Nelson Walker (c. 1827 - July 7, 1875) was a prominent community leader in Tennessee and

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. He was born enslaved, worked as a barber, purchased freedom for himself, his wife, and their four children, and became a wealthy lawyer, judge and bank president in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

.Freedom's Lawmakers by

Eric Foner Eric Foner (; born February 7, 1943) is an American historian. He writes extensively on American political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African-American biography, the American Civil War, Reconstru ...

Louisiana State University Press (1996) page 220 He was a member of the masonic fraternity. In 1871 he served as a director of the Tennessee Colored Agricultural and Mechanical Association as well as the Freedman's National Life Insurance Association. Nelson served as Treasurer for the first Negro Masonic Lodge and was influential in gaining support and funding for Mount Ararat Cemetery, Nashville's first black cemetery. Mason died at his home July 1875. He was described in his obituary as a "prominent colored man" and noted as the first black Justice of the Peace in his county, elected to office in 1866.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Nelson 1820s births 1875 deaths People from Tennessee