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Roscoe Nelson Collection
Windsor
Historical Society
96
Palisado Avenue, Windsor, CT 06095
©
2008 Windsor Historical Society of Windsor, CT, Inc.
Creator:
Roscoe Nelson (1861-1961)
Dates:
1890-1961
Extent:
5
linear feet
Accession #:
1932.7, 1988.37, 1990.15, 1992.26, 1996.92, 1998.6
Location:
Library
Biographical Note
Roscoe Nelson was born on October 22, 1861, in Canaan, Maine.
He graduated from Bates College in 1887 and Yale Divinity
School in 1892. He was ordained in the First Church in
Windsor, CT, on June 2, 1892, and served as its minister
until July 1, 1932, when he retired and became pastor
emeritus. First Church in Windsor was his only parish.
During his pastorate, he witnessed many changes in the town
of Windsor as it grew from a rural farming village to a
suburban community. The church tripled its membership,
celebrated its Tercentenary in 1930, and in 1956 named its
new fellowship hall in his honor.
Rev. Nelson married Harriet Louise Cooke on June 30, 1892,
and they had three sons. Frederic C. Nelson (1893-1981), a
journalist and senior editor at the Saturday Evening
Post, R. Winthrop Nelson (1895-1966), an investment
broker, and Theodore Phillips Nelson (1898-1910). They
suffered a deep personal loss when their 12 year old son
Theodore drowned in the nearby Farmington River.
In addition to his pastoral duties, Rev. Nelson was active in
civic and community affairs. He was a member of the school
board, president of the Windsor Historical Society,
long-time supporter of the Windsor Library Association, and
founder and chairman of the Windsor Branch of the Red Cross.
Roscoe Nelson was an avid reader and followed national and
world news closely. He frequently penned letters to the
editor of the Hartford Courant on issues that
interested him, and was a strong proponent of the League of
Nations and other avenues towards world peace.
Upon retiring, the Nelsons moved to West Hartford, CT, but
maintained affectionate ties with First Church in Windsor.
Harriet C. Nelson died on June 29, 1948 and Rev. Roscoe
Nelson passed away November 9, 1961 at the age of 100. They
are buried in Palisado Cemetery, Windsor, CT.
Scope
and Contents
This collection consists of a variety of personal and family
memorabilia donated by the family of Rev. Roscoe Nelson. An
extensive set of handwritten sermon texts delivered between
1890 and 1959 cover the entire span of his pastoral and
retirement years. Personal papers and family documents
include diaries, an autobiographical manuscript,
photographs, diplomas, scattered issues of Harvard and Yale
University alumni publications, newspaper clippings and
tributes. The autobiographical manuscript describes his
childhood, schooling and seminary education, and his
forty-year pastorate in Windsor, CT. A small collection of
photographs includes images of Nelson family members and
several of the buildings owned by the First Church in
Windsor.
Souvenir publications and materials collected during Nelson’s
tenure at the First Church in Windsor (Windsor, Conn.)
include a 1911 church manual, a sampling of Sunday
bulletins, and items pertaining to the 250th, 275th,
and 300th church anniversaries, and pamphlets
recognizing the Tercentenary celebrations of the Town of
Windsor and the State of Connecticut in the 1930’s. A small
account book records the taxes paid by Windsor residents in
1803 collected by Alvey Rowland.
A modest set of books from Roscoe Nelson’s personal library
include Bibles, religious works, several 19th
century published addresses and sermons, local history
publications, and volumes of poetry by Edward Rowland Sill,
a Windsor native son.
Arrangement
Series I.
