Background
Julius Nelson was born on March 6, 1858 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the son of Christian and Julia Nelson. In 1863 his family came to America and settled near Waupaca, Wisconsin.
Julius Nelson was born on March 6, 1858 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the son of Christian and Julia Nelson. In 1863 his family came to America and settled near Waupaca, Wisconsin.
The young man prepared for college in the Waupaca High School and entered the University of Wisconsin, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1881. He received the degree of Master of Science from the University of Wisconsin in 1884. Nelson enrolled for further graduate study at Johns Hopkins University where subsequently he was appointed to a fellowship. In 1888 he finished his studies with the doctor's degree.
For a time Nelson served as principal of the high school at Rio, Wisconsin and in 1888 he was appointed biologist of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and professor of biology at Rutgers College, positions he held until the time of his death.
During his first ten years at the New Jersey Station he conducted extensive investigations of cattle diseases and their relation to public health. To the knowledge of bovine tuberculosis, then in a primitive stage, his studies yielded valuable results. His investigations also embraced contagious abortion and garget in cattle, poultry diseases, egg production by virgin fowls, dairy bacteriology, sewage disposal, and home sanitation.
In 1915 he was engaged by the Biological Board of Canada to make a survey of oyster-producing resources in Canadian waters.
His sudden death in 1916, resulting from an attack of pneumonia, cut short a scientific career that had just begun to enjoy the full fruition of pioneering and painstaking labor.
Nelson's writings include a long list of studies, most of which were published in the annual reports and bulletins of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. In addition he was the author of "Heredity and Sex" (American Journal of Psychology, January 1890), and a Descriptive Catalogue of the Vertebrates of New Jersey (New Jersey Geological Survey, 1890). He was also a contributor to Bailey's Cyclopedia of American Agriculture. He was a member of the Nature Study Society of America, of the National Association of Shell Fish Commissioners, of the New Jersey Tuberculosis Commission, and of the New Jersey State Science Teachers' Association.
On August 9, 1888 Nelson married Nellie Cynthia Chase of Madison, Wisconsin. They reared a family of three sons and three daughters.