Early life

Thomas Nelson was born in Haverhill, New Hampshire

Haverhill, New Hampshire

Haverhill is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,697 at the 2010 census. Haverhill includes the villages of Woodsville, Pike, and North Haverhill, the historic town center at Haverhill Corner, and the district of Mountain Lakes...

, March 4, 1827, one of twelve children of John and Lois Leverett Nelson. Nelson attended Kimball Union Academy

Kimball Union Academy

Kimball Union Academy is a private boarding school located in New Hampshire. Founded in 1813, it is the 22nd oldest boarding school in the United States...

 in Meriden, New Hampshire

Meriden, New Hampshire

Meriden is a village in the eastern part of the town of Plainfield in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. Meriden is home to Kimball Union Academy, a private boarding school....

 and Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

. After two years at Dartmouth, he enrolled at the University of Vermont

University of Vermont

The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...

 in Burlington, and graduated in 1845. After graduation, Nelson became an engineer, involved in railroad construction. Thomas Leverett Nelson died in Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

 on November 21, 1897.

Legal career

After a serious accident, Nelson began studying the law in Worcester with Judge Francis H. Dewey and was admitted to the bar in 1855. After admission Nelson practiced law privately with various partners including William W. Rice, Dwight Foster, and George F. Hoar. Nelson also served as representative to the General Court, City Solicitor in Worcester, and in various other civic positions. In 1879, President Rutherford Hayes appointed Nelson to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts where Nelson served until his death.