Thomas Nelson Jr. (26 December 1738 – 4 January 1789) was Governor of Virginia from 12 June to 22 November 1781, succeeding William Fleming and preceding Benjamin Harrison V. He signed the US Declaration of Independence in 1776 as one of Virginia's delegates, and he is considered to be a Founding Father.
Biography[]
Thomas Nelson Jr. was born in Yorktown, Virginia in 1738, and he was educated in England before being elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1761. He married Lucy Grymes, and they had eleven children, including congressman Hugh Nelson. He went on to serve in the Continental Congress during the American Revolutionary War, and he signed the US Declaration of Independence in 1776 as a member of Virginia's delegation. He became Governor of Virginia in 1781, and he commanded militia forces at the Siege of Yorktown, offering a reward to any artilleryman who could hit Nelson's own home in the town, as Charles Cornwallis and his headquarters were lodging there. He died in Hanover County, Virginia in 1789.
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