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Ancher Nelsen

Ancher Nelsen
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 2nd district
In office January 3, 1959 – December 31, 1974
Preceded by	Joseph P. O'Hara
Succeeded by	Tom Hagedorn
34th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
In office January 5, 1953 – May 1, 1953
Governor	C. Elmer Anderson
Preceded by	C. Elmer Anderson
Succeeded by	Donald O. Wright
Member of the Minnesota Senate
In office 1935-1949
Personal details
Born	(1904-10-11)October 11, 1904 Buffalo Lake, Minnesota
Died	November 30, 1992(1992-11-30) (aged 88) Hutchinson, Minnesota
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Ilo Zimmerman (1929), Elvern Krasean
Children	Bruce (son)
Profession	farmer, politician

Ancher Nelsen (October 11, 1904 – November 30, 1992), was an American politician who served as the 34th Lieutenant Governor of the state of Minnesota and an eight-term congressman.

Nelsen was born October 11, 1904, near Buffalo Lake, Minnesota, to Danish parents. He attended elementary school in Brownton, Minnesota, and graduated from Brownton High School in 1923. In 1924 he began operation of his 280-acre diversified farm at Hutchinson, McLeod County, Minnesota. In 1929 he married Ilo Zimmerman of Brownton; they had three children.^[1] Their son Bruce G. Nelsen served in the Minnesota House of Representatives.^[2]

He served on the District 75 Minnesota School Board from 1926 to 1935 and on the Lynn Township School Board from 1929 to 1935. Nelsen was a member of the Minnesota Senate, 1935–1949, and a delegate to the 1948 and 1952 Republican National Conventions. In 1952, he was elected the 34th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, but served less than one year (January 5-May 1, 1953). He resigned to become administrator of the Rural Electrification Administration Program, in Washington, D.C., serving in that post from 1953 to 1956.^[3]

Nelsen was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1958 and served in the 86th through the 93rd Congresses, from January 3, 1959, to his resignation December 31, 1974, three days before his final term expired. He did not seek renomination in 1974.

He died in Hutchinson, Minnesota, November 30, 1992, at age 88.

• United States Congress. "Ancher Nelsen (id: N000028)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Minnesota Historical Society biography
• Minnesota Legislators Past and Present

• A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Ancher Nelsen" is available for viewing at the Internet Archive