Nelson was a member of what was known as the”First Families” of Virginia. Here are two different views of his story.
Founding Father Thomas Nelson Jr. was born in 1738 in Yorktown to one of Virginia’s First Families. He grew up in all the trappings of wealth and prepared for taking his eventual place as a top businessman and leader.
In 1761, Nelson entered public service, elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. When the patriots issued a resolution excoriating British Parliament’s “Boston Port Bill,” Nelson sided with the colonists against the Royal Governor, who dissolved the assembly. This event set in motion the cause for independence.
Nelson was elected to the Virginia Convention of 1774 and 1775, and in the latter nudged the members toward action—proposing organizing a militia in the Commonwealth.
Between 1775 and 1777, Nelson served in the Continental Congress, proudly supporting the cause of Independence.
In 1781, Nelson was elected to replace Thomas Jefferson as Governor. To repel the British invasion, the legislature granted him robust powers to effectively defend Virginia. As Brigadier General, he raised volunteer troops. He led militia forces. Alongside Washington and Rochambeau, he besieged the British in his hometown, Yorktown. According to family tradition, Nelson told Washington to aim fire on his home when he heard it was occupied by the British.
Nelson was among the signers of the Declaration to make good on his pledge to give his fortune to the cause of Independence. He died poor in 1789, leaving behind his wife and 11 children.
I wonder how many of his eleven children survived, and how many descendants he has today!
This man pointed his own army’s cannons at his own house and told them to fire. Then he died so deep in debt that they buried him in a secret unmarked grave so creditors couldn’t seize his body. Meet Thomas Nelson Jr.
Nelson was born in 1738 in Yorktown, Virginia, into wealth and comfort. Big planter family, private education, a degree from Cambridge in England. He had the golden life of a Virginia gentleman. He didn’t need to gamble any of it.
But he went all in. He signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and unlike a lot of wealthy signers, he didn’t just lend his name and stay behind a desk. He put on a uniform. He became a brigadier general and personally led Virginia’s militia. And in 1781, his own state elected him governor while the war was raging on Virginia soil.
Then came the moment that made him a legend.
The war climaxed at the siege of Yorktown, his own hometown. British general Cornwallis had taken over the finest house in town as his headquarters, and by the story that comes down to us, that house belonged to the Nelson family. American gunners were reluctant to shell such a beautiful home. Nelson would not allow that hesitation. As the account goes, he told his artillery to aim at it anyway, reportedly even offering a reward to the first gunner to strike it. His own family home. He’d rather see it blown to rubble than let it shelter the enemy. To this day cannonballs are still lodged in the brickwork of the Nelson house in Yorktown.
But the deepest sacrifice wasn’t the house. It was his fortune.
When Virginia had no money to arm and feed its troops, Nelson used his own name and his own credit to raise it. He personally borrowed enormous sums, on his own signature, to keep the militia supplied. He believed in it that much. And the government never paid him back. Not the money he raised, not the money he spent.
So the man who bankrolled Virginia’s war effort was left financially wrecked. He died in 1789 at just 50 years old, buried under a mountain of debt he’d taken on for his country.
And here’s the gut punch. He was buried in an unmarked grave, on purpose, because his family feared that creditors might literally seize his body and hold it as collateral against everything he still owed.
A rich man who fired on his own home, spent his entire fortune to fund a revolution, and was lowered into a hidden grave so debt collectors couldn’t get to his corpse.
Thomas Nelson Jr. He gave everything, right down to where he was allowed to rest.
This was truly a great man. It’s too bad that so many in America are unaware of his story and his sacrifices for the new United States of America. Here’s something that is a true disgrace to our country, from the Biden (fake) administration.
The above information was posted in a comment to the X post linked above. The Biden administration was so very destructive of the true history of America. They supported the barbarians who tore down statues everywhere, and promoted fake education about the greatness of America. We are still repairing much of that damage.
GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!
Calling-all-RushBabes 