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Herman Nelson Biography -- Part I
Herman W. Nelson was born on January 17th, 1876 to Swedish immigrants Gustaf and Augusta Lofquist-Nelson in Orion Illinois USA.
The young Herman Nelson was educated in a three-room wooden school house in Moline Illinois (the town where in a short time the Herman Nelson Corporation would be founded.)
At age 14 he left school and hopped on a boxcar to Chicago to seek his fortune, but after a series of odd jobs he ended up back in Moline working in the heating and construction business as a pipe fitter. He was determined to go into business for himself though, he eventually saved and borrowed enough money to buy his first patent. It was known as “Moline Heat” a vented vacuum-vapour heating system. Within a decade the company had installed thousands of these heating units across the United States putting Moline, Il and Herman Nelson Corporation on the map.
In 1918 the company made a breakthrough when they designed and created the Herman Nelson “Univent”. The Univent can still be found in many schools and public buildings today. Arguably, Herman Nelson created what is now the modern unit-ventilator industry.
Next newsletter...the creation of the self powered heater or “The Herman Nelson”. |