Nellie Maud Hart was born in Lodi, Ohio June 14, 1868. Her parents were only temporarily in Lodi while moving to Geneva, Ohio. Nellie's father was elected Sheriff of Ashtabula County, Ohio about 1867 and the family moved into the quarters provided for the sheriff and family in or attached to the jail. Nellie as a child of three or four had the run of the jail and was adored by many of the prisoners, few of whom were really bad.
After her father's and mother's death she disposed of the house and moved to the Dakota Territory to live with her sister, Stella McKinstry, in Fargo. There she entered high school and graduated in 1888, Cum Laud, She was valedictorian and gave a long dissertation on the story of "Job" as presented in the Bible.
Frank Drew Hall, whom she had known in Geneva, was having difficulties in his printing trade there due to the invention of the linotype and he followed her to Fargo where he became composing room foreman of the Fargo Daily Argus, the forerunner of the Fargo Forum. Nellie and Frank were married June 14, 1890, her birthday. They lived at first in a small rented cottage at 1440 4th Avenue South in Fargo.
Frank continued to work at the Argus for several years while Nellie taught one or two terms at a little red schoolhouse a few miles north of Fargo. They became devoted members of the First Baptist Church. Frank became Sunday School Missionary for North and South Dakota at a salary of $1000 a year. Their home became a center for all sorts from pastors to hobos so the house was usually full.
In 1902 Frank took on the job of head of the North Dakota Children's Home Society and life took on a new meaning for both Frank and Nellie, helping orphaned and troubled children. Both of them worked in the Home, Nellie as "Matron" and Frank as "Superintendent". Frank was highly regarded in children's care circles and was invited to a conference on the subject by Teddy Roosevelt. He and Nellie both attended.
In 1914 Nellie had a bad case on typhoid that nearly caused her death. She lost all her hair, but it grew back.
Nellie made many trips in her work for the Home, and was a very real mother to literally hundreds of scared, starved and abused children. Few women have been privileged to be called "Mother", with real meaning, by so many. Funding of the work of the "Home" was always chancy depending entirely on contributions so that sometimes Frank and Nellie were paid and sometimes not. As a result they occasionally had to rent out their house and live at the "Home". On rare occasions Nellie made trips that gave her a glimpse of life. One to Seattle at the time of the Lewis and Clark Exposition was an example.
In 1909 their son Lawrence died, cutting deep furrows in Nellie's face and heart. Partly to bury some of the sorrow Nellie and Frank filed a claim on a homestead in the North Dakota Bad Lands, Nellie and several members of the family went to live on the claim to "prove" it while Frank spent such time as he could there. They say that the experience was a Godsend though living was harsh. They gave up after one summer and returned to Fargo after receiving title to the 160 acres.
In 1924 Frank suffered a cerebral stroke that paralyzed his right side and condemned Nellie to a life of nursing of the invalid for thirteen years. She did it cheerfully and without complaint, but the heavy lifting and never ending strain were hard on her. They lived for a time with their adopted daughter, Clara, and her physician husband in California, for a time with their son Donald and his wife and last in Nellie's old home in Geneva, Ohio at the invitation of a relative who owned it. They were very difficult years until Frank finally died June 21,1937. He is buried in the Cole family plot in Geneva.
Nellie lived on in the Geneva house for some years, part of the time accompanied by her daughter-in-law, Nina Hall, while her son, Donald, was in Korea as a Colonel in the U.S. Army. After Don and Nina retired they moved to the Orlando, Florida area and Nellie went to live with them there when she was no longer able to care for herself. Her problems increased as her senility progressed, to the point that she had to have professional care so the last few years she had to live in a nursing home where she died October 19, 1959. She also is buried in the Cole family plot in Geneva, Ohio.
