Early Life and Family
Jessica Nelson North was born in Madison, Wisconsin, the daughter of David Willard North and Sarah Elizabeth "Elizabeth" (Nelson) North. She grew up on the shore of Lake Koshkonong near to what later became St. Joseph's College in the vicinity of Edgerton, Wisconsin. She was the older sister of Sterling North, author of Rascal and many other children's books. Jessica Nelson North is one of the major characters portrayed her brother's well-known book, which was set when she was 25. Jessica and Sterling's family home (the setting of Rascal) in Edgerton was restored to its 1917 setting and is open as a museum. Sterling North recalled (in Rascal, Chapter 2) that "Both sisters had taken tender care of me after Mother died, Jessica in particular postponing her career and marriage."
Jessica's grandparents, James Hervey Nelson and Sarah Orelup Nelson, were Wisconsin pioneers. In 1917, which would have been her grandfather James Hervey Nelson's 100th birthday, several of North's uncles wrote extended biographies about their parents and their pioneer farm life. These writing efforts may have been a literary inspiration to both her and Sterling.
Jessica was the aunt of author Arielle North Olson who was Sterling's daughter. Jessica was also the niece of Justus Henry Nelson, an early missionary in the Amazon.
Genealogy was one of Jessica Nelson North's avocations.
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