Guide to the David Nelson Papers
Open for research.
David Nelson was born on September 24, 1793 in Jonesborough, Tennessee. He attended Washington College in Tennessee and later went to the Medical College of Philadelphia. During the War of 1812 Nelson served as an army surgeon in Canada, Alabama and Florida. In 1825 he was ordained by the Abington Presbytery in Virginia and returned to Tennessee to preach. Rev. Nelson moved on to preach in Danville, Kentucky in 1828 and established Marion College in Missouri in 1830. He settled down in Quincy, Illinois and founded a missionary school there in 1836. David Nelson died on October 17, 1844 at age 51.
The Bulk of Record Group 411 consists of correspondence between Nelson, his family and fellow members of the clergy from 1815-1856 and undated notebooks. Also included are, affidavits from 1853, personal information about his family history and his death, and miscellaneous items such as newspaper clippings and business cards.
SERIES 1: PERSONAL INFORMATION, 1843-1844, n.d.
SERIES 2: CORRESPONDENCE, 1815-1857, n.d.
SERIES 3: NOTEBOOKS, n.d.
SERIES 4: MISCELLANY, 1822-1853, n.d.
Portions of the collection available on microfilm: MFPOS 73.
Several books written by David Nelson can be found in our library catalog, including his most famous work, Cause and Cure of Infidelity (BT 1210 .N45 1841).
Collection processed and finding aid prepared: Aug. 1998
Jeffrey LaMonica, Archives Technician
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 411 | |
| Some of the correspondence and notebooks are fragile, handle with care. | |||
| SERIES 1: PERSONAL INFORMATION, 1843-1844, n.d. | |||
| 1 | 2 | Personal Information, 1843-1844, n.d. | |
| SERIES 2: CORRESPONDENCE, 1815-1857, n.d. | |||
| 1 | 3 | Letters, 1815-1850 | |
| 1 | 4 | Letters, 1851-1857 | |
| 1 | 5 | Letters, n.d. | |
| SERIES 3: NOTEBOOKS, n.d. | |||
| 1 | 6 | Notebooks, n.d. | |
| 1 | 7 | Notebooks, n.d. | |
| SERIES 4: MISCELLANY, 1822-1853, n.d. | |||
| 1 | 8 | Miscellany, 1822-1853, n.d. |