Roscoe Nelson Collection

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 250^th, 275^th, and 300^th 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 19^th century published addresses and sermons, local history publications, and volumes of poetry by Edward Rowland Sill, a Windsor native son.