Nelson Button was born on February 17, 1849, in Indiana. He helped plan Meade, Kansas, before participating in the Land Run of 1889 and settling in Oklahoma City.[1] He was appointed to the original board of trustees alongside David Williams Gibbs between July 15, 1890, and August 9, 1890.[2]
Afterward he was elected to represent Ward 1 of the Oklahoma City Council and served until elected mayor in 1894. He was mayor between April 9, 1894, and April 13, 1896. He died in Utah on April 27, 1914.[1]