Samuel Nelson (November 10, 1792 – December 13, 1873)[2] was an American attorney and appointed as judge of New York State courts.

He read law as an apprentice at the firm of John Savage and David Woods in Salem, New York.

In 1821, Nelson served as a delegate to the New York Constitutional Convention, as one of the "Bucktails" faction led by Martin van Buren.

In 1837, Governor William Marcy promoted him to the position of chief justice, succeeding John Savage.

[6] As a justice of the New York Supreme Court, Nelson made his most notable decisions about commercial issues.

But his ruling in the case of Jack v. Martin (1834), which touched New York state law in relation to the federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 and the Fugitive Slave Clause of the Constitution, may have foreshadowed his concurring opinion in Dred Scott.

Senator in a special New York State Legislature election to fill the seat of Silas Wright.

His Barnburner opponent, John Adams Dix, won the party's nomination and the Senate seat.

On February 4, 1845, Nelson was nominated by President John Tyler as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, to fill the vacant seat of Smith Thompson.

Nelson was a highly respected chief justice on the New York Supreme Court, and had a reputation of staying out of partisan conflict.

The Whigs found Nelson acceptable because, although he was a Democrat, he had a reputation as a careful and uncontroversial jurist.

He could also be described as a judicial minimalist, meaning he frequently took a moderate stance in cases offering a small, case-specific interpretation of the law, and placed a strong emphasis on precedent.

One of Justice Nelson's most important opinions was in the case of Pennsylvania v. Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company in 1855.

It said that the bridge obstructed the passage of steamboats, interfering with interstate commerce, and was therefore a public nuisance.

[13] The suit was litigated for six years and came before the Supreme Court three different times before Justice Nelson's opinion ended it.

In its final ruling, written by Nelson, the Court deferred to the legislative branch, overruling its previous decision.

New York had separately passed a law related to procedure for the recovery of fugitive slaves.

That court's ruling, written by Nelson, found that the power to legislate on the subject of the fugitive slave clause resided exclusively with Congress, and that the New York law was void.

[citation needed] In Dred Scott, Nelson was originally assigned to write the majority opinion.

Nelson, avoiding controversy and partisanship as usual, did not address any of the other questions raised in the case, such as black citizenship and the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise.

Although staunchly opposed to war and critical of many of Lincoln's policies, he remained loyal to the Union.

The owners sued for return of their ships, claiming that the blockade was illegal because the President did not have the constitutional authority to declare it.

[18] In 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Nelson to serve on the joint high commission to arbitrate the Alabama Claims.