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THOMAS NELSON, JR.

THOMAS NELSON, JR.

WILLIAM NELSON, father of the gentleman who is the subject of this memoir, was descended from a respectable English family settled at York, in the province of Virginia. He was a merchant of highly reputable character, and by his prudence, good management and industry, acquired a large fortune. This he invested from time to time, after the favourite usage of Virginia, in the purchase of large landed estates, and as he advanced in years, gradually withdrew himself from commercial pursuits. His honourable standing in private life, soon opened the way to public favours. He was appointed a member of the executive council, and at length became president of that body. From this circumstance, the chief executive and judicial duties of the colony for a time devolved upon him, for in the interval that elapsed between the administrations of lord Bottetourt and lord Dunmore, he was called on to fill the office of governor. In this station he was obliged to preside over the general or supreme court of law and equity for the province, by which tribunal the civil and criminal jurisprudence was regulated. On the bench he was regarded as the ablest judge of his time, and his opinions VOL. VII.—1 |

on most occasions were received with the highest respect, as well by the members of the bar as the parties in the cause. Indeed in the discharge of all his duties, he gave general satisfaction, and when he died, left behind him a character which entitled him to the highest veneration and respect. His honour was never sullied by the slightest stain, his generosity, benevolence, hospitality and extensive charity were spoken of by all who knew him, and had he lived to share in the struggle for his country's liberty, his patriotism would not have been less glowing than that which distinguished so many of ⚫ his countrymen. He died a few years before the revolution, leaving five sons and a considerable fortune.

THOMAS NELSON, Jr. the subject of this memoir, was the eldest son of William Nelson. He was born at York, on the twenty-sixth of December, 1738. From his father he inherited not only a very large landed estate, which descended to him in common with his brothers; but he received also the entire amount of the partnership debts, which were estimated at forty thousand pounds, colonial currency, or about thirty thousand pounds sterling. In the summer of 1753, Mr. Thomas Nelson, being then in the fourteenth year of his age, was sent to England for his education. After spending some time at an excellent private school kept by a Mr. Newcomb, near Hackney, a village in the neighbourhood of London, he was removed to Cambridge. There he was entered of Trinity College, and had the good fortune to secure, as his private tutor, one of the best men, and most distinguished ornaments of the age, Dr.

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