Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/531

Rh he was appointed by President Grant to serve on the joint high commission to arbitrate the " Ala- bama " claims on the part of the United States. This duty required a temporary cessation of his at- tendance on the bench, and exposure during the meetings of the commission caused an illness that compelled his resignation in October, 1872. Judge Nelson was of a grave and dignified appearance, slow in forming his judgments and reluctant to express them if they were unfavorable. He re- ceived the degree of LL. D. from Columbia in 1841. — His son, Rensselaer Russell, jurist, b. in Coop- erstown, N. Y., 12 May, 1826, was graduated at Yale in 1846, studied law, and in 1849 was admit- ted to the New York city bar. He removed to St. Paul, Minn., in 1850, became associate justice of the supreme court of the territory in 1857, and in 1858 U. S. district judge of the state of Minnesota, which office he still (1888) holds. In 1875 an opinion that he delivered on the civil rights bill attracted attention from the liberality of its views.

NELSON, Samuel Kelsey, clergyman, b. near Jonesborough, Washington eo., Tenn., 9 Oct., 1787 ; d. in Tallahassee, Pla., 7 May, 1827. He was graduated at Washington college in 1803, after- ward went to Kentucky, taught for a short time, and then studied law, which he abandoned for theology, and was licensed in the Presbyterian church in 1807. In 1809 he became pastor" of the Danville, Ky., church. He was one of the princi- pal founders of Centre college, Danville, and of the Kentucky asylum for the deaf and dumb at that place. -^ David, clergvman, b. near Jones- borough, Tenn., 24 Sept., 1793; d. in Oakland, 111., 17 Oct., 1844. He was educated at Washington college, Va., and studied medicine at Danville, Ky., and Philadelphia, where he was graduated. He went to Canada with a Kentucky regiment as sur- geon in the war of 1812, subsequently accompanied the army of Gen. Andrew Jackson to Alabama and Florida, and after the establishment of peace set- tled in practice in Jonesborough. He had early in life made a profession of religion, but had relapsed into infidelity. Becoming convinced anew of the truth of Christianity, he left a lucrative profes- sional career to enter the Presbyterian ministry, and was licensed in April, 1825. He preached for nearly three years in Tennessee, and at the same time was connected with the "Calvinistic Maga- zine " at Rogersville. In 1828 he succeeded his brother Samuel as pastor of the Presbyterian church in Danville, Ky., and in 1830 he removed to Missouri and established Marion college, twelve miles from Palmyra, of which he became presi- dent. In 1836, in consequence of the slavery ques- tion, Dr. Nelson, who was an ardent advocate of emancipation, removed to the neighborhood of Quincy, 111., and established an institute for the education of young men. In addition to articles for the religious press, he published " Cause and Cure of Infidelity " (New York, 1836), which has been republished in London and elsewhere.

NELSON, Thomas, merchant, b. in Penrith, Scotland, 20 Feb., 1677; d. in Yorktown, Va., 7 Oct., 1745. He emigrated to this country about 1690, settled in Virginia, and founded the "town of York, where he built the first custom-house in the colonies, one of the earliest brick buildings in the state. His dwelling was well known as the " Nel- son House." The bricks and ornamentations were brought from England. The house shown in the engraving was built near the site of the original house, by William Nelson, in 1740. This building, which is still (1888) in the family, is in excellent preservation, as is his tomb, an elaborately carved VOL. IV. — 32 marble mausoleum, covered with heraldic designs. He accumulated a large fortune in merchandise, and left sev- eral sons, of whom Thom- as was at the head of the moderate par- ty, and re- ceived forty- five votes in the conven- tion for Vir- ginia's first governor, but was defeat- ed by Patrick Heniy. He was chosen to the privy council, and for thirty years was its secretary. When the Revolution began he retired from public life, being too old to engage in the struggle. His house at Yorktown was Cornwal- lis's headquarters, but was subsequently destroyed by the Americans during the bombardment of the town. — Another son, William, governor of Vir- ginia, b. in Yorktown, Va., in 1711; d. there, 19 Nov., 1772, added to his inherited property by the accumulation of many years of successful mercan- tile ventures, purchased large landed estates, and became a great proprietor. He was a member of the executive council, subsequently president of that body, and in the interval that elapsed between the administration of Lord Botetourt and Lord Dun- more filled the office of governor. He also pre- sided over the general or supreme court of law and equity for the province, and was one of the ablest judges of his time. His manner of living is shown by his remark in a letter to a friend, that he had just bought Lord Baltimore's six white coach- horses, and meant to give his own six black ones a run in Hanover meadows. — William's son, Thomas, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. in Yorktown, Va., 26 Dec, 1738 ; d. in Hanover county, Va., 4 Jan., 1789, was sent to Eton at fourteen years of age, and subsequently to Cambridge, where he was gradu- ated. He returned to the United States in 1761, and on his home- ward voyage was elect- ed to the house of bur- gesses. About a year afterward he married Lucy, daughter of Col. Philip Grymes, of Mid- dlesex county, and in- herited a large landed estate and £30,000, and dispensed a wide hospi- tality. He was a dele- gate in 1774 to the house of burgesses, over which Peyton Randolph presided, and when that body was dissolved by Lord Dunmore, because it had passed I'esolutions against the Boston port bill, was one of the eighty- nine members that declared against the unwarrant- ed invasion of their rights, and recommended the appointment of deputies to meet in a general con- gress. He was returned to the next house of bur- gesses, was a member of the first general conven- tion, which met in Williamsburg, 1 Aug., 1774, and of that of March, 1775, when he earnestly ad- vocated the organization of a military force in the