Union County Genealogical Society to hold monthly meeting
The monthly meeting of the Union County Genealogical Society will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Barton Library, with society president Hugh Nelson sharing his life story.
Nelson, 84, was born in Oakland, Louisiana, on Nov. 22, 1933, in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Murphy, Sr. The Murphy’s sold their home and land to Nelson’s parents when the Murphy’s moved to El Dorado. Nelson went to school in Strong and graduated in 1951, then attending a Louisiana college and finishing in 1955. He then attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and became pastor of Fountain Hill First Baptist Church until 1961. Nelson then worked at the U.S. Post Office in El Dorado from 1962 to 1992, when he retired.
Nelson married Marion Tassin on June 11, 1953. They had a daughter and a son, before Nelson’s wife passed away on Sept. 8, 2008. He is a member of First Baptist Church in El Dorado.
Historic District to meet today
The El Dorado Historic District Commission is expected to hear two Certificates of Appropriateness requests during a regular meeting at noon today in the second-floor conference room of City Hall.
One of the COAs will contain two items that will be presented by the Murphy Arts District.
MAD is seeking to erect directory signs for the box office in the Griffin Music Hall and a new sign replicating a 1920s-era, historic sign on the east corner of the Griffin Restaurant.
A second COA request for a public art display to be moved to 108 N. Washington. Merle Norman is relocating to the spot, and owner Lindsey Wilson is seeking to set up an art barrel that was fashioned into a tube of lipstick for a public art project that was launched years ago in downtown El Dorado.
COAs are required for most exterior work that is proposed within the city’s commercial historic district.