Sermons, 1890-1959
Series II. Personal and Family Papers
Subseries A. Papers
Subseries B. Photographs
Series III. First Church in Windsor
Subseries A. Anniversary celebrations
Subseries B. Church bulletins and membership list
Series IV. Windsor and other Connecticut materials
Subseries A. Windsor
Subseries B. Hartford
Subseries B. Wethersfield and other Connecticut
Subseries C. Newspaper clippings
Series V. Academic institutional materials
Subseries A. Loomis Institute
Subseries B. Harvard University
Subseries C. Yale University
Series VI. Books and Pamphlets
Box
and Folder Lists
Series I. Sermons, 1890-1959
Box 1 Sermons and Notes by Rev. Roscoe Nelson (title, date,
location, scriptures, hymns)
1. 1890, May 25, his first sermon delivered in
Hillsboro, WI 1998.6.1
2. 1892-1893 (string bound on lined paper), Windsor,
CT 1992.26
3. 1894 (string bound on lined paper), Windsor,
CT 1988.37
4. 1896 (string bound on writing paper), Windsor,
CT 1988.37
5. 1897 (string bound on writing paper), Windsor,
CT 1992.26
6. 1897 (string bound on writing paper), Windsor,
CT 1988.37
7. 1898 (string bound on writing paper), Windsor,
CT 1988.37
8. c1900 (on loose paper), oft-used for various
occasions
refers to Windsor’s first
ministers Wareham and Huit 1988.37
and to philanthropist
Elihu Burritt 1990.15
9. 1901 (string bound in note paper), Windsor,
CT? 1988.37
10. c1902 (small notebook), misc. notes for Bible
studies, etc. 1992.26
11. 1903-1904 (2 bound composition
books)
1992.26
12. 1903 Sunday evening talks (gray bound
notebook) 1992.26
13. 1905 (2 sermons on loose
paper)
1998.6.1
Box 2 Sermons and Notes by Rev. Roscoe Nelson (title, date,
location, scriptures, hymns)
14. 1905-1906 (2 green composition books) Windsor,
CT 1990.15
15. 1906-1907 (brown
notebook)
1992.26
16. c1908 (tiny brown notebook), misc. notes &
sayings 1988.37
17. 1909 (brown notebook)
1992.26
18. 1914 (brown
notebook)
1988.37
19. 1915 (loose lined paper)
1992.26
20. 1916 (tan notebook)
1988.37
21. 1916-1917 (brown notebook)
1988.37
22. 1919 (brown notebook)
1988.37
23. est. 1915-20 (loose pages, undated)
1988.37
24. 1918 (2 tiny notebooks), misc. notes, newspaper
clipping 1992.26
25. 1916, 1919-1920 (brown
notebook)
1990.15
26. 1920, Oct. (small gray paper-bound
booklet)
1988.37
Box 3
Sermons and Notes by Rev. Roscoe Nelson
(title, date, location, scriptures, hymns)
27. 1927 (brown notebook), newspaper clipping and
copy 1988.37
28. 1928 (brown
notebook)
1990.15
29. 1929-1930 (brown
notebook)
1988.37
30. 1931-1932 (2 brown notebooks), newspaper clipping
& copy 1988.37
31. 1935-1939 (loose pages), oft-used sermons with
multiple dates
and places noted in margins) 1988.37
32. 1933 (loose pages), oft-used with dates, places
given in margins 1992.26
33. 1938, May (loose pages), at Torringford, [CT?]
1992.26
34. 1942, May Mother’s Day (loose pages)
1992.26
35. 1943, May (loose
pages)
1992.26
36. 1944 150th Anniversary of the
Meeting-house (loose pages) 1992.26
37. 1954-1955 (loose pages), oft-used; 62nd anniversary
of Nelson’s ordination 1988.37
38. 1957 spring (loose pages)
1992.26
39. 1958 World Community Day sermon & program
1992.26
40. c1959 (loose
pages)
1988.37
41. 1959, c April (loose pages), last sermon
delivered 1988.37
Series II. Personal and Family Papers
Box 4
Personal and Family Papers
1. Miscellaneous small booklets -- diary, cash account,
visitations (names), and 1802 First Church donations account
2. Personal papers – including his 1892 ordination
and his wedding, correspondence, certificates, newspaper
clippings, and Harriet Cooke Nelson’s Wellesley College
1883 graduation program
3. The Independent, Vol. 113, No. 3881,
October 18, 1924. [A magazine of free opinion in which Rev.
