Durham, N. N.  "Spokane and the Inland Empire; History of the City of Spokane
and Spokane County Washington."  Vol. 3.  S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1912.  
p. 97.
 
SOFUS B. NELSON, D.V.S.

     Dr. Sofus B. Nelson, professor of veterinary science at the Washington
State College, and also state veterinarian, was born at Veile, Denmark, December
21, 1867, a son of Nels P. and Marie Beartelson, both of whom were natives of
Denmark, where the father died in 1876 and the mother in 1911. In the family
were three sons and three daughters. The two brothers of Sofus B. Nelson are
residents of this country. Peter B. Nelson living in Calgary, Canada, while Nels
P. Nelson makes his home in Brewster, Washington. The two sisters are Anna and
Ingeborg, still residents of Veile, Denmark, the third sister having died quite
young.
     For two or three years Dr. Nelson pursued his education in the common
schools of his native country and afterward became a student in the public
schools of Avoca, Iowa, where he passed through consecutive grades until he
became a high-school student. In 1886 he entered the Iowa State College and was
graduated in 1889 with the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Surgery. In 1890 he
held the position of house surgeon in the veterinary department of the Iowa
State College.
     On the 14th of December, 1890, Dr. Nelson came to Spokane and opened an
office in the Granite block, practicing continuously until February 1893, when
he went to Europe and became a special student in the Royal Veterinary College
of Copenhagen. In July, 1893, he returned to Spokane, where he resumed practice,
following the profession in a private capacity until the spring of 1895, when he
was elected professor of veterinary science at the Washington State College. He
also became veterinarian at the experiment station and his election to that
position carried with it the office of state veterinarian and a member of the
state board of health. For two years, in the '90s, he was secretary of the state
board.
     The department of veterinary science was established in Pullman in 1900 in
connection with the state college and the first class was graduated in 1902.
Since that time a class has been graduated each year, with the exception of
1903. Two years ago the provision was made that the senior class should be
conducted in Spokane and to provide for this a building was constructed on
Indiana and Kalispell streets. It is fully equipped and all of the latest and
most improved appliances that money can buy have been secured. They treat on an
average from eighteen hundred to two thousand patients per year, including
cattle, dogs and horses. It is the purpose of the department to give the young
men of today the highest possible scientific and practical training necessary to
fit them for the work of veterinarians. In addition to his duties as teacher and
head of the department, Dr. Nelson has been especially interested in the work of
eradicating tuberculosis in domesticated animals in this state and in the
development of the stock industry in Washington. He was a delegate to the
tuberculosis congress in Washington, D. C, in 1908. and presented a paper that
was very noteworthy. He has written and spoken much concerning the various
methods of eradicating tuberculosis, also upon the subjects of a sanitary milk
supply and the general sanitary condition of farms. His addresses are based upon
broad scientific knowledge, keen observation and practical experience. For
twenty years he has been a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association
and has done important work on its executive committee.
     In November, 1895, Dr. Nelson was married to Miss J. Ettchen Uhden, a
daughter of Charles Uhden, a wholesale commission merchant of Spokane. Her
mother belonged to the Habicht family, whose ancestry can be traced back to the
year 1400, representatives of the name having been actively connected with
Martin Luther in the period of the reformation. Mrs. Nelson was associated for a
number of years with the Fortnightly Club at Pullman and was quite active in its
work. She has always been a great student of literature and therefore was
accorded a prominent position in the club to which she belonged. Dr. and Mrs.
Nelson attend the Congregational church and he is a Mason, holding membership
with Whitman Lodge, No. 49, F. & A. M., at Pullman, the chapter at Colfax, and
the consistory and Mystic Shrine at Spokane. For twenty years he has been a
member of the Woodmen of the World and is also identified with the Scandinavian
Brotherhood of America. In polities he is a republican and while he keeps well
informed on the questions and issues of the day prefers to give his support to
well organized private rather than to political interests and activities. He
aids in promoting public progress as a member of the Chamber of Commerce and is
well known socially in Spokane as a member of the Inland Club. He stands as one
of the foremost representatives of the profession in the entire west, his broad
knowledge making his opinions an authority upon the questions connected with
veterinary science.

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Submitted to the Washington Biographies Project in October 2008 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.