University of Virginia Library

THOMAS NELSON, JR.,

Was the eldest son of William Nelson, an English gentlemen who settled
at York, province of Virginia, in the early part of the eighteenth century,
and engaged for a time in a mercantile business. Acquiring a fortune, he
invested it in large landed estates, and gradually withdrew from commercial
pursuits. In the interval between the administrations of Lord Botetourt
and Lord Dunmore, William Nelson filled the office of governor of Virginia.
After retiring from this office he presided over the supreme court
of the province, and was regarded as the ablest judge of his time. He died
a few years before the Revolution, leaving five sons.

Thomas Nelson, jr., "the worthy son of such an honored sire," was born
at York, December 26, 1738. In the summer of 1753 he was sent to England
to receive a collegiate education, and after attending private school
was entered at Trinity College. Here he distinguished himself by honorable
conduct and good scholarship until his return to America, in the winter
of 1761.

In August, 1762, he was joined in wedlock with Lucy, daughter of
Philip Grymes, of Middlesex county, Virginia. They established themselves
at York in such a home as their abundant means justified, and lived
in a style of great elegance and hospitality.

Thomas Nelson's public record begins in 1774, when we find him a member
for York of that House of Burgesses which the wrath of Lord Dunmore
dissolved, on account of their resolutions censuring the Boston port bill.
Mr. Nelson was one of the eighty-nine delegates who assembled themselves
the next day at a friendly tavern, and formed the celebrated association
which resolved at all hazards to defend their rights and maintain their liberties.

Mr. Nelson was elected from his county a member of the first Virginia
Convention, which met at Williamsburg, August 1, 1774. In March,

1775, he was again a representative to the Virginia convention, and was
prominent in the debate of that session on the advisibility of a military
force, Mr. Nelson asserting that such a force was necessary to the interests
of the colonists and so putting his vote upon record.

The third Virginia convention assembled at Richmond, Virginia, July
17, 1776, and again Thomas Nelson, jr., was the representative of York.
The work of raising colonial troops was now being actively pursued, and
Mr. Nelson was made colonel of the second regiment raised, the command
of the first regiment having been given Patrick Henry.

August 11, 1775, Virginia appointed among her delegates to the Continental
Congress in Philadelphia Colonel Nelson, and he, believing the post
of danger and of duty was there, resigned his military command, repaired
to Philadelphia, and took his seat in Congress September 13, 1775. Here
he was one of the first to advocate an absolute separation from Great Britain.
Writing to a friend February 13, 1776, Colonel Nelson said: "Independence,
confederation, and foreign alliances are as formidable to some
of the Congress (I fear a majority) as an apparition to a weak, enervated
woman. Would you think we have still some among us who expect honorable
proposals from the administration! By heavens, I am an infidel in politics,
for I do not believe, were you to bid a thousand pounds per scruple
for honour at the court of Britain, that you would get as many as would
amount to an ounce. If terms should be proposed, they will savour so much
of despotism that America cannot accept them. * * * What think
you of the right reverend fathers in God, the bishops? One of them refused
to ordain a young gentleman who went from this country, because he
was a rebellious American; so that, unless we submit to parliamentary oppression,
we shall not have the gospel of Christ preached among us."

Through the opening of the session of 1776, Colonel Nelson maintained
this advanced position on the question of independence, and in that spirit
signed his name to the Declaration. During the remainder of that term,
and the beginning of the term of 1777, he served on many important
committees, and took part in all measures that advanced the general welfare
of the new States.

A severe indisposition seized him while in his seat in Congress, May 2,
1777, and a recurring trouble of the head warned him for a time to cease
his labors, and he returned home, leaving his term to be filled by another.

In August, 1777, the British fleet appeared off the coast of Virginia
again, and again Colonel Nelson was called to the field. He was appointed
by the governor brigadier-general and commander of the forces of the
commonwealth of Virginia, and at once entered upon the discharge of
all the important duties of that command, while refusing to take from the
impoverished nation any remuneration therefor.

In the October following, General Nelson, as a member of the State legislature,
had another opportunity to show his sense of the honorable in

money matters. An act was introduced and passed by the assembly for
the sequestration of British property. Such an act could, and would, of
course, be construed so that all debts owed those who were known to be
loyal to England would be considered outlawed. General Nelson vehemently
opposed the passage of the bill, and in closing a speech supporting
his position, said: "I hope the bill will be rejected; but whatever its fate,
by God, I will pay my debts like an honest man." The breach of order
into which his feelings had betrayed him was overlooked, but the bill
became a law.

General Nelson continued in active service with the army until his
health was restored, when, on the 18th of February, 1779, he took his
seat in the State Assembly. Again the same illness attacked him, and,
yielding to the expostulations of his physician, and the entreaties of his
friends, he returned to his home for rest. But in the following month he
again took the field.

During the gloomy days of financial depression and disastrous defeats
that followed, no man's influence in Virginia was more widely felt or more
generously given to the American cause than that of General Nelson.

In the spring of 1781, he was elected governor of the Commonwealth,
but after performing the arduous duties of that office until the November
following, constant and increasing illness forced him to resign.

Retiring now permanently from public and political life, Mr. Nelson
passed his time alternately between his two estates, one called Offly, situated
on the left bank of South Anna river, in Hanover county, and
the other in York county. Surrounded by friends and relatives, he now
passed several years in comparative quiet, though with always failing
health.

Death ended his sufferings Sunday, January 4, 1789.