Nelson won first prize for his essay about his opinion
of the presidential candidates (page 272)]
4. Wedding Anniversary tribute book -- dated May
1930, June 1932, June 1942; passport, trip diary,
Westminster Abbey church service leaflet, tickets, receipts,
son Winthrop Nelson’s report cards, Town of Windsor tax
receipt
5. “Farm Boy to Preacher,” Roscoe Nelson’s
autobiography
6. Funeral tribute book from Roscoe Nelson’s 1961
funeral; Diplomas for Roscoe Nelson, Bates College,
1887; his wife Harriet Cooke Nelson, Wellesley College,
1883; son Roscoe Winthrop Nelson, Windsor High School, 1911
and 1912; son Frederic Cooke Nelson, Windsor High School,
1911 and 1912; Certificate, St. Nicholas League for Theodore
P. Nelson, no date; Old box containing a piece of wood from
the “[George] Washington Elm” in Cambridge, MA.
Box 5 Photographs – Rev. Roscoe Nelson, Nelson family, First
Church in Windsor, and others
1.
Rev. Roscoe Nelson as a young man:
Sepia tone on cardboard, by Charles W. Hearn, Portland, ME.
undated
Black & white on cardboard, by Randall (1905); also copies
on plain paper
Sepia tone on cardboard, by Pach Bros, New York;
Yale Divinity School 1892
2.
Rev. Roscoe Nelson’s 90th birthday
party, Oct. 1951 and other occasions:
Black & white, Rev. Nelson with birthday cake; 3 copies
sepia tone on paper, c1930
Black & white, Rev. Nelson with Rev. Rockwell Harmon Potter;
c1950
Color, Rev. Nelson with Rev. James Morrell, Dr.
James English, Dr. Hollis Husted
Rev. Roscoe Nelson at dedication of tablet,
Windsor Congregational Church, Dec. 1960
Rev. Nelson with grandson Rev. Roscoe Winthrop
Nelson, Jr. at dedication of Metzger Chapel of First
Congregational Church, UCC, South Windsor, CT, May 1956
3.
First Church in Windsor and First Church parsonage:
Lantern slide, First Church pulpit from center aisle, c1900
Black & white on paper, First Church in Windsor, front view,
undated
Sepia tone, of Parish House, 153 Broad Street and Union
Street, c1902
Print of construction of Parish House at 153 Broad Street,
c1902
Sepia tone, First Church parsonage in Windsor,
143 Palisado Ave., home of Rev. Nelson (2 copies)
Albumen print on cardboard, Parsonage of First
Church, 143 Palisado Avenue
Black & white of First Church parsonage;
Connecticut Historical Commission survey description
Postcard, First Church, Windsor,
c1930 (3 copies)
Black & white on cardboard, First Church in Windsor, c1890
Black & white on heavy board, front of First Church, c1890
Postcard, First Church with message and postmark, April 1942
Black & white on paper, First Church with trees
on north side; photo by William S. Leek, Windsor, CT, c1890
Black & white, First Church in winter, c1940
Black & white, First Church with circle of flags
in foreground; north side tree removed, c1950
Black & white, interior of First Church from center aisle
4. Group photos at Roger Ludlow School:
Sepia tone, group photos of school children, one
sitting and one standing, c.1890; Rev. Nelson’s son Fredric
is one of the children in the two photos. (incorrectly
labeled as Bell School)
Sepia tone, group of teachers at Worcester High
School, Worcester, MA, 1890-1892; photo has inset of school
in left upper corner
Sepia tone, Class of 1911 Windsor High School,
two of Rev. Nelson’s sons in photo
5. Miscellaneous photographs: Roscoe Nelson’s
college reunion, Sunday School class, Anna Maria Benton
