Thomas Nelson Jr.

Thomas Nelson Jr.
4th Governor of Virginia
In office
June 12, 1781 – November 22, 1781
Preceded byWilliam Fleming (acting)
Succeeded byBenjamin Harrison V
Virginia House of Burgesses representing York County
In office
1761–1775
Serving with Dudley Digges
Preceded byRobert Carter Nicholas
Succeeded byposition abolished
Virginia Ratification Conventions representing York County
In office
1775–1777
Serving with Dudley Digges
Virginia Representative to the Continental Congress
In office
1775–1777
Serving with Carter Braxton, Thomas Jefferson, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, George Wythe
Preceded byPatrick Henry
Succeeded byJohn Banister
Virginia Representative to the Continental Congress
In office
1779–1780
Serving with William Fitzhugh, Thomas Adams, Cyrus Griffin, John Harvie, Arthur Lee, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Richard Henry Lee, James Mercer, Edmund Jennings Randolph, Meriwether Smith
Preceded byJohn Banister
Succeeded byJames Henry
Virginia House of Delegates representing York County
In office
May 5, 1777 – June 1781
Serving with Joseph Prentis, William Reynolds
Preceded byWilliam Digges
Succeeded byunclear
Virginia House of Delegates representing York County
In office
May 1782 – May 2, 1784
Serving with Joseph Prentis
Preceded byunclear
Succeeded byNathaniel Nelson
Virginia House of Delegates representing York County
In office
October 16, 1786 – June 22, 1788
Serving with Joseph Prentis
Preceded byNathaniel Nelson
Succeeded byWilliam Nelson
Personal details
BornDecember 26, 1738
Yorktown, Colony of Virginia, British America
DiedJanuary 4, 1789(1789-01-04) (aged 50)
Hanover County, Virginia, United States
Resting placeGrace Episcopal Churchyard, Yorktown
SpouseLucy Grymes
RelationsThomas "Scotch Tom" Nelson (grandfather)
Robert Carter I (great-grandfather)
George Reade (great-great-grandfather)
Nicolas Martiau (third great-grandfather)
George Washington (third cousin)
William Henry Harrison (third cousin)
Benjamin Harrison (third cousin twice removed)
ChildrenHugh Nelson
Parent(s)William Nelson
Elizabeth Burwell
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
ProfessionPlanter, soldier, statesman
Signature

Thomas Nelson Jr. (December 26, 1738 – January 4, 1789) was a Founding Father of the United States, general in the Revolutionary War, member of the Continental Congress, and a Virginia planter. In addition to serving many terms in the Virginia General Assembly, he twice represented Virginia in the Congress, where he signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Fellow Virginia legislators elected him to serve as the commonwealth's governor in 1781, the same year he fought as a brigadier general in the siege of Yorktown, the final battle of the war.