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John Neilson (1745-1833)
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Person Record Title
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John Neilson (1745-1833)
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Identifier
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NJS-PER-00001
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Given Name
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John
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Family Name
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Neilson
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Birth Date
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11 March 1745
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Death Date
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3 March 1833
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Sex
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Male
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Biographical Description
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Colonel John Neilson was an early trustee and benefactor of Queen's College (later Rutgers University). His parents were John Neilson (c. 1710s-1745) and Joanna Coeymans. His father died shortly before Neilson was born. Consequently, Neilson was raised by his uncle, the New Brunswick merchant James Neilson (1700-1783), from infancy and worked in his uncle's shipping business trading between Madeira, the Dutch West Indies, and New Jersey.
Neilson became the heir to his uncle's mercantile business and estate, which included several enslaved persons. Neilson bought and sold many enslaved persons throughout his life.
During the American Revolution, John Neilson served as a colonel in command of the New Jersey militia in the northern part of the state. He served in the New Jersey legislature during and after the Revolution. A statue of John Neilson reading the Declaration of Independence was erected in Monument Square in New Brunswick in 2017.
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Relationship to Rutgers
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Trustee (1782-1833)
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Benefactor
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Child of
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John Neilson (d. 1745)
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Spouse of
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Catherine Schuyler Voorhees Neilson (1753-1816)
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Bibliographic Citation
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Boyd, Kendra, Miya Carey, and Christopher Blakley. “Old Money: Rutgers University and the Political Economy of Slavery in New Jersey.” In Scarlet and Black: Slavery and Dispossession in Rutgers History, edited by MARISA J. FUENTES and DEBORAH GRAY WHITE, 43–57. Rutgers University Press, 2016.
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Bayker, Jesse, Christopher Blakley, and Kendra Boyd. “His Name Was Will: Remembering Enslaved Individuals in Rutgers History.” In Scarlet and Black: Slavery and Dispossession in Rutgers History, edited by MARISA J. FUENTES and DEBORAH GRAY WHITE, 58–81. Rutgers University Press, 2016.
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Robert Thompson, Colonel James Neilson: A Business Man of the Early Machine Age in New Jersey, 1784-1862 (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1940).
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Record Contributor
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Jesse Bayker
Rutgers University
Permission slip for Phillis to join the African Association, by John Neilson
Letter from John Neilson to Robert Finley regarding Jef
Letter from Robert Finley to John Neilson regarding Jef
African Association of New Brunswick Minute Book