Cora Nelson

Cora Ellen Short was born March 10, 1885 in Barry County, MO to James Fair & Amanda Jane (Lasiter) Short. James & “Manda” married in Stone County, MO in 1881. Cora was the second child born to her young mother. Cora’s father, James, died at the age of 24, only a few weeks after Cora’s third birthday. This loss left Manda with 3 young children under age 6 - Cora and her two young brothers. 

Understandably, Manda remarried in 1889 with 3 children under age 7. Cora’s stepfather was Columbus “Clum” Hilton. Clum & Manda had an additional 9 children together, providing Cora with many younger half brothers & sisters. 

Cora was the oldest daughter of her siblings which created somewhat of a mothering instinct for her younger siblings. She certainly helped her mother around the home and outside of the home to care for the “little children.” At age 15, Cora resided with her mother & stepfather and her 6 younger siblings ranging from ages 1 - 10 in Pierce Township, Stone County, MO. 

In 1902, at age 17, Cora married her stepfather’s nephew, Marion Francis Hilton in Stone County, MO. Over the next 15 years, Marion & Cora Hilton had 5 children - Loy Richard (1903), Cleato Raleigh (1906), Thomas Arlo (1908), Clifford Chester (1911), and Reba (1914). They raised their young children in Stone County, MO in the early 1900s. Around 1920, they moved their family to Cedar Township, Carroll County, AR, just south of the Missouri/Arkansas border. 

In 1929, Cora & Marion divorced, leaving Cora as a single mother to two teenagers. At this time, Cora & her teenage children lived in Springdale, Washington County, AR. Her sons owned a furniture store named “Hilton Bros Furniture Co” & she worked as a furniture saleswoman in their store. 

In the 1930s, Cora was introduced to tent revivals & holiness meetings in northwest Arkansas. In 1936, Cora served as Trustee for the Nazarene Church of Springdale, AR with Paul C. Overstreet & A.C. Fogle. J. Wesley Sherill was appointed pastor of this church in 1937. 

As her children left home to start their own families, Cora immersed herself into ministry for single unwed mothers, abused women, & any other underprivileged women and homeless couples. It is unclear what kind of home she owned but she seems to have had a heart for housing underserved and needy women in the Springdale & Fayetteville, Arkansas communities. Cora was fondly referred to as “Aunt Cora” by people other than just her immediate family. She was a mother figure & mentor to many during the 1940s in northwest Arkansas. 

Cora married Robert “Bob” Nelson in 1950. While Bob passed away in 1958, Cora remained a faithful member of the Church of the Nazarene, Fayetteville, AR for the next 20 years serving her community & her church. Cora passed away in 1970 in Cassville, Barry County, MO at the age of 85.

Biography compiled by her relative, Tory Keeter.