Alexander Franklin Nelson was born at Mecklenberg county, North Carolina on 8 December 1791. He was the second child and eldest son of John Nelson and Nancy Ware Hunter.
By the early 1800's the family had relocated to a farming community at the modern date site of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, Louisiana in West Felicanna Parish.
America was still a young nation and had just finished defeating England for the second time in the War of 1812. One of the most important battles of that war had been fought very close to him at New Orleans. His older sister Martha Ware (Patsy) Nelson had married back in 1809 to a local man named Ballard Evans. During the aftermath of the war there was a great plague of mosquitoes that had carried yellow fever from New Orleans northward up the Mississippi River to the farming community at Tunica where the Nelson clan lived. Thjs tragedy claimed the lives of both Ballard Evans and Alexander's mother Nancy Ware Hunter Nelson. Just the previous year of 1915 had seen the elopement of his younger sister Mathilda Caroline Nelson to a local gadfly Doctor named David T.W. Cook. The family home was located in a remote area of the Tunica Hills on the banks of the Mississippi, far from any major towns. Life was slow and young Alexander was yearning to get on with life. He felt that the time had come for him to strike out on his own.
At age 25, in the year 1816, he felt a yearning in his soul to strike out on his own. Tales of a better life in north Louisiana reached his ears from travelers who passed through on their way down the river to Bayou Sarah and New Orleans. Eager to start his own life, Alexander said his goodbyes to his older sister Patsy and his younger brother Thomas Jefferson Nelson. With a last farewell to his father, young Alexander left New Felicianna for the promised land near Fort Miro in Ouachita Parish to the north.
Crossing the river at Natchez, his new life lay before him. After arriving and spending several weeks at Ft. Miro (modern day Monroe, Lousiana), he headed out for the area to the west of the fort. Alexander arrived at an area known as the Piney Hills, located near present day Vienna, Louisiana, the site was rich in game, heavily wooded and presented an excellent site to set up camp. The community at this time was named Trenton and was within the boundaries of the Parish of Ouachita. Shortly thereafter, as the population increased new counties of Jackson, Claiborne, Lincoln, Union and others were formed from the parent county of Ouachita.
It was here that Alexander decided to try to establish his own identity. Alexander was now 26 years old and full of life. At first he tried his hand at logging, there was plenty of that to be done as new settlers were moving to the area all of the time.
Vienna, a small community to the north east of Trenton was becoming a community center and had great need for lumber for cabins and homes.. Other areas around were attracting farmers and merchants who were in need of lumber for their farms, houses, barns, and stores. It was a good life for Alexander as he was always a hard worker and he became known far and wide for his excellent abilities.
In June 1818 word was received from the south that his father lay on his death bed. Young Alexander heeded the call and hurried to his father's side. Not long after his arrival at the Nelson Plantation, Alexander's father John Nelson passed on to a better life. There was much legal work to be done. The estate had to be inventoried, the property sold for the best price, and arrangements made for the care of his sister, Martha, and younger brother, Thomas. The estate and property came easily enough, but what to do with a widowed older sister and a 12 year old brother? Life in the New World had not been kind to the Nelson's and it seemed that there was just one tragedy after another. Well, that's the way of it and so Alexander did the best he could with all the family business. His widowed sister Patsy (Martha Ware) was appointed as co-guardian and tutor to young Thomas and it was then decided that the best choice was to move to north Louisiana and live close to Alexander so that he could help them along as needed.
After returning to the Piney Hills area, west of Vienna, Patsy and young Thomas were established on their own small area of the new Nelson farm. Listed on the Census rolls of 1820 as the household of John Nelson in Ouchita Parish, LA.
After completion of this chore Alexander then turned to things of more importance to his own future including the courting of the local pastors' daughter Sarah Ann Brinson. Sarah had been born in Tennessee in 1804, the daughter of the Reverend James J. Brinson, Jr. and his wife the former Patience Elizabeth Purser. The marriage of Alexander and Sarah was celebrated on 28 February 1819 at the small farming community of Trenton.
