Lucy Grymes Nelson
Wife of Thomas Nelson, Jr., Signer of the Declaration of Independence
1743 – 1830 A.D.

Lucy Grymes, daughter of Phillip Grymes, Esq., of Middlesex County, Va., and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir John Randolph of Williamsburg, was a beautiful girl of refined manners and retiring nature when she married, Aug. 29, 1762, to Thomas Nelson, Jr., of York. It was a union notable for its fitness. The young woman was slightly the junior of her husband. She was the daughter of a wealthy planter, prominent in the business and political life of the Province and noted for his public spirit and hospitality, and through her mother she was related to many notable families of Virginia.

Young Nelson was a descendant of Thomas Nelson, who had come to Virginia about the beginning of the century, founded the town of York, according to the Bishop Meade’s Recollections, established a mercantile business and grown wealthy. His family had married into other families of York County and established strong connections. The young man had been educated abroad at Trinity College, returning a year before his marriage. He settled in York and is said to have “lived in much style and hospitality.”

Soon after his marriage he was elected to the House of Burgesses, and from that time until his untimely death at the age of fifty years he was almost continuously in the public service. He was first a colonel of militia, then brigadier-general of the State troops, member of Congress, and finally Governor. He was an ardent and active patriot, sacrificing most of his fortune in aid of the cause. Virginia achieved a glorious record for her sons in that struggle and not the least of them was Governor Thomas Nelson. And always, we are told, he was loyally supported by his wife, who had her own burdens to bear by reason of the prominent part he played.

Eleven children were born to Lucy and Thomas Nelson, Jr.

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Reference: The Pioneer Mothers of America: A Record of the More Notable Women of the Early Days of the Country, and Particularly of the Colonial and Revolutionary Periods by Harry Clinton Green and Mary Wolcott Green, A.B. Third Volume, Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons.