Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/552

512 senator, and he was first judge of the court of common pleas in Ontario county from 1806 un- til his death.— Another son, Pliilip Norborne, jurist, b. in Williamsburg, Va., in 1773; d. in Richmond, Va., 18 Aug., 1849, was named for Philip Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt. He became a lawyer at an early age, and before reaching his twenty-first year was appointed at- torney-general of Virginia. For many years he was president of the Farmers' bank of Virginia, and was judge of the general court of Virginia from about 1823 till his death. He was largely inter- ested in the politics of his state, and was a mem- ber of the " Richmond Junta," which, with the " Richmond Enquirer," influenced to a great ex- tent the Democratic party in the state of Virginia and in the country at large. He strongly opposed the doctrine of nullification in a series of able arti- cles in the " Richmond Enquirer," signed " Agri- cola." — George's son, Robert Carter, senator, b. in Hanover, Va., about 1793 ; d. in Teri'ebonne parish. La., 24 Dec, 1857, was graduated at William and Mary in 1810. He served in the war of 1812, and was appointed captain in the 20th infantry on 12 March, 1812, major of the 12th infantry, 3 March, 1813, and lieutenant-colonel of the 44th infantry, 20 Aug., 1814. He was transferred to the 30th in- fantry on 14 Nov., 1814, and served on the Cana- dian frontier. He was mustered out in June, 1815, and removed to Louisiana, where he engaged in sugar-planting. He was charge d'affaires to Naples, subsequently became secretary of state of Louisi- ana, and was elected a U. S. senator, as a Demo- crat, serving from 4 March, 1836, till 3 March, 1841. In 1851 he became superintendent of public instruction in Louisiana. — Another son of George, Samuel Smith, jurist, b. in Lexington, Ky., 1796 ; d. in Louisville, Ky., 27 Nov., 1869, was first a mer- chant in New Orleans, and afterward practised law with success in Louisville, Ky. In 1831 he was appointed judge of the court of appeals, and he was subsequently a member of the state legislature. He assisted in preparing the revised code of Ken- tucky, and was the author of a series of essays on " Constitutional Law " (Louisville, about 1857).

NICHOLLS, Francis Tillon, governor of Louisiana, b. in Donaldsonville, Ascension parish. La., 20 Aug., 1834. His father, Thomas Clark (1790-1847), was a inember of the general assembly of Louisiana, judge of a district court for many years, and in 1843 was appointed senior judge of the Louisiana court of error and appeals. His mother was a sister of Joseph Rodman Drake. The son was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1855, and assigned to the 3d artillery. He served against the Seminole Indians, was on frontier duty in 1856, and resigned his commission on 1 Oct. of that year. He then practised law in Napoleon ville, La., until 1861, when he joined the Confederate army as captain in the 8th Louisiana regiment, of which he became lieutenant-colonel. In 1862 he was made colonel of the 15th regiment and briga- dier-general. He participated in Stonewall Jack- son's movements, and lost an arm in the battle of Winchester, Va., and a foot at Chancellorsvilie. He was superintendent of the conscript bureau of the Trans-Mississippi department in 1864-'5, and practised law in Ascension parish from 1865 till 1876. He was elected governor of Louisiana as a Democrat, serving from 1877 till 1880. and in January, 1888, was again nominated for this olfiee. He now (1898) practises law in New Orleans.

NICHOLS, Charles Henry, physician, b. in Vassalborougli, Maine, 19 Oct., 1820; d. in New York city, 16 Dec, 1889. He was educated in the Friends' school. Providence, R. I., taught from his seventeenth to his twentieth year, studied medi- cine at the University of New York, and was gradu- ated at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1843. He practised at Lynn, Mass., from that date until 1847, when he became associate physician to the New York state lunatic asylum in Utica. He afterward made a specialty of the treatment of mental diseases, and the archi- tecture and hygiene of institutions for the insane. He was physician and superior officer in Bloom- ingdale asylum. New York city, in 1849-52. In October of tJie latter year he chose the site, subse- quently built, organized, and equipped the U. S, government hospitals for the insane in Washing- ton, D. C, and he afterward enlarged the build- ings three times, treated 4,000 patients, and pro- cured the extension of the grounds from 195 to 420 acres. He was acting assistant surgeon dur- ing the civil war, and, in connection with the general government hospital for the insane, con- ducted a general hospital for U. S. volunteers. During his service in Washington he was president of the first board of school commissioners, of the levy, and of the board of police commissioners for the District of Columbia, vice-president of the board of directors of the Columbia hospital for women, and a member of many professional and benevolent societies. He was for several years president of the Association of medical superin- tendents of American institutions for the insane. At the meeting of the International medical con- gress in Philadelphia in 1876 he read a paper be- fore the section on mental diseases on the '• Best Mode of providing for the Subjects of Chronic In- sanity." He resigned the superintendence of the government asylums in Washington in 1877, and was superintendent of Bloomingdale asylum for the insane. New York city, until his death.

NICHOLS, Clarinda Howard, reformer, b. in Townsend, Windham co.. Vt., 25 Jan., 1810 ; d. in Pomo, Cal., 11 Jan., 1885. She assisted her hus- band for ten years in editing and publishing the " Windham County Democrat," and in 1847 began to speak in public on the laws of Vermont in re- gard to the property liabilities of married women. The next year she was instrumental in securing the passage of the first bill in the Vermont legis- lature that recognized the civil existence of wives. She afterward emigrated to Kansas, served one term as recording clerk of the state legislature, and removed to Pomo, Cal., in 1871.

NICHOLS, Edward Tatnall, naval officer, b. in Augusta, Ga., 1 March, 1823 : d. in Pomfret, Conn., 12 Oct., 1886. He was appointed to the U. S; naval academy in 1836, became passed mid- shipman in 1842, lieutenant in 1850, and com- mander in 1862. At the beginning of the civil war he was placed in command of the steamer " Winona " in the Western Gulf blockading squad- ron, participated in the bombardment of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, and received the surrender of the latter on 28 April, 1862. He also took part in the passage of the batteries at Vicks- burg, and was commended for " ability, steadiness, and sound judgment." In June, 1864. while in command of the steamer " Mendote." he engaged the Confederate battery at Four Mile Creek, James river. Va. He became captain in 1866, commodore in 1872. rear-admiral in 1878, and was placed on the retired list in March, 1885.

NICHOLS, Francis, soldier, b. in Crieve Hill, Enniskillen. Ireland, in 1737; d. in Pottstown, Pa., 13 Feb., 1812. He came to this country in 1769, enlisted in the patriot army in Cumberland county,