Background
Thomas Nelson was born in Haverhill, New Hampshire, March 4, 1827, one of twelve children of John and Lois Leverett Nelson.
Thomas Nelson was born in Haverhill, New Hampshire, March 4, 1827, one of twelve children of John and Lois Leverett Nelson.
Nelson attended Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire and Dartmouth College. After two years at Dartmouth, he enrolled at the University of Vermont in Burlington, and graduated in 1845.
After graduation, Nelson became an engineer, involved in railroad construction. Thomas Leverett Nelson died in Worcester, Massachusetts on November 21, 1897. After a serious accident, Nelson began studying the law in Worcester with Judge Francis H. Dewey and was admitted to the bar in 1855.
Nelson also served as representative to the General Court, City Solicitor in Worcester, and in various other civic positions.
Nelson also served as commissioner of Providence and Worcester Railroad. In 1879, President Rutherford Hayes appointed Nelson to the United States. District Court for the District of Massachusetts where Nelson served until his death.
Ghen v. Rich, 8 F. 159 (1881).
He was active in Congregational churches early in his life and then became a member of First Unitarian Church in Worcester and then Central Church.