Roger Nelson (politician)

Roger Nelson (1759 – June 7, 1815) was an American politician who represented the fourth district of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives from 1804 to 1810.

Roger Nelson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maryland's 4th district
In office
1804–1810
Preceded byDaniel Hiester
Succeeded bySamuel Ringgold
Personal details
Born1759
Frederick, Province of Maryland, British America
DiedJune 7, 1815(1815-06-07) (aged 55–56)
Frederick, Maryland, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic-Republican
Spouse(s)
Frances Harriott Burrows
(her death 1836)

Matilda Tennant
(m. 1838; his death 1860)
Alma materCollege of William and Mary

Early life

Nelson was born on "Point of Rocks" plantation, near Frederick, Maryland. He was the son of Arthur Nelson (d. 1792).[1]

He completed preparatory studies, and attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.[1]

Career

He served in the militia during the American Revolutionary War, and was wounded at the Battle of Camden.[2] He later attained the rank of brigadier general.[3]

After the War, Nelson studied law, was admitted to the bar about 1785, and practiced in Taneytown and Frederick. He held several local offices, including serving as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1795, 1801, and 1802. He also served in the Maryland Senate from November 1803 to November 1804.[1]

Nelson was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Daniel Hiester, and was reelected to the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Congresses, serving from November 6, 1804, until his resignation on May 14, 1810. He was one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1804 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Samuel Chase, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was elected associate justice of the fifth (later sixth) judicial circuit of Maryland in 1810.[1]

Personal life

Nelson was married to Mary Brooke Sim (d. 1794). Together, they were the parents of:[4]

  • Catherine Murdoch Nelson (1790–1851)
  • John Nelson (1794–1860), another Maryland congressman who also served as the U.S. Attorney General.[5]

After the death of Mary in 1794, he remarried to Elizabeth "Eliza" Harrison (1771–1855).[6] Together, they were the parents of:

  • Frederick Stembel Nelson (1803–1823)[6]
  • Madison Nelson (1803–1870)
  • Sarah Nelson (1807–1880)

Nelson died in Frederick, and is interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery.[1]

References
  1. "NELSON, Roger - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  2. Lineage Book. Daughters of the American Revolution. 1899. p. 29. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  3. McKinsey, Folger (1910). History of Frederick County, Maryland: From the Earliest Settlements to the Beginning of the War Between the States. L. R. Titsworth & Company. p. 1330. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  4. Hazard's United States Commercial and Statistical Register. W. F. Geddes. 1841. p. 215. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  5. "NELSON, John - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  6. Brumbaugh, Gaius Marcus (1915). Maryland Records, Colonial, Revolutionary, County and Church: From Original Sources. Williams & Wilkins. p. 268. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Daniel Hiester		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maryland's 4th congressional district
1804–1810		 Succeeded by
Samuel Ringgold
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