Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Thomas Nelson, Jr. (December 26, 1738 - January 4, 1789), was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Virginia. He was born in Virginia and educated in England, graduating from Cambridge University. He returned to America in 1761 and was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1774. The Burgesses was dissolved by the royal governor, and Nelson became a member of the Virginia provincial convention in 1775. He helped form the Virginia militia and became its first Commander. He was elected to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Declaration of Independence. He was commanding General of the Lower Virginia Militia, and succeeded Thomas Jefferson as governor of Virginia. He died in Yorktown. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.