Justus Henry Nelson
Encyclopedia
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
and was a self-supporting Methodist missionary in Belém
Belém
Belém is a Brazilian city, the capital and largest city of state of Pará, in the country's north region. It is the entrance gate to the Amazon with a busy port, airport and bus/coach station...
, Pará
Pará
Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
for 45 years.
Early years
Justus was born December 22, 1850 in Menomonee Falls, WisconsinMenomonee Falls, Wisconsin
Menomonee Falls is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States, and is part of the Greater Milwaukee area. The population was 35,626 at the 2010 census, making it the most populous village in Wisconsin. It is the fourth largest community in Waukesha County...
, near modern-day Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
. His parents, James Hervey Nelson and Sarah Orelup Nelson were Wisconsin pioneers, later establishing an early farm in South Wayne, Wisconsin
South Wayne, Wisconsin
South Wayne is a village in Lafayette County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 484 at the 2000 census.-Geography:South Wayne is located at ....
near the Illinois border. He was the second of nine children, the first six of which were boys, followed by three girls.
Education
At 18, he attended Evansville Seminary for six months. He finally was able to attend Lawrence UniversityLawrence University
Lawrence University is a selective, private liberal arts college with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Lawrence University is known for its rigorous academic environment. Founded in 1847, the first classes were held on November 12, 1849...
for five years when he was 21, graduating with a B.A. It was there that he decided to be a preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
.
He "studied Theology for four years at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
by borrowing $120 from Cousin Nelson Ladue and earned the rest preaching." He received a S.T.B.
Bachelor of Sacred Theology
The Bachelor of Sacred Theology is a graduate-level academic degree in theology.The Bachelor of Sacred Theology is offered by a number of Pontifical Universities. It is sometimes offered as a graduate degree, for students who have already completed a B.A. or other first degree...
degree from the Boston University School of Theology
Boston University School of Theology
Boston University School of Theology is the oldest theological seminary of American Methodism and the founding school of Boston University, the largest private research university in New England. It is one of thirteen theological schools maintained by the United Methodist Church...
.
He also studied "for two years at the Boston University School of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine is one of the graduate schools of Boston University. Founded in 1848, the medical school holds the unique distinction as the first institution in the world to formally educate female physicians. Originally known as the New England Female Medical College, it was...
to prepare himself to meet some of the emergencies he would inevitably be called on to alleviate."
Marriage
While Justus was studying in Boston, he met Miss Fannie Bishop Capen, who had been born in Stoughton, MassachusettsStoughton, Massachusetts
Stoughton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 26,962 at the 2010 census. The town is located approximately from Boston, from Providence, and from Cape Cod.-History:...
in 1852. Her father's family had roots in Holland and France, and her mother's family had early New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
roots. His family had been in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
for five generations before his parents moved to Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. She was working as a matron in an orphans home. They married on April 13, 1880 in Stoughton, Massachusetts
Stoughton, Massachusetts
Stoughton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 26,962 at the 2010 census. The town is located approximately from Boston, from Providence, and from Cape Cod.-History:...
.
Becoming missionaries
Justus had learned that Bishop William TaylorWilliam Taylor (bishop)
William Taylor was an American Missionary Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1884. Taylor University, a Christian college in Indiana, carries his name.-Ancestry and birth:...
was establishing self-supporting missions in Africa and South America in the late 1870s. This seemed "not only a challenge, but a definite call". Not long after Justus and Fannie married, they left for Belém
Belém
Belém is a Brazilian city, the capital and largest city of state of Pará, in the country's north region. It is the entrance gate to the Amazon with a busy port, airport and bus/coach station...
, Pará
Pará
Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, which is on the southern edge of the mouth of the Amazon River.
Trip to Brazil and tragedy
Justus and Fannie arrived in Pará on June 19, 1880 along with Bishop TaylorWilliam Taylor (bishop)
William Taylor was an American Missionary Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1884. Taylor University, a Christian college in Indiana, carries his name.-Ancestry and birth:...
. They established a school for boys. Additional missionaries were needed to help with their teaching. William Taylor sent Justus' brothers John & Willet, Willet's bride - Hattie Batchelder (Nelson), and Miss Clare Blunt. Shortly thereafter, their school building burned down and two of the group, John Nelson and Hattie Batchelder (Nelson) died of Yellow Fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
. Fannie became ill with Yellow Fever but survived. This double tragedy caused the school to be closed.
Self-supporting missionaries
They became self-supporting missionaries. Justus remained in Brazil for forty-five years, only returning three times. Fannie spent a large amount of time in Brazil, but returned to the Boston area when it was time for their children's education.First Protestant Church in Amazonia
On July 1, 1883, he established the first Protestant church in the Amazon Basin - the Igreja Metodista Episcopal no Pará (Methodist Episcopal Church of Pará). It was located on the Rua dos Martires (current Rua 28 de Setembro, 28th of September Street), near the corner of the Av. 15 of August (the current Av. President Vargas).Publication of O Apologista Christão Brazileiro
He published and personally printed a newsletterNewsletter
A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Additionally, newsletters delivered electronically via email have gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in...
for many years entitled O Apoligista Christão Brazileiro (The Brazilian Christian Advocate). It was launched on January 4, 1890. The motto of the paper (as well as his personal motto) was "Saibamos e pratiquemos a verdade custe o que custar." "Let us know the truth and practice it, no matter the cost."