Black & white, group photo of Rev. Nelson with
Bates College Class of 1887 photo by Dora Clark Tash, of
Lewiston, ME, c.1940
Albumen on cardboard, group photo of adults and
children, house in background, with Rev. Nelson’s family,
perhaps a Sunday School event, 1907
Sepia tone on cardboard, Miss Anna Maria Benton
of Windsor in her 100th year; “the eldest own
daughter of a Revolutionary Soldier in the State of
Connecticut”
Postcard, photocopies of a quilt and a mill pond
in Windsor [originals in WHS Post Card Collection]
Photocopy of photo, looking north from the
causeway toward the covered bridge on Palisado Avenue,
c.1890
Series III. First Church in Windsor
Box 6
First Church in Windsor materials
1. 1880 250th Anniversary of First Church
in Windsor with a poem written by Rev. I. N. Tarbox for the
celebration; a small notepad with notes by R. A. Beardsley
2. 1894 Centennial of the Meeting-house, First Church
in Windsor
3. 1905 275th Anniversary of First Church
in Windsor
4. 1930 Tercentenary of First Church in Windsor
5. 1930 Tercentenary Pageant program
6. Assorted First Church in Windsor papers, booklets,
etc.
7. First Church in Windsor Sunday bulletins from June
1927-Dec 1933; 1949 and 1958 scattered dates
8. First Church in Windsor membership list of 1911
Series IV. Windsor and other Connecticut materials
Box 7
Hartford, CT churches and Windsor, CT miscellaneous items
1.
Connecticut D.A.R. The Ellsworth Homestead, Past and
Present. [S. l.]: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co.,1907
[also on library shelf at 974.62 DAR]
Oliver Ellsworth Homestead, articles about its 1903 opening
to the public, including a program from the opening
celebration
2. Town of Windsor Annual Report, 1929
Windsor Historical Society Annual Report,
1933
The Dial, June 1896, vol. 1 no. 1; a
Windsor, CT periodical
3. Tercentenary of Windsor program, 1933 (2 copies)
Hayden, Jabez H. Centennial Historical
Address. Hartford, Conn: Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co.,
1876 [a speech given in Windsor in 1876]
Hayden, Jabez H. Historical Sketches.
Windsor Locks, Conn.: The Windsor Locks Journal, 1900.
[also on library shelves at 974.62 Hayden]
4. Memorial service for Rev. Clark Smith Beardslee,
professor of Biblical Studies at Hartford Theological
Seminary, May 1914, at which Rev. Nelson delivered an
address
5. Bushnell, Horace. An Historical Estimate of the
State. Hartford: Boswell and Faxon, 1851
Parker, Edwin Pond. The Hartford Central
Association and the Bushnell Controversy. Hartford, Conn:
Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., 1896
Walker, Williston. The First Ecclesiastical Society in
Hartford 1670-1903. Hartford : Case, Lockwood & Brainard,
1903. [address at the time of transfer of property to First
Church of Hartford] [2 copies, one on library shelves at
974.63 Hartford First Walker]
Walker, George Leon. Things of Present
Significance: a Sermon preached at the sixty-second
anniversary of the American Home Missionary Society at
Saratoga Springs, N.Y., June 5, 1888.
New York: American Home Missionary
Society, 1888.
First Church of Christ. Yearbook of the First
Church of Christ in Hartford: Reports of the Church for the
year 1909. [Hartford, Conn.: The Church, 1910 [on
library shelves at 974.63 Hartford First 1910]
Potter, Rockwell H. Hartford’s First Church.
