Thomas M. Nelson

{{Short description|American politician (1782–1853)}} {{For|other people with the same name|Thomas Nelson (disambiguation)}} {{infobox officeholder | name = Thomas M. Nelson | image = File:ThomasMNelson.jpg | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = September 27, 1782 | birth_place = Mecklenburg County, Virginia | death_date = {{death date and age|1853|11|10|1782|9|27}} | death_place = Columbus, Georgia | death_cause = | office1 = Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 18th congressional district | term_start1 = December 4, 1816 | term_end1 = March 3, 1819 | preceded1 = Thomas Gholson, Jr. | succeeded1 = Mark Alexander | resting_place = Lindwood Cemetery, Columbus, Georgia | resting_place_coordinates = | other_names = | education = | alma_mater = | employer = | occupation = | party = Democratic-Republican | boards = | relations = | signature = | website = | rank = 15px Major | branch = United States Army | allegiance = {{flag|United States|1812}} | service_years = 1812–1815 | battles = War of 1812 | footnotes = }}

'''Thomas Maduit Nelson''' (September 27, 1782 – November 10, 1853) was a 19th-century politician from Virginia, United States.<ref>Lyon Gardiner Tyler Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography (1915) vol.2 p. 121, available at hathitrust.org</ref>

==Early and family life== Born in Oak Hill, Mecklenburg County, Virginia, Nelson was born among the First Families of Virginia, to Major John Nelson (d.1827), who established the Oak Hill plantation, and his wife, Ann Carter. His parents had married in the chapel of the College of William and Mary on July 25, 1781. The boy was probably named after his grandfather, Thomas Nelson, a planter and politician who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, particularly as the secretary of the Governor's Council, or his great-grandfather who had emigrated from England and established a successful mercantile company in Yorktown, Virginia.<ref>John Frederick Dorman, Adventures of Purse and Person vol.2 pp. 516-527</ref> Nelson received an education appropriate to his class.

==Career== During the War of 1812, Nelson was commissioned a captain to the 10th Infantry Regiment and was later promoted to major in the 13th and 18th Infantry Regiments. After the war, he was reduced back to a captain and eventually resigned from his commission on May 15, 1815.

Despite his lack of previous legislative experience, upon the death of Thomas Gholson, Nelson was elected a Democratic-Republican to the United States House of Representatives to fill that vacancy in 1816, and won re-election once, thus serving until 1819.<ref>Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) p. xxvi</ref>

==Death and legacy== Nelson moved to Georgia and died near Columbus, Georgia at age 71 and was interred there in Linwood Cemetery.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{CongBio|N000043}} *{{Find a Grave|7985107}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Virginia | district=18 | before=Thomas Gholson, Jr. | after=Mark Alexander | years=1816 – 1819 }} {{s-end}}

{{United States representatives from Virginia 17–23 and at-large}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Thomas M.}} Category:1782 births Category:1853 deaths Category:United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 Category:Democratic-Republican Party United States representatives from Virginia Category:People from Mecklenburg County, Virginia Category:United States Army officers Category:19th-century Virginia politicians Category:19th-century United States representatives