John immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts about 1667 and worked as a merchant.[2]
John married Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of William Taylor[1] and Rebecca Stoughton.[2][4] The couple may have married in Massachusetts about 1688.[5] Richardson does not name their children, in either of the Magna Carta Ancestry or Royal Ancestry entries cited for this profile. They had six children:
Temple,[6] born 1700, died 1739; married Mary Wentworth and had issue[1][4]
Pachal,[6] died unmarried in London before 19 September 1760[1][4]
In 1691 John's ship was captured by the French in Nova Scotia. He spent a year as a prisoner in Quebec, where he learned the French were about to attack Massachusetts colonies. He informed Massachusetts and was then sent to France and spent two more years imprisoned there.[2][7]
John returned to Boston in 1698 and was a fur trader. In 1701 his wife inherited lands at Readville, Massachusetts from her uncle, Lieut. Gov. William Stoughton.[2]
John built the first bridge at Readville, Massachusetts sometime prior to 1719.[2]
John Nelson died at Boston, Massachusetts 15 November 1734.[2] Elizabeth died shortly before her husband, on 25 October 1734. A sermon in memory of both John and Elizabeth was delivered 28 November 1734 by Timothy Cutler, D.D.[4]
John and Elizabeth left a joint will dated 9 January 1729/30 and proved 23 December 1734. The will named: sons Temple Nelson (eldest son and executor); Thomas Steel and his wife, their daughter and their heirs; Nathaniel Hubbard and his former wife Elizabeth, their daughter; Henry Loyd, Esq., and their daughter Rebekah; Capt. Robert Temple on behalf of his wife; and Pachal Nelson, youngest son.[4][6]
Research Notes
WikiTree has previously shown John Nelson, Nelson-4929, husband of Katherine Bozman, as a son of the John of this profile. There appears to be no good evidence for this, and he has been detached.
Sources
↑ 1.01.11.21.31.41.51.61.7 "The Family of Temple III" in The Herald and Genealogist. Vol. 4. London: Nichols and Nichols, 1863-1874, p. 12. Google Books.
↑ 2.02.12.22.32.42.52.6 Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Vol. V. Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013, p. 140, TEMPLE 19.i.
↑ Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd ed., Vol. III. Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011, p. 231, NELSON 18.i. Google Books.
↑ Clarence Almon Torrey. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co.: 1985, p. 531. Google Books.
↑ 6.06.16.26.36.4Suffolk County, MA: Probate File Papers. NEHGS, 2017-2019. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized images provided by FamilySearch.org) AmericanAncestors.org: Case 6663: Will
↑ "The Islands of Boston Harbor" in Some Events of Boston and Its Neighbors, Chapter 4. Boston, MA: State Street Trust Company, 1917. weblink.
Bolton, Charles Knowles. The Founders: Portraits of Persons Born Abroad who Came to the Colonies in North America Before the Year 1701, Vol. 3. Boston athenaeum, 1919, pp. 797-799. Google Books.
Temple, Thomas, 1614-1674. Correspondence concerning Nova Scotia. Guide. Houghton Library, Harvard College Library. There is much correspondence between Temple and his nephew, John Nelson. weblink.
Acknowledgements
Magna Carta Project
This profile was re-reviewed and updated for the Magna Carta Project on 21 July 2022 by Thiessen-117.