Martin A. Nelson (February 21, 1889 – May 22, 1979) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist from

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. He served as an associate justice of the

Minnesota Supreme Court The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center. History The court was first assemb ...

Early life and education

Nelson was born in Hesper Township, Winneshiek County, Iowa and received his early education there. He later moved to Minnesota and earned his law degree from

William Mitchell College of Law William Mitchell College of Law was a private law school from 1956 to 2015 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), it offered full- and part-time legal education in pursuit of the Juris Doctor (J. ...

(then the St. Paul College of Law) in 1916.

Career

Nelson practiced law in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

, prior to his enlistment. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Nelson served as an aviator and aviation instructor at American air training fields. From 1919 to 1944, he practiced law at

Austin, Minnesota Austin is a city in and the county seat of Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River and has ...

. He served as a trustee of St. Olaf Hospital in Austin for 22 years including 10 years as board president. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1928 and 1932. Nelson obtained the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1934 and 1936, but lost both general elections to Floyd B. Olson and Elmer A. Benson, respectively. In 1942, he was an independent candidate for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

from Minnesota, receiving 14.4% of the vote and coming in third place. In 1944, he was appointed a state court district judge in

. Governor C. Elmer Anderson appointed him to the

in 1953, to fill a vacancy caused by the elevation of Roger L. Dell to be chief justice. He served until his retirement in 1972. Nelson's fight to remain on the court despite his advanced age (he finally retired at eighty-two) spawned the law mandating retirement for state judges at the age of seventy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Martin A. 1889 births 1979 deaths William Mitchell College of Law alumni Minnesota lawyers Minnesota state court judges Justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court American people of Norwegian descent American Lutherans People from Winneshiek County, Iowa 20th-century Minnesota state court judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century Lutherans