usiness men gladly gave of their time because they enjoyed recounting
memories of one whom they loved, and often detained me when I felt I had
imposed myself long enough. I noticed also that Mr. Nelson's photograph
occupied a place of honor in more than one office as well as in many
homes.

There are others far better qualified than I to write this story, and I
accepted the task, though with a keen sense of my inadequacy, first,
because Mrs. Nelson honored me with the request, and second because I
have the strong conviction that it should be done for the sake of those
who knew Mr. Nelson, and also for those of a succeeding generation who
ought to know how one minister more than met the requirements of an
exacting profession. Furthermore, I have written as one who owes an
incalculable debt, and, therefore, cannot be wholly objective. While I
have endeavored not to make this biography a eulogy, it is frankly his
life as I saw it, and depicts one whom I loved, admired, and have tried
to follow.

For innumerable suggestions and for valuable material I am particularly
grateful to Mrs. Frank H. Nelson, to Mr. Nelson's sisters, Miss
Margaret[1] and Miss Dorothea Nelson, and to Mr. Howard N. Bacon, who
have helped me more than perhaps they know. Then there is the pleasant
duty of expressing my thanks to Mr. Charles P. Taft, the Junior Warden
of Christ Church, Cincinnati, for writing the foreword; to the Vestry of
Trinity Church, Melrose, Massachusetts for gladly granting me a leave of
absence in 1943, and to Mrs. E. Howard Favor, my secretary, for the
typing cheerfully undertaken. In the labor of preparing the final draft
for the publishers I shall ever remember with gratitude the careful
thought and skillful phrasing of Miss Mary Putnam of the English
Department of the Melrose High School whose corrections and amendments
were nothing less than creative. Finally, I wish to let stand my
heartfelt thanks to the Right Reverend Henry Knox Sherrill, Bishop of
Massachusetts, without whose encouragement and advice this little book
could not have been written.

WARREN C. HERRICK

_Trinity Church_,
_Melrose, Massachusetts_;
1945.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Deceased, July 6, 1945.

A FOREWORD

How does one life affect another?

I have tried to remember what Frank Nelson directly asked me to do. He
asked me to teach in the Sunday School, and I did it. Gradually I found
myself studying out an intellectual foundation for