Hartford, Conn.: Case, Lockwood & Brainard
Co., 1932. [Potter was the 16th minister of the
church to present, includes a chronology from 1879-1931;
brief bios of the ministers from Rev. Hooker to Rev. Potter]
[on library shelves at 974.63 Hartford First Potter]
6. 1948-49 roster of the Connecticut Valley
Theological Club
7. Holsworth, Doris Campbell. The Leaves of the
Tree: a pageant celebration of the Tercentenary of the
settlement of Wethersfield, Conn. in June 1934. [S.l.:
s.n.], 1930 [also on library shelf at 974.63 Wethersfield
Hols pt. 1]
8. Hartford Courant and Hartford Daily
Times newspaper clippings about the Hurricane of 1938;
photos of the 1936 flood from the Hartford Courant
Box 8
Academic institutional materials (1988.37)
1.
The Loomis Institute,
[pamphlet], 1986, a timeline of their history and merge with
Chaffee School, a statement of donations to the Institute
Fowles, Lloyd. W. The Harvest of Our Lives:
The History of the First Half- Century of
the Loomis Institute. Hartford, Conn: Bond Press, Loomis
Bulletin, Vol. 32 No. 3, March 1964 [also on library shelves
at 373 Fowles]
2.
Harvard Alumni Bulletin, Jan 1915; Oct 1916 (3 copies); Nov 1916 (2 copies); Dec
1916. Published by the Harvard Alumni Assoc., Boston, Mass.
3. “Winners of Academic Distinctions in Harvard
College” [booklet] (4 copies) in which Roscoe Winthrop
Nelson’s name is listed in the Class of 1916
Certificate of scholarship Roscoe Winthrop Nelson
1915-1916
4. The Harvard Crimson [newspaper] Dec
11, 1914; a section from the Boston Herald (date
unknown) concerning a football game.
5. Yale vs Harvard football score card Nov. 20, 1915
with photos, history of rivalry games
Harvard Sophomore Blue Book Class of 1916, March
1914 dinner and play
The Harvard Illustrated Magazine: A
Monthly Journal of Harvard Men and Affairs. Dec
1913 & June 1914 issues
Alumnos Conlegi Harvardiani Ornatissumos, 1916
commencement program in Latin
The Harvard Advocate: Cambridge, Mass.,
Oct. 1915 and June 1915 issues, a magazine published by the
students
6. Tickets to the 1952 Harvard commencement (2
copies)
Harvard University commencement June 1952 Order of
Exercises (3 copies)
Harvard Alumni Association’s Order of Exercises,
June 1952 (3 copies)
Harvard Alumni Bulletin
– May 1952, published by the Alumni Association, Cambridge
7. Yale University commencement programs, 1952 for
the graduation of his grandson Roscoe Winthrop Nelson, Jr.
Series VI. Books and Pamphlets
Box 9
Books and pamphlets (1996.92)
1. Alexander, Charles M. Alexander’s Gospel Songs.
New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1908
Wells, Amos R. Daily Digest of Sunday School
Lessons for 1929. Boston, Mass: W. A. Wilde Co., 1928
2.
Nehemiah.
[S. l.:
s.n., s.d] [may be only a portion of the original text]
[holographic notation on back page: Abraham Pierson his
Book, bought at Middletown, March 20th 1777]
Douglas, Stephen A. Measures of Adjustment.
Washington, D.C.: Gideon & Co., 1851. [speech given in
Chicago in 1850]
The Outlook, Aug. 1916, a weekly magazine
about political affairs.
Gordon, Elizabeth Putnam. Women Torch-Bearers.
Evanston, IL: National WCTU Publishing House,
1924. (inscribed to Harriett Nelson by the author) [on
library shelves at 178.1 Gordon]
Geikie, Cunningham. The Life and Words of
Christ. New York: Lovel, Coryell & Co., [n.d.]
Whiston, William. The Genuine Works of Flavius
Josephus.Volumes I & II. Philadelphia, Pa: J. Grigg,
1829.
Religious text, missing title page. [about
1850’s]
Box 10
Books (1996.92)
The Hebrew Bible.
New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1889.
The Bible.
