Madison Nelson (1803 – January 1, 1870)"The Death of Judge Nelson—Action of the Court of Appeals", ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

'' (January 5, 1870), p. 2.''Portrait and Biographical Record of the Sixth Congressional District, Maryland'' (1898), p
305308
was a long-serving judge in Maryland, who was a justice of the

Maryland Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Maryland is the state supreme court, highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. Its name was changed on December 14, 2022, from the Maryland Court of Appeals, after a voter-approved change to the state constitution. The cou ...

from 1867 to 1870.

Biography and career

Born in

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

, Nelson was the son of

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

hero Roger Nelson. His brother John Nelson served as

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

. He attended

Georgetown College Georgetown College is a private Christian college in Georgetown, Kentucky. Chartered in 1829, Georgetown was the first Baptist college west of the Appalachian Mountains. The college offers 38 undergraduate degrees and a Master of Arts in educat ...

, and thereafter entered the practice of law in Frederick. Nelson was a life-long friend of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

and "was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

of the old school". Nelson was elected judge of the third judicial circuit of Maryland (Frederick and Carroll Counties) in 1851 and judge of the fourth judicial circuit (Frederick County) in 1864, and chief judge of the sixth circuit in 1867, by virtue of which he was one of the judges of the court of appeals of Maryland. However, Nelson entered into a period of poor health which afflicted him for the entire length of his service on the court of appeals, at some times preventing him from taking the bench.

Personal life and death

Nelson was raised as an Episcopalian, but converted to Catholicism. He married Josephine Marcilly, with whom he had five sons and three daughters. One son died at the age of fifteen, but the remaining children survived to adulthood and entered various professions. Nelson died in

, after a lengthy illness.

References

1803 births 1870 deaths People from Frederick, Maryland Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences alumni Judges of the Maryland Court of Appeals {{Maryland-state-judge-stub