Thomas Scotch Tom Nelson | |
|---|---|
 Nelson's house in Yorktown | |
| Born | 1677 Penrith, Cumberland, England |
| Died | 1747 |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman, Politician, Merchant |
| Children | William Nelson |
| Relatives | Thomas Nelson Jr. (grandson) Hugh Nelson (great-grandson) |
Thomas "Scotch Tom" Nelson (1677–1747) was a businessman and politician who immigrated from England to become a merchant at Yorktown in the Colony of Virginia. He was from Penrith, Cumberland.[1] Arriving at the beginning of the 18th century, he was the immigrant ancestor of the Nelsons, one of the First Families of Virginia.
His son Thomas Nelson II was born in November 1716, in Yorktown, York, Virginia, British Colonial America, his father, Thomas Nelson, was 39 and his mother, Margaret Reade, was 35. He married Lucy Burwell Armistead in 1745, in Virginia, British Colonial America. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 1 daughter. He died in 1782, in Yorktown, York, Virginia, United States, at the age of 66, and was buried in Grace Episcopal Churchyard, Yorktown, York, Virginia, United States.
His son William Nelson (1711–1772) inherited the family business and acquired extensive land holdings throughout the colony. He developed plantations, devoted at first to tobacco and later to mixed crops. William became a powerful politician, serving as both president of the Governor's Council and as acting governor.[2]
William Nelson's son, Thomas Nelson Jr. (1739–1789) (grandson of "Scotch Tom"), was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a Brigadier General during the American Revolutionary War, when he was residing at Nelson House, and a governor after statehood. Nelson County, Virginia and Thomas Nelson Community College in the Virginia Peninsula subregion of Hampton Roads are among places named in honor of Thomas Nelson Jr.
Scotch Tom's great-grandson, Hugh Nelson (1768–1836), served in the U.S. Congress.[3] Among his other notable descendants were U.S. diplomat and noted author Thomas Nelson Page (1853–1922) and industrialist William Nelson Page (1854–1932), who co-founded the Virginian Railway with financier Henry Huttleston Rogers. The chemist Dr. Donna J. Nelson is Scotch Tom's sixth great-granddaughter.
- ^ About The Page-Nelson Society Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Nelson House - Yorktown Battlefield Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
- ^ "Bioguide Search|Nelson, Hugh (1768 – 1836)". bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved 2021-05-29.