Alexander and Sarah were charter members of the Pine Hill Baptist Church, the first church to be located at Vienna, La. in 1821. One of the first events to be celebrated at the new church was the wedding of Alexander's older sister Patsy (Martha Ware) to her new beau John Martin Fouts on 18 February 1821. Ten days later on 28 February 1821 as a demonstration of their love for each other and Sarah's father, Alexander and Sarah were remarried by Alexander's father-in-law at the new church. From the union of Alexander Franklin Nelson and Sarah Ann Brinson would come forth 12 children. The first four children would list their birth place as Ouachita Parish, La. After the formation of Claiborne Parish in 1828, the remaining 8 children would list Claiborne Parish.
He was a charter member of the Pine Hill Church (Baptist) in 1821 (now believed to be the first church at Vienna, Lincoln, LA. He moved before 8 January 1848 to Arkansas from a farm some 3 1/2 miles SE of Athens, Claiborne Parish, LA. A historian recorded the fact that the land was sold cheap and for easy terms.
More tragedy now befell Alexander as his pretty young wife, Sarah died in
1847 at the age of 43. Alexander, now at age 56, found himself widowed with several smaller children. Texas now became the 28th state joining the United States in 1845. It was a time of excitement and large numbers of people were attracted to Texas, which was offering large tracts of land cheap so Alexander had moved to Smith County, Texas shortly before 1850 He was residing there when the 1850 census was taken.
Alexander was the first secretary of the first Baptist Association in Louisiana. This Association is still in existence and is now known as the Concord Association. On 11 July 1850, he and his sister Caroline (Nelson) Cook registered to ride a stage coach between Minden and Homer in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. He listed his address as Claiborne Parish (despite the fact he was actually residing in Texas), and hers as Panola County, Mississippi. However, the 1850 census indicated that Caroline (Nelson) Cook was living in his household when the census was taken.
Land Records - Claiborne Parish:
PATENT_L_N: NELSON
PATENT_F_N: ALEXANDER
PATENT_M_I:
ACCESS_NR: LA0910__.158
SEQ_NR: 1
TOTAL_PAGE: 1
IMAGE_NAME: 00001985
VOL_ID: 509
IMAGE_TYPE: P
DESCRIP_NR: 1
ALIQUOT_PT: E«SW
SECTION_NR: 19
TOWNSHIP: 19.0N
RANGE: 6.0W
BLOCK_NR: 0
MERIDAN_CD: 18
TOTAL_ACRE: 72.7500
FRAC_SECT: N
L_O_CODE: 05
DOCUMENT_N 409: 3311
MISC_DOC_N:
TITLE_AUTH: 272002
SIGNATURE: Y
SIGN_DATE: 1837/08/05
SUBSU_RESV: N
METES_BOUN: N
SURVY_DATE:
WARR_L_NAM:
WARR_F_NAM:
CANCEL_DOC: N
MULT_PATEN: Y
MULT_WARR: N
REMARKS: PHILIP P BRINSON

Land Records: Claiborne Parish
PATENT_L_N: NELSON
PATENT_F_N: ALEXANDER
PATENT_M_I: F
ACCESS_NR: LA0900__.052
SEQ_NR: 1
TOTAL_PAGE: 1
IMAGE_NAME: 00002378
VOL_ID: 509
IMAGE_TYPE: P
DESCRIP_NR: 1
ALIQUOT_PT: W«SE
SECTION_NR: 19
TOWNSHIP: 19.0N
RANGE: 6.0W
BLOCK_NR: 0
MERIDAN_CD: 18
TOTAL_ACRE: 72.7600
FRAC_SECT: N
L_O_CODE: 05
DOCUMENT_N 409: 2776
MISC_DOC_N:
TITLE_AUTH: 272002
SIGNATURE: Y
SIGN_DATE: 1837/06/20
SUBSU_RESV: N
METES_BOUN: N
SURVY_DATE:
WARR_L_NAM:
WARR_F_NAM:
CANCEL_DOC: N
MULT_PATEN: N
MULT_WARR: N
REMARKS:
It was in the area of Tyler, Texas, probably at Troup, located in Smith County, Texas where Alexander finally passed on 16 April 1867. He is believed to be buried there in the Oakwood Cemetery.