This publication included Sunday School
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
lessons, religious articles, and other items of interest. It called attention to fighting idolatry
Idolatry
Idolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...
, masonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, and native spiritualism
Folk religion
Folk religion consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of an organized religion, but outside of official doctrine and practices...
. The periodical also spread the ideals of representative democracy
Representative democracy
Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...
and republicanism
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
in Brazil, defending the separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
, election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
s, and advances in education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
.
Arrest
In an early issue, he printed items that were inflammatory to the local Catholic officials. These officials had enough control over the local government to have him arrested. He was tried and sentenced to four weeks, but served four months. While he was imprisoned, his wife Fannie took him his meals out of fear that he would be poisoned.Medical service
His "medical training proved to be of value in his mission work, mostly in obstetricsObstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
, minor surgery and treatment of skin diseases such as boils and ulcers. No record remains of the number of childbirths at which father officiated. He was called upon for this part of his mission work at any hour of day or night. ... Along with his medical work he also pulled a great many teeth. One year, by actual count he pulled over 5000 teeth."
Song translation
Justus translated a number of religious songs into PortuguesePortuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
. Nine of these translations are in the modern Portuguese Methodist hymnal Hinário Evangélico. Included in these are Ao contemplar a rude cruz (When I Survey the Wonderous Cross), Fonte és Tu de toda bênção (You Are the Source of All Blessing), Prece ao Trino Deus, Saudai o nome de Jesus (All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name), Presença Divina, Contemplação, Reino Universal, Ebenézer, Rei Excelso, and Coroai, which was recorded in 1998 by Marina de Oliveira on her CD Momentos - vol.2..
Family
They had five children in Belém, one of which died of malariaMalaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
. Three of their children, William "Will", Luther, and Sarah Louise "Louise" graduated from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
. Their youngest daughter Elizabeth "Bess" graduated from Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
. Luther graduated from Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
and practiced medicine in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. Louise received a second degree from Oregon State University
Oregon State University
Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
, taught at Modesto Junior College
Modesto Junior College
The Modesto Junior College is a community college located in Central Valley's Modesto, California.-Accreditation:Modesto Junior College is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. In January 2008, the Western Association Colleges and Schools notified the college that it had...
, and married entomologist Charles E. Woodworth
Charles E. Woodworth
Major Charles E. Woodworth, Ph.D., , served as a major in the United States Army during World War II and as an entomologist for the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service.-Birth:...
. Justus presided over their 1926 Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
wedding.
His devotion to service and retirement
His son wrote: "His relatives and friends would write and ask him from time to time why he didn't take some time off and come home for a vacation. his answer would be 'I'm having a perpetual picnic here. Why take a vacation?'. His ambition was to finish out a half century of service on the mission field, but times were hard and it became more and more difficult to earn a living besides supporting a mission, so he was forced to retire in 1925 at age 75 even though he was vigorous physically and active mentally."Later years
He retired to Portland, OregonPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, living near his son Luther. While there he continued printing for two local churches as well as a monthly periodical for the Anti Liquor league
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
, all gratis. He died in Portland of viral pneumonia at age 86 on February 6, 1937.
Mention in Rascal
In 1917, which would have been the year of his father James Hervey Nelson's 100th birthday, Justus and two of his brothers wrote extended biographies about their parents and their pioneer farm life in Wisconsin. These biographies may have served as a literary inspiration to his nephew Sterling NorthSterling North
Thomas Sterling North was an American author of books for children and adults, including 1963's bestselling Rascal. North, who professionally went by "Sterling North", was born on the second floor of a farmhouse on the shores of Lake Koshkonong, a few miles from Edgerton, Wisconsin, in 1906, and...
.
Justus is mentioned in the award-winning children's book Rascal
Rascal (book)
Rascal: A Memoir of a Better Era, often referred to as Rascal, is a 1963 children's book by Sterling North about his childhood in Wisconsin.-Publication:Rascal was published in 1963...
that was written by Sterling North in 1963 about the author's memories of 1918.
"His [Rascal's] virtual invisibility was due to the fact that he was lying on a large Jaguar-skin rug which Uncle Justus had sent us from Para, Brazil. The mounted head had realistic glass eys which Rascal often fondled and sometimes tried to dislodge. The little raccoon blended perfectly in the handsomely marked pelt of the once-ferocious jungle cat."
"When Rascal began to rise from that skin, like the disembodied spirit of the Amazonian jaguar, it startled Theo nearly out of her wits."
Also mentioned in the book was Justus' niece, poet and editor Jessica Nelson North
Jessica Nelson North
Jessica Nelson North was an American author, poet and editor.- Early life and family :Jessica Nelson North was born in Madison, Wisconsin, the daughter of David Willard North and Sarah Elizabeth "Elizabeth" North. She grew up on the shore of Lake Koshkonong near to what later became St...
.