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Heartbeats of Nelson was written with the assistance and enthusiasm of hundreds of people who dug into their photo albums for pictures and searched their homes for treasures of the past. I requested through newspaper ads and in person, “Please lend me your pictures so I can copy them. Share with me your stories and your memories,” and I am grateful that so many did.

 In the first years of compiling this book, the effort was enhanced by the work of Fotofast Photography in Lynchburg. Some of the photos were quite dim from age, and they brought many back to life. Others they enlarged so that they became more meaningful.

Nancy Marion and Laura Rennert of The Design Group in Lynchburg enthusiastically joined our effort with their many talents in the design and layout of the book. For over four years I have carried hundreds of pages of typewritten text to Laura for her to put into book format. It seemed that she treated each page with a smile and as a special challenge. And as I saw the completed pages, I too smiled, like a child opening a present on Christmas morning. Nancy, the owner of The Design Group and a historian in her own right, has an outstanding library of historic photographs dating from the Civil War through much of the 20th century. Nancy fell in love with our project and helped guide us over the past several years. She drastically reduced the professional fees for the layout of the book, which meant a tremendous reduction in cost. Nelson County owes her a very big THANK YOU.

Thanks to Vivian Lazo in the beginning stages, and then to Adrienne Phillips, who spent hundreds of hours correcting the manuscript. Others here in the Saunders Brothers team have cooperated so much in helping me copy and check manuscripts. Thanks also to Leah Settle Gibbs, Caroline Tucker, Lillian Wray and Susan Jackson for their help in editing the final manuscripts and giving me much appreciated advice and encouragement. Thanks to Dorothy Giles, Beth Goodwin, Becky Norris, Callie Nunery,  Mrs. Rudolph (Nancy Garth) Small, Hughes Swain, Cliff Wood, Dick Whitehead, Marjorie Eggleston, Sidney Woodson and the late Bill Whitehead for their insights on various facets of the book.

Thanks to Karla Murray of Variety Mills for the wonderful illustrations that she has provided throughout the book. Thanks to Erin Hughey-Commers for her work in the final year of putting the book together.

Tatum, my wife of over 50 years, has been a strong supporter of this book because of her love for the county and its people. She has been very patient as I have worked long hours in the office, typing and retyping the manuscript, as well as making countless trips to the photo shops and The Design Group, picking up the printed treasures as the book came to life. Tatum once said that she hoped that I would live to see the conclusion of this undertaking, feeling that if something happened to me, she would be obligated to complete the job. I wanted to live to finish this labor of love ten times as much as she wanted me to be able to complete it!

I furthermore want to thank the Nelson County Times, The News of Lynchburg, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Charlottesville Daily Progress, the Backroads magazine, and the Waynesboro News Virginian for allowing me to use their photos and text in these pages. Furthermore, we thank the personnel at the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the Valentine Museum, the Library of Virginia, the Virginia Historical Society, the Alderman Library at the University of Virginia, the Walton’s Mountain Museum, the Amherst County Historical Society, the Nelson County Historical Society, the Department of Historic Resources, the Virginia Military Institute Library and others for sharing their photos. And finally to the many, many people who shared their photographs, stories, and memories of their communities, there is no way that I could have done this without your help.

To the natives of Nelson and to those who have adopted Nelson as home, may this book bring to mind your stories and memories; to those who have been away, welcome to a little taste of yesterday—let us reminisce a bit; and to those who live away from our county, I hope this gives you a little better insight as to why we cherish Nelson so much. To all, Welcome Home!