Helen S Nelson ⁶⁹⁴⁸

  Research Notes:

Summary: 16 May 2017

There are a couple of Ancestry Family Trees (Kirkpatrick FT and McMullen FT) that have some information on Helen Nelson. The "Kirpatrick" FT indicates names her as Helen Campbell Nelson and that she was married at least twice, but likely 3 times, first to 'someone Sawyer' and then to 'someone Walden' and under the marriage to Walden there are 4 living females. This tree also indicates she died on 13 Jul 2013 in Brooksville town, Hernando Co, FL. The other ancestry tree, "McMullen FT" has her death as 13 Jul 2013.

Combining this with the marriage records on familysearch (name as Sarah Helen Nelson) and the 1940 US Census (Irvin C Nelson household), we have the following:

First marriage: to Almus W Sawyer on 28 Feb 1942; one child from this relationship, Helen Florine Sawyer born about 1942
[ Tampa Bay Times, 16 Jun 1942, page 16 col 6 - "...Staff Sgt Almus Sawyer and Mrs Sawyer, are the parents of a daughter, Betty Florene, born Sunday in Clearwater hospital. Sgt Sawyer is stationed at present in Maine."]
- this relationship ended in divorce in Feb 1945 - Almus W Sawyer vrs. Sarah Helen Sawyer, "order and final decree"; Circuit Court [The Tampa Tribune, 24 Feb 1945, page 9 col 4 ]

Second marriage: to Edgar R Campbell on 13 Apr 1947; [ marriage license application; Tampa Bay Times, 13 Apr 1947, page 84 col 3, Edgar R Campbell, 21, and Sarah Helen Sawyer, age 23, Clearwater; AND, in The Tampa Tribune issue of 11 Apr 1947 page 24, both file a "suit" in the circuit court, Pinellas county ? ]

Third marriage: to unknown Walden on an unknown date, but likely later in life (no FL marriage record)

There is an obituary (point 2) but it provides little detail. The reasons it is likley correct is the use of 'Nelson' in the name, daughter Helen Sawyer (re; Census data) and the date of death with the ancestry trees and the obit agreeing. However, it is unlikely she was a "member of a pioneering Pinellas Co family" as suggested in the obiturary, although her husband Edgar Campbell may have been.


As a result, I have concluded that this is the same person as the daughter of Irvin Chester Nelson, but with only a "mariginal level of confidence.

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1. Marriages

Sarah Helen Nelson
mentioned in the record of Almus W Sawyer and Sarah Helen Nelson
NameAlmus W Sawyer
Event TypeMarriage
Event Date28 Feb 1942
Event PlaceCitrus, Florida, United States
GenderMale
Spouse's NameSarah Helen Nelson
Spouse's GenderFemale
Spouse's Age18
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated)1924
Spouse's Father's NameI C Nelson
Spouse's Mother's NameFlorine Nelson
Page190

"Florida Marriages, 1830-1993," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V65Y-S5V : 25 June 2015), Almus W Sawyer and Sarah Helen Nelson,
28 Feb 1942, Citrus, Florida, United States; citing p. 190, county courthouses, Florida; FHL microfilm 1,906,55


Sarah Helen Sawyer
mentioned in the record of Edgar R Campbell and Sarah Helen Sawyer
NameEdgar R Campbell
Event TypeMarriage
Event Date13 Apr 1947
Event PlaceFlorida, United States
GenderMale
Spouse's NameSarah Helen Sawyer
Spouse's GenderFemale
Page239

"Florida Marriages, 1830-1993," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:23HW-SFM : 25 June 2015), Edgar R Campbell and Sarah Helen Sawyer, 13 Apr 1947, Florida, United States; citing p. 239, county courthouses, Florida; FHL microfilm 2,115,807.


- one witness, James F Nelson

Application for Marriage license
- Sarah Helen Sawyer, age 23 born in Clearwater, FL; address Clearwater, FL
- married before? - yes; Divorced? - yes

2.
Obituary,

Sarah Helen (Nelson) Waldon
September 17, 1923 ~ July 13, 2013 (age 89)

WALDON, S. Helen Campbell, of Brooksville, FL passed away Saturday, July 13, 2013. Miss Helen is a descendant of the McMullen pioneer family of Pinellas County. She is survived by 5 daughters: Helen Sawyer; Frances Bailey; Cathy Points; Jane Colvin and Deb Holdsworth; 12 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at the Merritt Funeral Home, 2 South Lemon Ave., in Brooksville, Friday, July 19th, at 11am. Graveside service is at 2:00pm at the Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park, 2853 Sunset Point Road, Clearwater.

- copied and accessed by Rueben D Grue, 16 May 2017, from Merritt Funeral Home and Crematory, Brooksville Florida; also a photo; link, http://www.merrittfuneral.com/notices/Sarah-Waldon ; [ same obit is posted at genealogybank.com ]
Brooksville is about 75 kms north of Tampa


-- "... descendant of the McMullen pioneer family ..."
- through a general google search of this, a number of pages re; pioneer family
- also at rootsweb.ancestry there is a database of pioneers of Pinellas Co -- BUT not Irvin C Nelson family; link,
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=SHOW&db=fl-pgs&recno=0
- also see Pinellas County Genealogical Society webpage -- But I couldn't find anything about Irvin C Nelson family; link, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~flpgs/pgs-ppd.htm

YES: Irvin Chester's children are descendant of the McMullen pioneer family - Irvin Chester's wife, Florene Belcher's mother was a McMullen (born in 1850 in FL); direct link, http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=fl-pgs&id=I24315 ⁶⁹⁴⁴

Helen married [ —?— ] Waldon.

Helen next married Almus W Sawyer.

Helen next married Edgar R Campbell on 13 Apr 1947 in Florida, United States.⁶⁹⁷² (Edgar R Campbell was born on 6 Nov 1927 in Pinellas Co, Florida, United States and died on 21 Nov 1972 in Pinellas Co, Florida, United States ^6977,6978.)