, 1843
Voss, Sweden–Norway
DiedApril 28, 1923(1923-04-28) (aged 80)
Timonium, Maryland, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Other political
affiliations
Democratic (before c. 1865)
SpouseNicolinæ Jacobson
Children5
Alma materAlbion Academy, Albion, Wisconsin
ProfessionLawyer
Military service
AllegianceUnited States (Union)
Branch/serviceUnion Army
Years of service1861-1865
RankCorporal
UnitBlack Hawk Rifles of Racine
4th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Knute Nelson (born Knud Evanger; February 2, 1843 – April 28, 1923) was a Norwegian-born American attorney and politician active in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A Republican, he served in state and national positions: he was elected to the Wisconsin and Minnesota legislatures and to the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate from Minnesota, and served as the 12th governor of Minnesota from 1893 to 1895. Having served in the Senate for 28 years, 55 days, he is the longest-serving Senator in Minnesota's history.

Nelson is known for promoting the Nelson Act of 1889 to consolidate Minnesota's Ojibwe/Chippewa on a reservation in western Minnesota and break up their communal land by allotting it to individual households, with sales of the remainder to anyone, including non-natives. This was similar to the Dawes Act of 1887, which applied to Native American lands in the Indian Territory.