Apparently Nelson didn't. Born in St. Jean's (St. John's) Quebec, Canada,(I believe his actual given name was Narcisse) Nelson immigrated to the United States and settled first in New Hampshire then in the Lowell, Massachusetts area. He went by several different surnames, from Constantinople, Constantino, and my favorite just plain Teno or Tino!! Makes it fun to do family history research when your ancestors can't keep their name straight.
At the young age of nineteen, Nelson served in the Civil War in the Fourteenth Regiment Maine Volunteer Infantry. On November 10, 1866 he married fellow French-Canadian Mary Raymond in Lowell, Massachusetts. There were the parents of six daughters and three sons!! Nelson died at the very early age of 39 due to consumption (tuberculosis), he contracted while serving in the military.I never thought I would see a picture of Nelson. I received an early Christmas present in December 2004. It was a letter from a second cousin I didn't know yet, with a picture of Nelson. While cleaning out the home built by one of his sons, her grandfather Perley, she found these pictures. There was no name on the back so she wasn't sure of the identity. She went searching and found that I had done some research on this family. I had copies of Nelson's military records so I knew he served in the Civil War. So, it just had to be him!! I love the pictures, they are indeed treasures. My heart turns to this ancestor because of my gratitude for him in immigrating to the United States so I could be an American. And in serving this great country in the military. I'm proud of my Constantineau heritage and look forward to a great heavenly reunion with my ancestors.
5 comments:
Oh whoops. I'm way behind on the times. I just tagged you in my blog but didn't know you'd already been tagged. Want to write 6 new things about yourself??! :)
He must have been a pretty cool guy. Those pictures are awesome. Have you though about doing any preservation stuff to all your old pictures?
So easy to have our hearts turn to these people whom we haven't met just by the research we do. This is a great Friday Feature and I look forward to meeting more of your family.
Fantastique! in french. Imagine how he was proud to be photographied (the beginings of the photography) for posterity, and would be proud to know that you conserve this picture and portrayal. You get a gorgeous family, are there some of your children that are interested in your researches?
I will come back to read older posts. Thanks for sharing. catherine
Yes, I have two daughters who help with the research, Katie and Rachel!! They love our ancestors as much as I do!!
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