ecting him to the highest office of
his Church. Reverend Sidney E. Sweet, now Dean of Christ Church
Cathedral, St. Louis, nominated Mr. Nelson at the Convention saying, "He
is a man whose intellectual and spiritual gifts rank him with the finest
in the Church throughout the United States. It will make the Diocese of
Southern Ohio proud to present the name of Dr. Nelson to the House of
Bishops as the representative of this Diocese." Another discerning
friend, Alfred Segal of _The Cincinnati Post_, put the case
dramatically when he wrote in his column: "The other day Rev. Frank
Nelson stood on the threshold of ecclesiastical glory. He needed but to
take one step and he would have been on his way to the eminence of
Bishop. But he turned away, though many welcoming hands beckoned him."

In declining the nomination, Mr. Nelson said that his decision came as a
result of consultation with friends whose opinions he valued, and from
his own best judgment which counselled against his acceptance. He felt
that it was desirable to elect a man with no local associations, and his
own long ties with the diocese made him an unsuitable candidate. He had
confided in friends his lack of diocesan consciousness, and confessed a
reluctance to assume at his age another kind of work. Furthermore, the
parish of Christ Church and the city were by now so deeply embedded in
his very soul that even a change, if not a severance, of such ties was
unthinkable. He put forward the name of Dr. Howard Chandler Robbins, who
later refused the election. The selection of Dr. Robbins, important as
it was, nonetheless seemed secondary to the insistent attempts of
leaders to place this humble servant in the office of Bishop. Upon Mr.
Nelson's entry into the luncheon hall after the convention, he was
greeted by a tremendous ovation. He was a strong man among strong men.
The following letter from the late Right Reverend William Lawrence of
Massachusetts did not dissuade him from his firm decision:

November 22, 1929

My dear Frank:

You well know that it is my rule not to "butt in," but as a
Pullman conductor once told me, "there ain't no use in having
rules that you can't break when you have to."

I believe that you respect my judgment; my judgment is that you
are the one man who has the qualifications to be Bishop of
Southern Ohio. I know your loyalty to your parish and your humble
estimate of yourself. But the Diocese and the opportunity