Civil War veteran, farmer, politician, and businessman Jay Elijah Nash was born on March 29, 1843, in Hadley, Massachusetts. At the age of 18, he enlisted in the Union with Company D of the 27th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Nash re-enlisted in 1863. During the long bloody course of the war Nash fought in twenty battles and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. He was wounded in action at Petersburg on in 1864. The following year Nash was captured in North Carolina, and held as a prisoner of war for 19 days before he was exchanged.
After the war was over, Nash returned home to Hadley. On April 8, 1865 he married a woman from Springfield, Massachusetts named Martha M. Davis. Four years later Jay and Martha Nash moved to Minnesota, taking up residence in Minneapolis. In 1874 Martha gave birth to George S. Nash. In 1880 Nash purchased 40 acres of land in what was then Crystal Lake Township. He established a dairy farm with 82 head of cattle. Nash opened a hardware store a couple years later. Martha and Jay divorced in 1885. The following year Nash remarried, a Vermont native Clara Louise Cooper. Four years later, Clara gave birth to Jay’s younger son and the couple’s first child together, Floyd E. Nash. In 1895 their daughter, Ruby L. Nash was born.
Nash spent a great deal of time reflecting upon his Civil War Experience and decided that war was little more than organized murder. He advocated pacifism and argued that socialism was the best way to guarantee peace. In 1899, Nash became one of the founders of the Social Democratic Party of Minnesota and in 1902 he became the gubernatorial nominee for the Socialist Party of Minnesota. He received less than one percent of the vote, but Nash’s star continued to rise.
On February 22, 1904 the state convention of the Public Ownership (Socialist) Party of Minnesota, meeting in Minneapolis, elected Nash as State Secretary and later that year he became party’s nominee for the office of Governor. Nash did a little better the second time around, receiving 1.91% of the vote. The party grew during Nash’s tenure as State Secretary. In 1905 members of the Public Ownership (Socialist) Party of Minnesota averaged 791 in good standing, and grew to 1,837 in 1908 and 5,600 by 1915. The party managed a few victories during Nash’s tenure, winning a seat in the legislature and mayoral elections in Brainerd, Two Harbors, Crookston, and Bemidji. In 1912, Nash ran for for the office of State Treasurer and won 12.65% of the vote.
Undeterred, Nash, took to the speakers’ circuit and gave speeches all over the state. Nash ran for the office of State Treasurer again in 1914, winning 8.96 percent. On July 30, 1915, at the age of 72, Nash was thrown from his wagon and died. His son George Nash took over the family hardware store. Clara continued live in Nash’s Crystal Lake home until she passed away in 1944. Their daughter Ruby lived in the family home until her death in the 1960s.
In 1916 George’s brother Floyd E. Nash built a bath house on his family’s property at Crystal Lake. The new bath house opened with 24 lockers, later increased to 100 and still later, 900 lockers. It was a recreation center, widely known for good, clean, wholesome fun—bathing, toboggan slides into the water, boating, fishing, picnics, dancing, and cottages. He also operated the Nash Land and Fuel Company for about 10 years.
This post is part of a series loosely based on the book Robbinsdale Then and Now by Helen Blodgett.
I grew up close to Ruby Nash i was about 9 or 10. She was a very kind lady, she would let me sit in her apple trees and eat apples. Have me in her house and let me play with this wooden structure where you would put a marble and it would go on a maze of tracks. I remember the staircase upstairs and the well in her kitchen. And side down her hill in the snow. I remember when it was abandoned around 1966.
Always wanted to thank her
Timothy Thole
Thank you for sharing, Timothy!