A Lark Through Clarke

Ties to a Founding Father – Part I

Posted on Friday, January 01, 2010 by Kathy Fisher in History, Long Branch
Tags: founding father, History, Long Branch, Thomas Nelson Jr.

Long Branch boasts a long association with prominent historical figures:

Since the early 18th century, the rolling hills of the LONG BRANCH Historic House & Farm estate have been owned by a series of famous men:  Lord Culpeper, Lord Fairfax, and Robert “King” Carter.  A young George Washington helped to survey the property.[1]

The mansion was constructed “following the classical principles suggested by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, an architect of the U.S. Capitol.”[2]

He was responsible for rebuilding our nation’s capitol after it was damaged by the British in the War of 1812.  Interior architectural elements of Long Branch consist of “elaborate woodwork designed by architect Minard Lafever.”[3]

However, the primary interest in Long Branch from the standpoint of America history is the mansion’s connection to a Signer of the Declaration of Independence—Thomas Nelson, Jr.  His third son, Philip[4], was the first Nelson to occupy the mansion after migrating to Clarke County.  He and his wife, Sarah Nelson Burwell, whose brother, Robert Carter Burwell, built Long Branch[5], raised a large family and operated a girl’s school there.  Philip Nelson was a vestryman, justice of the peace, and owned up to 33 slaves.[6]

So who was Thomas Nelson, Jr.?

A founding father of the United States, he was one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.  Elected governor of Virginia in 1781 (succeeding Thomas Jefferson) during the Revolutionary War, he participated in the siege of Yorktown, Virginia in October 1781 as commander of the Virginia militia.[7] Responsible for the dual roles of military commander and governor, he organized and provisioned troops mostly from his personal funds.

The final battle was marked by the surrender of Lord Charles Cornwallis.

On May 15, 1776, Virginia voted to instruct its delegates at the Continental Congress to raise the issue of freedom.  Thomas Nelson, Jr.—at the forefront of this movement along with Patrick Henry—was one of the most outspoken advocates for American independence from Britain.  Historian T. R. Fehrenbach writes that Nelson found himself

. . . hotly supporting Patrick Henry’s resolution to put the colony in a posture of defense in March, 1775.  Nelson agreed with Henry’s words about liberty or death, which were then too radical for a majority of the older gentry.  He argued for a well-regulated militia, composed of gentlemen and yeomen.[8]

Representing York County in the Virginia Convention of 1776, Nelson presented resolutions to the Continental Congress to declare the colonies free and independent from Britain.  He proclaimed:

Having weighed the argument on both sides, I am clearly of the opinion that we must, as we value the liberty of America or even her existence, without a moment’s delay declare our independence.[9]

When Royal Governor Lord Dunmore refused to appoint Nelson to the Council of State in 1774, one critic who opposed the move for independence described the hot-headed Nelson’s response: “Young Tom Nelson . . . is as violent as any . . . Patriot of them all.”[10]

Nelson took any threats against Yorktown and to any family members very seriously.  In 1775, when British sailors left their warship anchored off the coast and threatened to attack not only Yorktown but also Nelson’s uncle Thomas Nelson (the Secretary to the Executive Council) if the Royal Governor Lord Dunmore were harmed, Nelson flew into a tirade during a session of the House of Burgesses:

I am a merchant of Yorktown, but I am a Virginian first. Let my trade perish.  I call God to witness that if any British troops are landed in the County of York, of which I am Lieutenant, I will wait no orders, but will summon the militia and drive the invaders into the sea![11]

These developments posed significant personal risks for Nelson and his family, living in the Nelson House and flanked by the British navy on the York River.  Friends feared for their safety.  They also knew that Nelson had enormous sums of money in notes in Great Britain.  They warned him to cease; he was greatly putting himself and his wealth in peril:  “The British flag still waved over the House of Burgesses this spring, and Nelson’s talk was as inflammatory as Henry’s.”[12]

Nelson grew more and more impatient with those who still held out hope that a reasonable settlement between the colonies and England could be reached.  He accused some of being too timid. In 1776 he wrote to his close friend John Page:

