HAYDON NELSON was born October 25, 1834, in Livingston County, Ky., and is a son of William and Nancy (Robinson) Nelson. William Nelson was born in Virginia, in 1778, and his parents moved to Boone County, Ky., when he was a boy. There he married his first wife, Salley Smith, who bore him eight children, and died November 20, 1816. About 1820, he married his second wife, Polley Doyal, who bore him four children, and died November 20, 1827. William Nelson came to Kentucky about 1820, and in 1832, married his third wife, Nancy Robinson; she first married a man named Cope, by whom she had one child, Mary Cope, born July 13, 1821. Mrs. Nancy (Robinson) Nelson bore her husband six children, as follows: George, born February 10, 1833; Haydon, October 25, 1834; Patsey A., March 25, 1836; Melissa, January 7, 1838; Frances Marion, February 10, 1840; Narcissa Caroline, January 25, 1842. William Nelson died February 11, 1844. Haydon Nelson is the second eldest of the six children, and January 28, 1855, married Mary J. E. Spell, daughter of Wiley and Cynthia (Hurley) Spell; she was born January 29, 1839, and to her and husband have been born six children: William Wiley, born August 25, 1856; James Haydon, December 31, 1857; Cynthia A. Medora, September 10, 1859; Henry Jefferson, November 26, 1861; Elizabeth Caroline, January 26, 1863; Nancy Louisa, January 25, 1865. Mrs. Mary J. E. Nelson died June 21, 1866. Haydon Nelson married his second wife, Almeda Hosick, June 3, 1868, and to them have been born four children: Lee Emanuel, born March 21, 1869; Charley C., May 29, 1870; Albert Willis, August 7, 1874; Bruce, February 24, 1876. Mrs. Almeda J. (Hosick) Nelson was born December 29, 1841, and is a daughter of James and Margaret (Wofford) Hosick. Mr. Nelson owns about 800 acres of land; is a farmer, and the present county assessor; he has acted as constable for ten or twelve years.
Source: J. H. Battle, W. H. Perrin, & G. C. Kniffin. Kentucky. A History of the State. Louisville, KY, Chicago, IL: Battey, 1885. Page 828.