Marriage and Family
After being elected the first time, Nelson married Nicholina Jacobsen, originally from Toten, Norway. She was five months' pregnant by the time of their marriage and, because of Nelson's poor relations with the local Lutheran clergy, they were married by the Justice of the Peace Lars Erdall in a private home.
A national recession limited the couple's financial success. While Nelson slept in his office in Madison to carry out his legislative and professional career, Nicholina and the newborn Ida stayed with her family in Koshkonong.
Read more about this topic: Knute Nelson
Famous quotes containing the words marriage and/or family:
“What is any respectable girl brought up to do but to catch some rich man’s fancy and get the benefit of his money by marrying him?—as if a marriage ceremony could make any difference in the right or wrong of the thing!”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“My ambition for station was always easily controlled. If the place came to me it was welcome. But it never seemed to me worth seeking at the cost of self-respect, or independence. My family were not historic; they were well-to-do, did not hold or seek office. It was easy for me to be contented in private life. An honor was no honor to me, if obtained by my own seeking.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)