Introduction

Biography

Nelson was the hus­band of Aman­da Fran­ces Dead­er­ick.

He gra­du­at­ed from Wash­ing­ton Col­lege, Vir­gin­ia, in 1819, and earned his me­di­cal de­gree in Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia, in 1812.

During the War of 1812 he served as a sur­geon in a re­gi­ment from Ken­tuc­ky, but in 1823, he gave up me­di­cine for the min­is­try.

He was or­dained in 1825 at Ro­gers­ville, Ten­nes­see. He pa­stored in Dan­ville, Ken­tuc­ky and Ma­ri­on Coun­ty, Mis­sou­ri, and held se­ver­al posts. He al­so found­ed two man­u­al la­bor col­leg­es, one at Green­fields, Ma­ri­on Coun­ty, Mis­sou­ri; and the oth­er near Quin­cy, Il­li­nois (where he had moved due to op­po­si­tion to his an­ti-slav­e­ry views).

Nelson ev­en­tu­al­ly be­came pre­si­dent of Pres­by­te­ri­an Theo­lo­gic­al Se­mi­na­ry at Quin­cy. He al­so helped found The Cal­vin­is­tic Ma­ga­zine.

Works

• Cause and Cure of In­fi­del­i­ty, 1837