Collecting more Nova Scotia-origin Nelson ancestors and cousins

A couple of months ago, in this post, I mentioned that I had learned about a distant cousin had a self-published book, Descendants of Alexander Nelson, writing, "Perhaps someone reading this will have a copy they may be willing to share or loan me this book." I shared this post in the excellent Nova Scotia Genealogy Facebook group, and very quickly heard from another new-found cousin, who was none other than the daughter of the author of this book.

Even better, Brenton E. Nelson is still living, at age 90. We are 4th cousins, once removed, both being direct descendants of Alexander Nelson and Margaret Robinson. I called Brent to introduce myself. After a lovely chat, Brent said I was very welcome to have one of the few remaining copies of his book. I insisted on paying the postage.

Skimming the book when it arrived, I found that Brent focused on those Nelsons who remained in Nova Scotia. In his preface, Brent writes that "the bulk of [his] family history [research] was prepared prior to 1985" and explains that he focused on the eight sons and their descendants of Alexander Nelson, and asks to be excused for not continuing with the history of Alexander's female descendants. Despite this, Brent's book gives an incredible road map for this 21st century researcher. His focused on the Nelsons who remained in Nova Scotia.

I've referred to Brent's book many times in the short time I've had it, and know that it will continue to be my top go-to resource for Nova Scotia Nelson information.

I've found Alexander Nelson descendants scattered across North America. They are very numerous. Since Alexander and his wife, Margaret Robinson had a family of 14 children, many of whom went on to have their own large families, this is to be expected.

And I keep connecting with Nelson cousins.

Just a few days ago, reading a June 2019 article about a 2017 biography of 20th century American politician, John William McCormack, the biography's author name caught my eye. I saw  that his ancestor had migrated from Nova Scotia to Massachusetts, and that the family name was Nelson. Well, we had to be related.

It was very easy to locate a current email address for the author, and within a matter of hours, we were able to confirm that we are 4th cousins, sharing:

• 3rd great grandparents, Elias Nelson (1783-1871) and Elizabeth Forbes (abt 1786-1877)
• 4th great grandparents, Alexander Nelson (abt 1737-1803) and Margaret Robinson (1735-1823) and Robert Forbes (abt 1742-1812) and Lettice McLean (abt 1754-?)
• 5th great grandparents, Samuel McLean (abt 1729-aft 1791 and Frances Brown (abt 1729-1781)

Brent's book will remain a treasured part of my genealogy home library.

The never ending story continues....




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