Roger NELSON, Congress, MD (1759-1815)

NELSON, Roger, (father of John Nelson), a Representative from Maryland; born on “Point of Rocks” plantation, near Frederick, Md., in 1759; completed preparatory studies; attended the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va.; served in the Revolutionary Army; wounded at the Battle of Camden and attained the rank of brigadier general; studied law; was admitted to the bar about 1785 and practiced in Taneytown and Frederick; held several local offices; member of the State house of delegates in 1795, 1801, and 1802; served in the State senate from November 1803 to November 1804; elected as a Republican to the Eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Daniel Hiester; reelected to the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Congresses and served from November 6, 1804, until his resignation May 14, 1810; one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1804 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Samuel Chase, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; elected associate justice of the fifth (later sixth) judicial circuit of Maryland in 1810; died in Frederick, Md., June 7, 1815; interment in Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present