They seize property wherever they find it . . . & we hesitate to retaliate because we have a few friends in England who have ships.  Away with such squeamishness say I . . . .[13]

Emory G. Evans, noted Nelson scholar and history professor, points out that George Washington “expressed the commonly held opinion that Nelson suited ‘the times as well as any other person.’”[14] He inspired badly needed hope and confidence from his countrymen during America’s pivotal transition in the mid 1700s.  Historian John Sanderson summarizes:

Combining the advantages of education with those of fortune; military skill and gallantry with legislative talents and patriotic virtues—affable, modest, and generous—Nelson was universally esteemed and beloved.[15]

Nelson’s financial support of the war was legendary.  He frequently paid for military provisions out of his own pocket, when the state lacked sufficient funds plus the credibility upon which to expect loans from the public.  He could have continued to enjoy the life of domestic bliss on his plantation a few miles from Yorktown, but ultimately his priority was to help secure the freedom of his country.  In the end, “no Virginia patriot made as dramatic a sacrifice of his ease and wealth as did Thomas Nelson, Jr.”[16] Sanderson agrees:

The troubles of his country soon called him from these gentler and perhaps more congenial pleasures, to oppose at first the petty tyranny of a provincial governor [Lord Dunmore], and to array himself at last among the boldest champions of the nation in council and in war.[17]

In the Summer 2004 edition of the Page-Nelson Society Newsletter, Society President Mary H. Claycomb writes that recent scholars refer to Thomas Nelson, Jr. as

. . . the Signer, placing him among the founding fathers, and, thereby, . . . raising him above the military rank and civic function and confirming him as one of the more courageous visionaries of his time.[18]

Emory Evans agrees:

Nelson was one of the most important of Virginia’s revolutionary leaders; he has to be considered in the same category as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, George Mason, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton.”[19]

In my next blog I will discuss the extent of Nelson’s sacrifice, both financial and personal, and try to explain his legacy, which has been an ongoing source of confusion.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Page, Richard Channing Moore.  Genealogy of the Page Family in Virginia: Also a Condensed Account of the Nelson, Walker, Pendleton, and Randolph Families.  Harrisonburg, Virginia: C. J. Carrier Company, 1983.

[5] Warden, Page Laubach. The Kin Patch: A Path to the Past.  White Stone, Virginia: Brandylane Publishers, 1997

[6] Historic Sites in Clarke County, Virginia: Long Branch (1805).  http://www.bikepptc.org/node/989.

[7] Fisher, Katherine D.  Distorted Legacy of a Virginia Patriot: Thomas Nelson, Jr. (1738-1789).  Master’s Thesis, George Mason University: 2004.

[8] Fehrenbach, T. R.  Greatness to Spare: The Heroic Sacrifices of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence.  Princeton: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1968.

[9] Chandler, J.A.C.  Makers of Virginia History.  New York: Silver, Burdett and Company, 1904.

[10] Evans, Emory G.  Thomas Nelson and the Revolution in Virginia.  Williamsburg: The Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1978.

[11] Fehrenbach, T. R.  Greatness to Spare: The Heroic Sacrifices of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence.  Princeton: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1968.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Evans, Emory G.  Thomas Nelson and the Revolution in Virginia.  Williamsburg: The Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1978.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Sanderson, John.  Robert T. Conrad, ed. Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.  Philadelphia: William Brotherhead, 1865.

[16] Evans, Emory G.  Thomas Nelson and the Revolution in Virginia.  Williamsburg: The Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1978.

[17] Sanderson, John.  Robert T. Conrad, ed.  Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Philadelphia: William Brotherhead, 1865.

[18] Claycomb, Mary H. Page-Nelson Society Newsletter.  Volume X, Number 2, Summer 2004.  Warrenton, Virginia:  The Page-Nelson Society, 2004.

[19] Evans, Emory G.  Thomas Nelson of Yorktown: Revolutionary Virginian. Williamsburg: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1975.