Further Genealogical Notes (With genealogical chart of the "Bible Champion") -- By: Arnold D. Ehlert

Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 100:400 (Oct 1943)
Article: Further Genealogical Notes (With genealogical chart of the "Bible Champion")
Author: Arnold D. Ehlert


Further Genealogical Notes
(With genealogical chart of the Bible Champion)

Arnold D. Ehlert

The difficulty concerning the ancestry of the Bible Champion remains unsolved.1 What additional information has come to light, however, has cut out several titles that were listed as belonging to the Bible Champion’s ancestry. The titles listed under sections VIII, XIII, and XVI were all erroneously included due to a report that they belonged to the lineage of the Whitened Field. Actually the latter had no connection with the Ram’s Horn lineage, other than identity of editorship. Thomas H. Nelson, founder and editor of the Whitened Field, had merged his own Christian Philosopher with the new Ram’s Horn, which he and Elijah P. Brown had revived around 1908 or 1909. The name of the old Ram’s Horn had been changed to Home Herald, under which title it declined and was finally bought by the Christian Herald. But there is no lineal connection between these titles of Mr. Nelson’s former labors and his Whitened Field. It remains, then, to deal here only with this magazine and its editor, Mr. Nelson.

The Whitened Field (1928?-1930)

Mr. Thomas Hiram Nelson is over 80 years of age, and is still active in evangelistic ministry. However, he is not able to recall with accuracy the details of his long and varied publishing career. He operated a large printing establishment in Indianapolis for a number of years. Here it was that he

founded the Christian Philosopher, a pithy magazine of wit and wisdom, the “Proverbs” of Christian journalism. Some of the inspiration for this feature came from the successful employment of short epigrammatic paragraphs and sentences in the old Ram’s Horn, although Mr. Nelson has a natural turn of mind himself in that direction, for he is truly a Christian philosopher. The revived Ram’s Horn was also published at Indianapolis.

About the time that Wilbur G. (“The World is Flat”) Voliva took over the affairs of John Dowie in Zion, Ill., Mr. Nelson moved to Chicago and commenced a long fight against the corruptions of that despot. He obtained a legal education and his LL.B. degree specifically for the purpose of contending for the rights of the people. Although he never charged for legal services he won 27 lawsuits against Voliva.

Mr. Nelson had early shown a consuming interest in missions. Although he never visited the field himself, at one time he bought a 99-year lease on a whole village in India from the British government, including the 400 inhabitants, for $2800, i...

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