John Nelson (merchant)
| John Nelson | |
|---|---|
Portrait by John Smibert
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| Born | 1654 London, England |
| Died | 1734 Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay |
| Known for | Prominent merchant and political activist in the American colonial era |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Tailer |
| Children |
Rebecca |
| Parent(s) | Robert and Mary Nelson |
Rebecca
Elizabeth
Mehetable
Margaret
Temple
John Nelson (1654–1734) was an English colonial merchant, trader, and statesman, active in New England.
John Nelson was born near London, England in 1654 to Robert and Mary Nelson. He came to Boston in 1680 and married Elizabeth Tailer, who was 12 years his junior. That same year he became a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. He would later become a captain in the colonial militia.
He was a nephew of Sir Thomas Temple, a British proprietor and governor of Nova Scotia, and inherited much of Temple's estate, including his territorial claims to Nova Scotia (which had been restored to France as Acadia in the Treaty of Breda (1667)).
On April 19, 1689, Nelson, a resident of Long Island in Boston Harbor, was one of a number of prominent Bostonians leading a revolt against Governor Sir Edmund Andros. Andros, the hated governor of the Dominion of New England, had angered may colonists by vacating land titles, enforcing the Navigation Acts, and promoting the Church of England.
During 1690, John Nelson bought all of the property from the tenants on Long Island with the exception of four and one-half acres owned by Thomas Stanberg, a shopkeeper from Boston. Stanberg was one of the original tenants on Long Island. Nelson was well connected politically being a close relative of Sir Thomas Temple, and the husband of Elizabeth Tailer, the niece of Lieutenant Governor William Stoughton and sister to Lieutenant Governor William Tailer. On June 4, Nelson mortgaged his Long Island property to William and Benjamin Browne from Salem, Massachusetts for 1,200 pounds. Henry Mare managed the Browne's house and land on Long Island.
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