Introduction

Biography

Nolan was the son of James Best and Nar­cis­sa M. Con­ner, and hus­band of An­na D. Ful­ton (mar­ried Au­gust 1898, Lou­is­ville, Ken­tuc­ky).

He was liv­ing in Brad­ford, Ohio, in 1880, and at­tend­ed Ot­ter­bein Uni­ver­si­ty, Wes­ter­ville, Ohio (BA 1892).

He and An­na were in Zanes­ville, Ohio, in 1900; Ly­ons, Il­li­nois, in 1910; and Es­sex Coun­ty, New Jer­sey, in 1920.

Best ed­it­ed The Con­ti­nent, a Pres­by­ter­ian news­pa­per in Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois, 1910–24.

In 1926, he was sec­re­ta­ry of the Bal­ti­more Fe­de­ra­tion of Church­es.

Works

• History of Pe­ter and Ma­ry Best and Their Fa­mi­ly, 1897
• The Col­lege Man in Doubt, 1902
• Beyond the Na­tur­al Or­der (New York: Flem­ing H. Re­vell, 1908)
• Applied Re­li­gion for Ev­ery Man (New York & Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Flem­ing H. Re­vell, 1916)
• Inspiration: A Stu­dy of Di­vine In­flu­ence and Au­tho­ri­ty in the Ho­ly Scrip­tures
• Two Y Men: Da­vid A. Sin­clair, Sec­re­ta­ry, Ed­win L. Shu­ey, Lay­man (New York: As­so­cia­tion Press, 1925)
• Yes, It’s the Law and It’s a Good Law, 1926