[The Geneva or “Breeches Bible”] London, England: s.n., 1599
[some of the first pages are missing]
1. Background information on the “Breeches” Bible;
genealogical information about the Tuttle family who
apparently owned this Bible before it was acquired by Rev.
Nelson, copied from the divider pages in the Bible
Box 11
Books (1998.6 and 1932.7)
The Holy Bible. Old and New Testaments translated
out of original tongues. New York: American Bible Society, 1855
Tracy, Joseph. The Great Awakening: A History
of the Revival of Religion. Boston, Mass: Charles Tappen,
1845
Westcott, Brooke F. and Hort, Fenton J. A.
The New Testament in the Original Greek. Cambridge and
London: Macmillan and Co., 1889
Sill, Edward Rowland. Poems. Boston,
Mass.: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., [s.d.] [also on library
shelves at 811 Sill]
Sill, Edward Rowland. Hermione and other Poems.
Boston, Mass: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., [s.d.] [also on
library shelves at 811 Sill]
G. Fox & Co. Highways & Byways of
Connecticut. Hartford, Conn: G. Fox & Co, 1947
[also on library shelves at 974.6 Fox]
Belknap, Jeremy. Memoirs of the Lives, Characters and
Writings of those two Eminently Pious and Useful Ministers
of Jesus Christ, Dr. Isaac Watts and Dr. Philip Doddridge.
Boston: Peter Edes for David West, 1793. (1932.7.3) [on
library shelves at RB 920 Belknap]
Porter, Samuel. A Sermon Preached at the
Ordination of the Reverend Mr. Joseph Perry to the pastoral
care of a church in Windsor. Boston: John Draper,
1755. (1937.7.2) [on library shelves at RB 252 Porter]
Seward, William. Due Consideration of, and preparation
for our latter end, or death, recommended and urged: in two
sermons, preached at North Killingworth June 2d 1771.
New Haven, [Conn.]: Thomas and Samuel Green, 1772
(1937.7.1) [on library shelves at RB 252 Seward]
Rowland, Henry A. A discourse delivered
November 27th, 1800: a day observed as an
anniversary thanksgiving. Hartford, Conn.: Hudson and
Goodwin, 1801. [1988.37.2]
Related Materials
Subject files:
Churches –
First Church in Windsor
Churches --
First Church in Windsor – Tercentenary
Houses –
Palisado Avenue, 143
Family files:
Nelson, Frederic
Nelson, Roscoe
Harriet Cooke Nelson Collection (2006.40)
Signature quilt given to Rev. Roscoe Nelson (1991.65)
Subject Terms
Beardslee, Clark S. (Clark Smith), 1850-1914
Connecticut River Valley Theological Club
First
Church in Windsor (Windsor, Conn.)
First
Church of Christ (Hartford, Conn.)
Hayden Hall (Windsor, Conn.)
Nelson, Frederic C., 1893-1981
Nelson, Harriet Cooke, 1860-1948
Nelson, R. Winthrop, 1895-1966
Nelson, R. Winthrop, Jr.
Nelson, Roscoe, 1861-1961
Oliver Ellsworth Homestead (Windsor, Conn.)
Pierson, Abraham
Potter, Rockwell Harmon, 1874-1967
Rowland, Alvey
Rowland, Henry A. (Henry Augustus), 1764-1835
Sill, Edward Rowland, 1841-1887
Walker, George Leon
Windsor
(Conn.) – Church history
Windsor
High School (Windsor, Conn.)
Custodial history
Materials for the Roscoe Nelson Collection were first donated
to the Windsor Historical Society in 1988. At that time
Carol Ann Stephenson processed the collection and prepared a
finding aid. Subsequent donations by the family have been
added to the collection. In 2007 and 2008, Sandra McGraw and
Barbara Goodwin reorganized the collection, integrated the
additional complimentary materials, and prepared the revised
finding aid. Some of the books were placed on the Windsor
Historical Society library shelves and added to the library
card catalog. |
