Thomas Nelson appears to have lived most, if not all, of his adult life farming the property that became known as Belmont, located west of Warrenton, the county seat of Fauquier County, Virginia.

Born Dec. 14, 1777, he was the third of nine children of Joseph Nelson and Cathrine O’Banon, also of Fauquier County.

He married Elizabeth Green on Nov. 2, 1802, when he was 24 years old.

His oldest surviving child, George Addison, was born in 1807 or 1808. George was followed by siblings James Robert, Catherine O’Banon, Mary Ann, Elizabeth, Thomas Henry, Martha, and Matilda Trueheart.

In 1837, at the age of 59 or 60, Thomas Nelson became widower. By that time, at least five of his children (Catherine, Elizabeth, George, James, and Mary Ann) had married. His daughter Martha married William Walden Carter soon after.

Thomas Nelson enslaved as many as ten people during his lifetime. His will, signed in 1850, gave the names of three of these individuals: Maria, the mother of a 13-year-old boy, a 3-year-old boy, and a 1-year-old girl; Mary, who was living with and working for his daughter Catherine, and Dick, who was with his daughter Elizabeth.

By the time he was in his 70s, Nelson’s oldest child George had moved to Tennessee with his family. Nelson’s children Thomas and Matilda had died, both leaving surviving children. His daughter Martha, who was married to William Walden Carter and the mother of four young children, lived near him on the same property, and his daughter Catherine, now married to her second husband and the mother of three children, lived in the same area. Son James, married and the father of three children, lived in nearby Rappahannock County, as did his daughter Elizabeth, with her husband and six children. His daughter Mary Ann also still lived in Virginia, but she may have moved to Richmond by this time.

At the end of 1850, when he was 74 years old, Nelson signed his last will and testament. Friend and neighbor Isham Keith, son James Robert, and son-in-law William Walden Carter were named as trustees for specific property he planned to leave his daughters Catherine and Elizabeth and the offspring of his two deceased children. He directed that the remainder of his property be divided among his surviving children as well as the descendants of his deceased children.

Around the same time, Nelson sold what may have been all of his land (210 acres) to son-in-law William Walden Carter for $5089.52.

Thomas Nelson died on Dec. 21, 1856, in nearby Rappahannock County, where at least two of his children lived.