Francis Augustus Nelson


Francis Augustus Nelson was an American architect from Montclair, New Jersey.

Early life and education

Francis A. Nelson was born on February 2, 1878, at Honolulu, Hawaii, the son of Dr. Henry Clay Nelson, a US Navy surgeon. In 1893, the year his father died, Nelson was boarding at St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire. On June 5, 1900, he married Helen Ackerman at the Memorial Presbyterian Church, Park Slope, Brooklyn, and on June 10, he graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture. In 1903, Nelson won a McKim Fellowship of $900, administered by Columbia University, for travel abroad.

Career

Beginning about 1905, Nelson taught architectural design at Columbia University, remaining on the faculty until at least 1917. During the same period, he practiced architecture in partnership with Hubert Van Wagenen, a Columbia graduate of the class of 1899. The partnership ended with Wagenen's death in 1915. In 1920, Nelson's office was located at 15 West 38th Street, New York City, but by 1915 he was living in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, where about 1916 he built a house for himself and his family at 303 Highland Avenue. Nelson lived there until his death in March 1950.

Architectural works of Nelson & Van Wagenen

Architectural works of Francis A. Nelson