The following information is supplied by Mary Nelson Pazur
John Nelson
Source:DAR records at GA Dept of Archives & History]
JOHN NELSON, born c. 1750 in Maryland and died before Sept. 13, 1811 in Wilkes Co.GA. His place of residence during the Revolution was Wilkes Co. GA. He served under JOHN TWIGGS, Brig.-General, and took part in the Battle of Kettle Creek in Wilkes Co.GA. He was married to ELINOR______, who died before December 15, 1808. Only known child is WM. NELSON who married ELIZABETH _____; he died before 1806 in Wilkes Co.GA.
This is from the DAR Patriot Index:
NELSON, JOHN Ancestor # A082115 Birth Date: CIRCA 1750 Birth State/Country: MARYLAND Death Date: ANTE 13 Sep 1811 Death County/Parish: WILKES CO Death State/Country: GEORGIA Rank: SOLDIER Service State/Organization: GEORGIA Spouse(s): Elinor
NELSON, JOHN. Certificate as refugee soldier, John Twiggs, B. G., Mar. 16, 1784. Petitioner prays 2871/2 acres Franklin Co. Warrant 1365.
Phillips Mill Baptist Cemetery Inscriptions Wilkes County, GA
PHILLIPS MILL BAPTIST WILKES COUNTY GEORGIA Nelson John NO DATE NO DATE Georgia Militia Rev. War
John Nelson's sister, Catherine "Kitty" Nelson, was married to Archibald Simpson who is listed on the Roster:
WASHINGTON GAZETTE, November 2, 1889."
"There is a curious old monument of the early settlers of Wilkes found in the Southeastern part of the county on what is now the plantation of Mr. And Mrs. Fortson. I saw it, Sept. 27, 1889. It is a flat rock of granite or gneiss, on which is cut in the stone a square; and joined to one of the square, a smaller parallelogram. At the top, there are cut in large bold letters, the words 'John Nelson.' At one side, are the words "Land Granted in 1775," and on the other side of the square is the date "1792," which evidently is the year in which the cutting was made. Among the old records in the ordinary's office at Washington, there are minutes of the Superior Court from 1779 to 1790. In them, the name of John Nelson is two or three times found on the Grand and Petty Juries. But I have a fuller account of him from Rev. F.T. Simpson, School Commissioner of Wilkes County who is his great nephew. John Nelson was a Marylander who came here and settled, and the figure I have described cut on stone was a map or plot of his land. Mr. Simpson took me to see this curious old monument. It was completely hidden in tall weeds and when these were torn away, it was necessary to scrape off the dirt with which the stone was encrusted before anything could be seen. As this was done, the letters came out clear and distinct though they had been exposed to wind and weather for ninety-seven years.
Mr. Simpson's grandmother was Kitty Nelson sister to this John Nelson. Her husband was Archibald Simpson, enlisted as a Revolutionary soldier after John Nelson came to Wilkes County; and the brother went back to Maryland and persuaded his sister for protection and security, to come back to Georgia. She had two little boys, the youngest, William Simpson, was not much more than a baby, and she came to Georgia on horseback, bringing that child before her on the horse. After the Revolution was over Archibald Simpson joined his wife and children. This shows the attraction Wilkes had for settlers. This monument is the oldest one on stone in all the up country of Georgia. The oldest grave stones in the county are those of the family of Gen. Elijah Clark, in the Jordan-Hill burying ground near Clark's Station Church; but none of these date back to 1792. It would be a great misfortune to have this stone destroyed, and I am in hopes that some of the Simpson family will have it moved to our Library grounds if it can be done without breaking the inscribed portion of the rock.
The boy, William Simpson, whom his mother brought on horseback from Maryland grew up to be the first person in Wilkes county to take out a patent. The old yellow document still exists in the hands of Rev. F.T. Simpson. It was a patent for a machine for the transmission of power, and it is dated 1818. There is a drawing of it attached, and the letter ears the autograph of John Quincy Adams, who was then Secretary of State, and afterwards became President of the United States. The autograph was a frank of the letter, making it go through the mail free.
Fort Washington Park SEE:
http://www.kudcom.com/www/mark/mark27.html
Fort Washington Park is the site of a stockade built by the family of Stephen Heard, governor of Georgia - 1781. Cherokee and Creek Indians had ceded their land on June 1, 1773, and the settlers from Virginia arrived in December 1773. During the revolutionary period, this stockade was named Fort Washington in honor of General George Washington. In 1780 the revolutionary government of Georgia granted a charter to lay out a city to be named Washington, the first incorporated city in the country to be named for George Washington, nine years before he became our first president.
The John Nelson Stone is located here, six miles north of the Fortson Place where the granite marker originally was located. Inscribed on the marker are: the year 1775, when John Nelson received a land grant from King George III of England; the year 1792, and the land grant survey.
Located off the Public Square behind the courthouse in Washington, Georgia
City of Washington, 1996
John Nelson was born in Maryland about 1747. He was the grandson of George Neilson (name changed) and William Johnson. Both George Neilson and William Johnson were Jacobites who were captured at the Battle of Preston. They were sent to the Colonies aboard the ship "Goodspeed" and were indentured to Gov. Digges of Maryland to pay for their passage. George Neilson had a son, William Nelson, and William Johnson had a daughter, Hannah. They were the parents of John Nelson.
Mary Nelson Pazur
