HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG1397.AM: Nelson Bowman Sweitzer, 1869-1958
Correspondence: 1929-1938
Omaha, Douglas County and Neligh, Antelope County, Nebraska: Civil engineer
Size: One folder
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Nelson Bowman Sweitzer was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1869. After serving as a Civil Engineer for the United States Engineer Corps. he was appointed, in 1898, as an Examiner of Surveys. In 1902, Sweitzer was given charge of Nebraska and South Dakota surveys, as well as the mineral surveys of the Black Hills. In describing his life Sweitzer wrote that most of his time was “spent in a tent in the sand hills and carrying a transit over my shoulder.” His restoration resurvey work in Nebraska culminated in the complete restoration in western Nebraska of over 300 townships, resulting in giving Nebraska all of its school lands and clearing the state courts of land survey cases. He died in Los Angeles, California on May 25, 1958.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection consists of one folder of correspondence dating from 1929-1938. The correspondence contains letters written between Nelson Bowman Sweitzer and A. E. Sheldon, Director of the Nebraska State Historical Society. These letters discuss Sweitzer’s work in the retracement and resurveying of Nebraska, culminating in the exact relocation of the original survey. Information on Sweitzer’s father, General Nelson Bowman Sweitzer, is also included in the correspondence.
Note: Sweitzer’s report, Retracement-Resurveys as Affected by Court Decisions, With Field Procedure, is available in the Library.
INVENTORY
Correspondence, 1929-1938
Subject headings:
Sheldon, Addison Erwin, 1861-1943
Surveying
Sweitzer, Nelson Bowman, 1869-1958
Sweitzer, Nelson Bowman, 1828-1898
AIP/ksa 11-1990
Revised TMM 06-23-2016
