Thomas Nelson

Text reading 'The Nelson f.' in a decorative script font.
Black and white portrait illustration of a man with wavy hair, wearing period clothing, looking to the side.

BORN - December 26, 1738, at the Nelson House in Yorktown, VA.  Parents (English ancestry) - William Nelson (b1711-d1772) and Elizabeth Burwell Nelson (b1718-d1798).  Six Children – Thomas Nelson, Jr. (b1738-d789), Nathaniel Nelson (b1745-___), Hugh Nelson (b1750-d1800), Robert Nelson (b1752-d1818), William Nelson (b1754-d1813), Elizabeth Nelson Thompson (___).  Thomas was given the name Junior to distinguish him from his uncle, who was also named Thomas Nelson.     

DIED - January 4, 1789(1789-01-04) (age 50), at his son’s home, Oofley Ho Plantation, in Hanover County, VA from Asthma.  Oofley is a town in Scotland and Ho is Gaelic for the English word, Home.  Religion – Anglican / Episcopalian.  Buried - Churchyard of Grace Episcopal Church in Yorktown, VA.

APPEARANCE

FAMILY – Married - Lucy Grymes (b1732-d1830) in 1762.  Eleven Children - William Nelson (b1763-d1803), Thomas Nelson Jr. (b1764-d1804), Philip Nelson (b1766-d1851), Francis Nelson (b1767-d1833), Hugh Nelson (b1768-d1836), Elizabeth Nelson Page (b1770-d1853), Mary Nelson Carter (b1774-d1803), Lucy Nelson Page (b1777-d1863), Robert Nelson (b1778-d1819), Susanna Nelson Page (b1780-d1850), Judith Nelson Nelson (b1782-d1869).   

OCCUPATION – PLANTER, MERCHANT, LEGISLATOR, SOLDIER, VA GOVERNOR.  Attended Eton and graduated from Trinity College at Cambridge in England in 1761.  Helped organized and lead the Yorktown Tea Party on November 7, 1774.  Member of the Continental Congress representing Virginia from 1775 to 1777.  Governor of Virginia from June to October, 1781.  Commanded the Virginia Militia during the siege of Yorktown.

AT SIGNING – Age 37 at signing. 

AFTER SIGNING – Continued to serve in Congress in Philadelphia until 1777.  Spent heavily on war from his personal fortune.  Suffered a stroke in 1777 and returned home.  Brigadier General of the Virginia Militia at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781.  He died penniless.   

HISTORIC SITES                                                                                                                                           

Yorktown Home – Nelson House, Yorktown, VA (1740).  Located on Main Street, Yorktown, VA 23690, Phone 757-890-3525, Website www.nps.gov/york.                                                                                              

Gravesite – Grace Episcopal Church, Yorktown, VA (1697).  Located at 111 Church Street, Yorktown, VA 23690, Phone 757- 898-3261, Website www.gracechurchyorktown.org.

Monument – George Washington Equestrian Monument, Richmond, VA (1858).  Located at Capitol Square, Richmond, VA.  The honors the contribution of Virginian Patriots.  It  consists of a large statue of George Washington on horseback in the center surrounded by six smaller statues inscribed with themes reflecting each Patriot's contribution -  Andrew Lewis - Colonial Times, Patrick Henry – Revolution, George Mason - Bill of Rights, Thomas Jefferson -  Independence,  John Marshall – Justice and  Thomas Nelson, Jr. - Finance

Battlefield – Yorktown Battlefield Visitors Center, Yorktown, VA (1781).  Located at 1000 Colonial Parkway, Yorktown, VA 23690, on the south side of the town of Yorktown, Phone 757-898-2410, Website www.nps.gov/York.  The Siege of Yorktown, fought between September 28 and October 19, 1781, was a decisive American and French victory and essentially ended the Revolutionary War (officially ended later by the Treaty of Paris in 1783).   

A three-story historic brick building with white window trims, a centered white door, and two brick chimneys, located at the corner of Main Street. The building is surrounded by a low brick wall and trimmed bushes, with a street lamp and a street sign visible.

Nelson House, Yorktown, VA (1730). 

Located on Main Street, Yorktown, VA 23690, Phone 757-890-3525, Website www.nps.gov/york.  

The historic sign at the house reads - "Scotch Tom" Nelson, founder of the Nelson family and fortune in Yorktown, built this mansion in 1730.  It is possible the bricks were brought to Virginia from the Severn River Valley in England aboard Nelson’s ships.  When his father died in 1772, the house passed to Yorktown's, most famous son, Thomas Nelson, Jr.  It is said that during the siege of Yorktown, Nelson directed artillery fire at his own home because he thought General Cornwallis might be using it as his headquarters.  Cornwallis actually used the nearby house of Thomas’s uncle (also named Thomas Nelson) which was bombarded during the siege and destroyed.  His own house received little damage.  Nelson’s wife, Lucy, continued to live in the Nelson House for more than 30 years after her husband’s death.  The house remained in the Nelson family until 1908.