Nelson Tift (July 23, 1810 – November 21, 1891) was an American jurist, businessman, sailor, and politician who is best known for founding the city of Albany, Georgia.

[1] On July 5, 1840, he was elected to the Baker County, Georgia Inferior Court and was re-elected to that post in January 1841.

[6] During the American Civil War, Tift was a captain[7] in the Confederate States Navy supply department.

He built gunboats for the Confederate navy and supplied the Rebel army with beef and hardtack produced by his factories at Albany and at nearby Palmyra in Lee County.

[3] After the war ended, he was elected to the 40th United States Congress as a U.S. Representative with the Democratic Party and served from July 25, 1868, until March 3, 1869.

He was extremely popular with the people of Albany, and built a large home in the center of the city that still stands today.

His pro-slavery attitudes before the war and his support for segregation afterward made him compatible with Georgia's white elite.