Biography

Ethel Nelson was born in Mt. Zion, Iowa, on November 1, 1869, to John William Nelson and Eliza Bonar Nelson. One of seven children in her family, she grew up in Birmingham, Iowa, where she was an active member in her school’s literary society and was a regular participant in its evening debates. On January 20, 1892, Nelson married Orange Smith Calhoun who managed a swine shipping and breeding business with his brother C.N. Calhoun. Ethel and Orange Calhoun raised four sons: Claude N., O.V., John Nelson, and Herbert. In 1933, John Nelson Calhoun was elected to the Iowa General Assembly, where he served as a republican senator until 1937.

Nelson Calhoun became a poet, publishing under the pen name “Nevada” in a variety of newspapers. She taught Sunday School for seven years and had eleven grandchildren and twenty great-grandchildren. Ethel “Nevada” Nelson Calhoun died on January 13, 1965, in Burlington, Iowa.

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