Nelson Camp Johnson, who is the secretary of Foster, Merriam & Company, was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, December 12, 1879, a son of Sherman J. and Emily Johnson, the former deceased. The family came to Meriden in February, 1880, when the son, Nelson, was about three months old. He acquired a public school education and after completing the work of the grades spent three years in the high school. He afterward attended Yale, being matriculated in the Sheffield Scientific School, from which he was graduated in 1901 with the Ph. B. degree. He made his initial step in the business world in connection with Foster, Merriam & Company as foreman and from that point has made steady progress, advancing step by step until he is now secretary of the company with voice in the management of its affairs.

Mr. Johnson is an active member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Meridian Lodge, No. 77, F. & A. M., Keystone Chapter, R. A. M., St. Elmo Commandery, K. T., and to Pyramid Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise has membership in the Home Club and his religious faith is evidenced in his membership in the Congregational church. He belongs to the Country Club and to the Yale Engineering Society and also to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is neglectful of none of the duties of citizenship, but gives his aid and influence on the side of progress, reform and improvement, actuated in all things by high civic ideals.