Early Legal Career
Martin Nelson graduated from St. Paul College of Law with an LL.B. in 1916 and began practicing law in St. Paul. He served in the legal department of Capital Trust Savings, doing title work and property litigation. During World War I, he enlisted in in the Army aviation corps in 1917, serving as an aviation instructor on several Southern bases, including Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio and Camp Taliaferro in Fort Worth.
After the war, Nelson began legal practice in Austin, Minnesota, with General A. J. Wright, where he practiced until 1944.
Nelson was an inveterate politician. He became the Mower County Republican chair in 1924, and he was a national delegate to the Republican Conventions in 1928 and 1932.
Nelson’s first political run was for Congress in Minnesota’s First District in1924. His campaign ads pronounced him “Safe. Sane. Honest. Capable.” He also filed in 1930 for a state senate seat from Mower and Dodge Counties, Senate District 5.
In April 1934, he was endorsed as the Republican candidate for governor, the first person from Mower County to win that honor and one of the first gubernatorial candidates to fly himself around the state to attend political rallies. He ran on a platform of creating a “solid business administration [instead of] steadily increasing taxes and continued waste.” Though he led by a substantial margin in the October newspaper polls against Farmer-Labor candidate Floyd B Olson and the Democratic candidate John Regan, Nelson was defeated by Olson 468,812 to 396,395 votes.
In 1936, Nelson filed for the governorship once more, citing the economy and a balanced budget as his concern. Other than education, provision for the needy and other necessary expenses, he noted, “[s]trict economy must be rigidly enforced at every point.” Growth in private business would make it possible for Minnesota to stay in the forefront of progressive states, according to Nelson. In the 1936 election, again chosen the Republican standard-bearer, he was defeated by fellow alumnus Elmer A. Benson 680,342 votes to Nelson’s 431,814 votes. In 1938, he filed once again for governor, losing in the Republican primary to the young Harold Stassen, who went on to defeat Incumbent governor Elmer Benson and Democratic candidate Thomas Gallagher. He also filed for the1942 United States Senate seat. However, the incumbent Republican Joseph H. Ball, who had been appointed by Gov. Stassen in 1940 to fill the seat of Farmer-Labor Senator Ernest Lundeen who died while in office, won that race. In a four-way race that included former Governor Elmer Benson and Democratic nominee Ed Murphy, Nelson received only 14.4% of the vote, coming in third place.
In 1944, Nelson was appointed as a District Court Judge in Austin, Minnesota by Governor Edward J. Thye and won re-election to his seat in November 1944 and in 1950. He was appointed as an associate justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1953 by Governor C. Elmer Anderson to replace Roger L. Dell when he was promoted to Chief Justice. He wrote 546 majority opinions, dissenting in only four cases.
Among the most significant of his opinions was Slezak v. Ousdigian, 110 N.W. 2d 1 (Minn. 1961), in which the Public Employees’ Retirement Association attempted to hold their secretary liable for fraud because of unnecessary business expenses he incurred on the job. Nelson recognized a presumption that he acted in good faith while performing his duties and held that the group lacked legal standing to maintain the suit. In Head v. Special School District No. 1, 182 N.W.2d 887 (Minn. 1970), Nelson’s opinion upheld Minnesota’s “no-strike” law in reference to a Minneapolis teachers’ strike in April 1971. The opinion invalidated a strike-settling agreement to provide re-hired teachers with back pay for some of the days in which they were on strike, arguing that it violated the legislative intent of the no-strike law. This opinion caused the legislature to enact meet-and-confer provisions and clarify cases when public employees would be entitled to strike.
Nelson served on the court for 19 years until January 3, 1972, when he was 82. The Legislature passed but then deleted a provision in a pay bill that would require any Justice over 80 years old who served more than 25 years at the district and Supreme Court levels to retire, clearly aimed to force Nelson’s resignation. However, later, perhaps due to the controversy over his staying on, the legislature did pass legislation requiring Supreme Court justices to retire at the age of 70, Minn. Stat. 490.125.
Personal Life
Martin A. Nelson was born in Hesper, Iowa, on February 21, 1889. His father Andrew had immigrated to the United States at the age of 15. Martin attended rural schools in Hesper, Iowa and Mabel, Minnesota. He was known as an indefatigable reader and someone who recognized that education was the key to his success. He worked at D.W. Jones Drug Store and as a postal clerk during high school. He also attended Mechanic Arts High School in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Drew School of Pharmacy. In 1912, Nelson became a pharmacist and spent several years in that profession in Spring Valley, Minnesota, even while he attended law school.
Nelson met his wife, Merle Henifin, in Austin, and they were married in 1920. Nelson and Merle had two children, Arthur and Enid.
In the 1920s, Nelson served as the local chair of the Near East Relief Fund, originally dedicated to the aid of Greek, Armenian and Assyrian victims of the Ottoman Empire during the Armenian and Assyrian genocides, which was consolidated with the local European Relief Fund. In 1924, he was appointed deputy grand exalted ruler for the southern Minnesota chapter of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Nelson was a devoted member of the American Legion and often spoke to Legion audiences. He was also a trustee for St. Olaf Hospital for 22 years and Board president for 10 years. He enjoyed hunting and his family often retreated to the family farm near Austin.
Nelson died on May 22, 1979, at the age of 90.
References:
100 Who Made A Difference (William Mitchell College of Law, 2001)
Testimony: Remembering Minnesota’s Supreme Court Justices (Minnesota Supreme Court Historical Society, 2008)
Martin Nelson, Winona Daily News, May 24, 1979, p.17, c.3
Martin Nelson, Minnesota State Law Library
New Law Firm Formed, Mower County Transcript-Republican, Oct. 8, 1919, p.1, c. 6
Consolidates Relief Drives: Martin Nelson Will Head Dual Relief Organization in This County, Mower County News, Jan. 6, 1921, p.1, c. 3
Martin A. Nelson, of Austin, Lyle Tribune, April 4, 1924, p.8, c.1
Nelson for Congress Advertisement, Houston County Chief, June 5, 1924, p.1, c;5
Austin Man Named Elk Official, Rochester Daily Post and Record, Sept. 13, 1924, p.5, c. 7
Attorney Martin Nelson Filed for Senator, Lyle Tribune, Feb. 21, 1930, p.1, c.3
Republicans Draw Platform — Select Candidates, Republican Press, April 20, 1934, p.4, c.2
Nelson Leads in Poll Conducted by Newspapers, Atwater Republican Press, Oct. 5, 1934, p.1, c. 5
Governor’s Chair Beckons to the Immigrant’s Son, Atwater Republican Press, Oct. 26, 1934, p.8, c.1
In Race Again, Redwood Gazette, April 23, 1936, p.1, c. 7
Will Head Republican State Ticket: Martin A. Nelson, Atwater Republican Press, May 1, 1936, p.4, c. 1
Official Minnesota Vote, Atwater Republican Press, Nov. 20, 1936, p.4, column 1
Martin Nelson Files for G.O.P. Nomination, Atwater Republican Press, March 18, 1938, p.4, c.1
Files as Republican Candidate for Senator, Atwater Herald, July 26, 1940, p.1, c. 2
Nelson may retire soon from state high court, Minneapolis Tribune, December 21, 1971, p.5c, c.2