After graduating with a degree in instrumental music at Geneseo Normal at Geneseo, NY, Nellie studied voice in Newy York City for 4 years. She returned to Geneseo and for 3 years was an instructor at the Weslyan Seminary. In 1909 she spent a year traveling in Europe and studied voice in Paris. Returning home, she taught at the Rochestro Conversatory of Music, was a soloist, performing locally.
Later she became a director of music in a large downtown church in Troy, NY. After visiting Japan to attend a worldwide church convention, she became the head of the coice department of Rusculum College in Greenville, Tennessee. She remained there for 10 years, then returned to Livonis, NY to help care for her ailing mother. After her parents passed away, she returned to Geneseo.
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