Julia Bullard Nelson House, 219 5th Street, Red Wing, Minnesota
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Julia Bullard Nelson House | |
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| Address: | 219 5th Street |
| City/locality- State/province |
Red Wing, Minnesota |
| County- State/province: |
Goodhue County, Minnesota |
| State/province: | Minnesota |
| Country: | United States |
| Year built: | 1880 |
| Year razed: | 2004 |
| Primary Style: | Colonial Revival |
| Historic Function: | House/single dwelling or duplex |
| Material of Exterior Wall Covering: | Wood |
| Material of Roof: | Wood Shingle |
| Material of Foundation: | Limestone |
| First Owner: | James Lawther |
| National Register of Historic Places Information | |
| Reference Number: | 79001244 |
The Julia B. Nelson house is significant because of its association with Julia Bullard Nelson,
an early Goodhue County Settler, pioneer educator, and leader in woman suffrage and the Minnesota Women's Christian Temperance Union.
Julia was educated in Goodhue County schools and attended Hamline University when it was located in Red Wing. In 1866 she married Ole Nelson who died only three years into their marriage. Their son Cyrus also died. In 1869 Julia was sent by the American Missionary Association to Texas to teach "freedmen." For the next 20 years she was a teacher in Texas and Tennessee.
She preached at the Congregational Church in Jonesboro Tennessee and became involved in the Women's Christian Temperance Union. In 1889 she returned to Red Wing. In 1881 Julia and fourteen other women, including Dr. Martha George Ripley, founded the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association. She was also the Vice President of the Red Wing Women's Christian Temperance Union in 1889 and 1890. She wrote editorials for the Red Wing Republican newspaper and was editor of the White Ribbon, a W.C.T.U. newspaper published in Minneapolis.
Her two story wood frame house has a structure that unified two dwellings, each consisting of three bay fronts. The east wing has a full front porch. The portico covering the entry of the west wing replaced an older front porch. Julia lived in the house and offered room and board. The house, located near the commercial district in Red Wing, was a convenient meeting space for local women and guests who traveled to Red Wing by railcar.
The house was demolished in 2004. [1]
The Women's Christian Temperance Union W.C.T.U in Minnesota
W. C. T. U.—The state organization of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union was effected in Minneapolis June 6, 1877. The first local auxiliary in Goodhue county was organized at' Red Wing. June 20, 1877. This was the first local auxiliary in the state outside of Minneapolis. The report made of the first year's work at the state convention held in Owatonna, September 17,' 18 and 19, 1878, was as follows:
- President, Mrs. C. Hobart;
- Recording Secretary, C. Chaffee;
- Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. C.Ii. Wright:
- Treasurer, Mrs. E. S. Wright;
- Number of members,38;
- Number of saloons, 45
- Two licenses have been taken away from saloons
- Meetings held, weekly
- Average attendance, 15
- Number of reclaimed inebriates. 200
- Signers to total abstinence pledge, 1,700
There is a free reading room, supplied with the need of the day and temperance literature, and sociables are held frequently; thirteen copies of "Our Union" and five of the "Radical," besides the "Banner" for the children. Three hundred signers to the temperance petition: paid state treasurer $8.75.
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