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James & Lucy Nelson

James Nelson was the seventh child of Moses and Sarah Hovey Nelson. He was born in Vermont, in the year 1793.

After serving in the war of 1812, James married Lucinda “Lucy” Whipple, she being the daughter of Joseph and Lois “ Powers” Whipple. James and Lucy were married on August 29, 1819.

In 1820 James took his bride to the newly opened state of Indiana. James and Lucy joined forces with Daniel Nelson ( the older brother of James) and his wife Nancy Greene Nelson .

   The two brothers had acquired land grants from serving in the 1812 war. This land was located  in what would become Neil’s Creek.

The area was still considered wild, and the “Green Mountain boys soon cleared the land.

   It is unclear when James and Lucy became involved with the Underground Railroad, but they were active in Indiana.

  As the Nelson thrived in their new home, Lucy had been corresponding with her sister Aseneth Hoyt. The letters from James and Lucy contained descriptions of land and water sources. This peaked the interests of Aseneth’s husband, Lyman.

  By the year 1834 Lyman was in the state of Indiana. He brought along his wife, Lucy and Aseneth’s mother, Lois Powers, and  Lyman’s sister Mary.

  The Hoyt family settled

Three miles east of Neil’s Creek in current day Lancaster, Indiana.

    By the year 1839 the area was changing. More people were moving into the densely unsettled region. Most of these people

 sharing antislavery principles. It was in the home of James and Lucy Nelson that a meeting occurred that would help launce the Lancaster area into history.

  Joshua Tibbetts brought knowledge of the Underground Railroad to the Nelsons. Before his arrival , the underground railroad was occurring, but it was not a well greased machine.

  In James and Lucy Nelson’s home a plan was made to start the Neil’s Creek Anti-Slavery Society. After its formation The society meet in the Nelson school house located between the properties of the Nelson brothers.

A plot of ground was also donated for the use of a burial ground, the Nelson Cemetery.

James and Lucy lived in Neil’s Creek until approximately 1847.

 Afterward, they then moved into the village of Lancaster. At one point they were the stewards of the Eleutherian College dormitory. It was here that they were arrested, along with the college President John Gill Craven, for aiding runaway slaves. In due time they were released.

  James Nelson died in the year 1868. He lived long enough to see the end of slavery.

   Lucy left Indiana for Kansas, in 1870, with her son Joseph’s family as well as her daughter Sarah’s family.

 She died in Kansas at the age of ninety.

James and Lucy had two children Joseph and Sarah.

Joseph married Caroline Steedham and Sarah married John H. Tibbets.

 

The Eleutherian Gift Shop is proud to announce the sale of two new books.

 

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   Our Little Old Lady by Eleanor Hoyt Brainard. This book was first published in 1919. A story concerning the life of Louisa Smith Hoyt and her growing up in Paris, Indiana  during the early Victorian period of the 1800s.

 

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 The Civil War Diary of Demetrius Rowlison. Demetrius kept a brief diary of  life during the civil war. A must have for descendants or anyone interested in Lancaster history.

 

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From time to time people drop by with an old photograph of a home in Lancaster or surrounding area. We cannot tell you how delighted that we are to make a copy for our files. If you or someone has an old photograph of a home of Lancaster, please bring it by. We have the capability to make copies here at the visitor’s center.

    What may appear to be an old building to someone proves invaluable to us. It helps us to document sites, and possibly Network to Freedom candidates. 

   The photographs can also be of landscapes or barns.  The copied photograph will be placed in a file with credit given to the person or family that is donating a copy. You could very well be holding a key to unlocking history.