John Nelson (merchant)

John Nelson (1654-1734) was an American Patriot, a New England trader and statesman. He was born and died in Boston, Massachusetts.

He was a nephew of Sir Thomas Temple [ [http://oasis.harvard.edu:10080/oasis/deliver/~hou01268 Temple, Thomas, 1614-1674. Correspondence concerning Nova Scotia: Guide.] Houghton Library, Harvard College Library. There is much correspodence between Temple and his nephew, John Nelson.] , a British proprietor and governor of Nova Scotia.

On April 19 1689, Nelson, a resident of Long Island in Boston harbor, led Bostonians in a revolt against Governor Sir Edmund Andros, culminating in the Battle of Fort Hill in Boston. Governor Andros had rescinded the Massachusetts Charter and all previous laws and contracts that had been negotiated or enacted in the Massachusetts Colony.

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 Stoughton, the niece of Governor William Stoughton. 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.

During 1692, John Nelson was captured by the French while on a trading or privateering voyage to Nova Scotia. He was imprisoned in Quebec. It was common for local privateers to receive commissions in Boston but were considered as pirates by the other nations of the world, especially the French and Spanish who were the superpowers at the time.

While in prison, Nelson learned about secret French plans for attacks against the Massachusetts colonies. Nelson discreetly informed the Massachusetts authorities of this information from his prison cell. For this act, Nelson was punished by being transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Bastille prison in France. In 1702, after ten years of imprisonment, his relative, Sir Purbeck Temple, obtained his release. Nelson immediately returned home to Nelson's Island (Long Island) as a local hero. [ [http://www.kellscraft.com/EventsBoston/EventsBoston04.html "The Islands of Boston Harbor"] , in "Some Events of Boston and Its Neighbors", Chapter 4, printed for the State Street Trust Company, Boston, Massachusetts, 1917.

"The island ["Long Island"] is chiefly noted as the residence of John Nelson, who is looked upon as a hero by the American people. He was captured by the French in a voyage to the eastward and imprisoned in Quebec. While there he informed Massachusetts that the French were forming plans against the New England Colonies, and for this he was sent to the Bastille. He was finally released, and on his return to Long Island the Nelson family gave him a great feast of welcome, and part of the table-cloth is believed still to be preserved by his descendants".

]

Nelson was a signer of "The Humble Address of the Publicans of New-England" in 1691. [cf. Johnson, Richard R., "The Humble Address of the Publicans of New-England: A Reassessment (in Memoranda and Documents)", p.245]

He was not allowed any share in the subsequent government, likely on account of his being an Episcopalian, according to Thomas Hutchinson.

Notes

References

*Bosher, J.F., "Huguenot Merchants and the Protestant International in the Seventeenth Century", The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Series, v. LII, n. I, January 1995, pp.77-102. Page 88 and onwards mentions John Nelson. [http://www.jstor.org/view/00435597/di976421/97p0466y/0]
*Johnson, Richard R., "The Humble Address of the Publicans of New-England: A Reassessment (in Memoranda and Documents)", The New England Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 2. (Jun., 1978), pp. 241-249. Cf. p.245 and on for mention of John Nelson. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0028-4866%28197806%2951%3A2%3C241%3ATHAOTP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R]

External links

* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=1006 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]