Nelson Bowman Sweitzer, 1869-1958 [RG1397.AM]

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

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