Background
Roger Nelson was born in 1759. He was the youngest son of Dr. Arthur and Lucy (Waters) Nelson and was born at their homestead near Point of Rocks, Frederick County, Maryland, United States.
lawyer military politician Soldier
Roger Nelson was born in 1759. He was the youngest son of Dr. Arthur and Lucy (Waters) Nelson and was born at their homestead near Point of Rocks, Frederick County, Maryland, United States.
Nelson studied at the College of William and Mary. After his return from the Revolutionary War he studied law and was admitted to the bar about 1785.
Commissioned a lieutenant in the 5th Regiment of the Maryland Line on July 15, 1780, Nelson was sent south immediately to the army commanded by General Gates. At the battle of Camden the following month he fought with courage but fell wounded in the retreat. Surrounded by a band of British, and further wounded, he was left on the field for dead but was later discovered, only to be carried off a prisoner to Charleston. After several months of hardship on British prison-ships he was exchanged, whereupon he was transferred to the regiment of cavalry commanded by Colonel William Washington. At the battle of Guilford Court House on March 15, 1781, he took part in the charge against the British guards led by Colonel Washington. He engaged in the battle of Eutaw Springs on September 1781, and was present at the surrender at Yorktown. In 1793 he engaged in the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion by organizing and leading a troop of cavalry. He closed his military career as brigadier-general of militia.
Meanwhile he had embarked upon his career of civilian service. After a brief residence at Taneytown, Maryland, he moved to Frederick where he soon gained a large practice. After serving in the Maryland House of Delegates, he was elected without opposition to fill a vacancy in the federal House of Representatives caused by the death of Daniel Heister. Reelected for three successive terms, he served from November 1804 until his resignation in May 1810.
His final public service was as associate judge of the sixth judicial circuit of Maryland, which post he filled from 1810 to his death in 1815.
He died at Frederick.
Although Nelson supported Jefferson in an embargo policy which bore heavily upon the rural districts in depressed agricultural prices, he weathered the political storm in the election of 1808 which swept out many fellow Democrats--an evidence of his great personal popularity.
As a political speaker he was eloquent and dramatic and was a force in Congress.
Though not regarded as a learned or profound lawyer, it was said of Nelson that his persuasiveness was irresistible with a Frederick County jury.
He married Mary Brooke Sim in 1787.