Hugh Nelson (September 30, 1768March 18, 1836) was an American politician and
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. He was the son of
Thomas Nelson Jr.
Biography
Born in
Yorktown in the
Colony of Virginia, Nelson graduated from the
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...
,
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is ...
, in 1780. He served in the
Senate of Virginia 1786–1791, and in the
Virginia House of Delegates
The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...
1805-1809 and 1828–1829. He was
Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
of the latter house 1807–1809. Nelson also served as judge of the general court.
Nelson was a
presidential elector
The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia app ...
in
1808
Events January–March
* January 1
** The importation of slaves into the United States is banned, as the 1807 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves takes effect; African slaves continue to be imported into Cuba, and until the island ab ...
.
Nelson was elected as a
Democratic-Republican
The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...
to the
Twelfth and to the five succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1811, until his resignation on January 14, 1823, having received an appointment in the diplomatic service. He served as chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary (
Fourteenth,
Fifteenth
In music, a fifteenth or double octave, abbreviated ''15ma'', is the interval between one musical note and another with one-quarter the wavelength or quadruple the frequency. It has also been referred to as the bisdiapason. The fourth harmonic, ...
, and
Seventeenth Congresses). Nelson was appointed by President James Monroe as
United States Minister to Spain
The incumbent ambassador is Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón, she was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on January 7, 2022 and presented her credentials on February 2, 2022.
This is a list of United States ambassadors to Spain from 1779 to the ...
on January 15, 1823, and served until November 23, 1824.
Nelson died at his home, "Belvoir,"
Albemarle County, Virginia, March 18, 1836. He was interred in Belvoir Cemetery,
Cismont, Virginia.
References
Sources
1768 births
1836 deaths
Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates
Nelson family of Virginia
People from Yorktown, Virginia
Ambassadors of the United States to Spain
Virginia state senators
College of William & Mary alumni
19th-century American diplomats
Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia
18th-century American politicians
People from Albemarle County, Virginia
1808 United States presidential electors
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