Samuel Nelson

Infobox Judge
name = Samuel Nelson

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office = Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
termstart = February 27 1845
termend = November 28 1872
nominator = John Tyler
appointer =
predecessor = Smith Thompson
successor = Ward Hunt
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termstart2 =
termend2 =
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birthdate = birth date|1792|11|10|mf=y
birthplace = Hebron, New York, U.S.
deathdate = death date and age|1873|12|13|1792|11|10|mf=y
deathplace = Cooperstown, New York, U.S.
spouse = Pamela Woods
Catharine Russell

Samuel Nelson (November 10, 1792–December 13, 1873) was an American attorney and an Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Nelson was born in Hebron, New York, in 1792. He attended Middlebury College in Vermont and was licensed to practice law in 1817. Nelson married Pamela Woods in 1819. In 1825, after Pamela's death, he married Catharine Ann Russell. He had two children from his first marriage and six from his second. His fourth child with Catharine, Renssalaer Nelson, was the first United States District Court Judge for the District of Minnesota.

Nelson served as a state circuit judge from 1823 until 1831, when he became associate justice of the Supreme Court of New York. In 1837, he was elevated to Chief Justice.

In 1845, he was appointed to the United States Supreme Court by President John Tyler, succeeding Justice Smith Thompson. Nelson's confirmation in the last month of Tyler's presidency was a surprise. The unpopular Tyler had failed repeatedly to fill the vacancy left by Thompson, as the Whig-controlled Senate rejected his nominations of John Spencer, Ruben Walworth, Edward King (twice), and John Read. The Whigs found Nelson acceptable because, although he was a Democrat, he had a reputation as a careful and uncontroversial jurist.

Nelson served as a Justice for 27 years, until his retirement in 1872. His tenure was generally viewed as unremarkable.

In 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Nelson to serve on the joint high commission to arbitrate the "Alabama" claims. During this time he took a leave of absence from the bench. Soon thereafter, Nelson became ill. He resigned from the commission in 1872, shortly before his death.

Samuel Nelson died in Cooperstown, New York, in 1873.

end U.S. Supreme Court composition