Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/553

Rh Pa., in June, 1775, became 2d lieutenant, and was captured at Quebec, :^1 Dec, 1775. He refused to give his sword to several private soldiers, but finally delivered it to an officer, with the exaction of a pi'omise that it should be returned on his release. This was done in August, 1776, in the presence of all the American officers, with the assurance that it was by the permission and command of Gen. Sir Guy Carleton. This sword is still in the pos- session of Gen. Nichols's great-grandson, Francis Nichols Whitney. Nichols subsequently rose to the rank of brigadier-general. He was the first U. S. marshal of the eastern district of Pennsyl- vania. — His brother, William, b. in Enniskillen, Ireland, 28 Nov., 1754; d. in Philadelphia, 19 Oct., 1804, also served in the Revolution, attaining the rank of captain and quartermaster in 1776. — His grandson, William Augustus, soldier, b. in Phil- adelphia, Pa., 12 May, 1818 ; d. in St. Louis, Mo., 8 April, 1869. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1838, became 1st lieutenant in 1844, served throughout the Mexican war as aide to Gen. John A. Quitman, and assistant ad- jutant-general under Gen. John Garland, and re- ceived the brevet of major for bravery at Molino del Rey. He became assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of captain, in 1852, and lieutenant- colonel in 186 L During the civil war he was adjutant-general of the Department of the East in June and November, 1861, and of the Department of New York in December, assistant in the office of the adjutant-general in Washington, D. C, in 1862-'4, became colonel and brevet brigadier-gen- eral in 1864, and brevet major-general in 1865 for meritorious service during the war. At the time of his death he was chief of staff and adjutant- general of the military department of Missouri.

NICHOLS, George Ward, author, b. in Mt. Desert, Me., 21 June, 1837; d. in Cincinnati, Ohio, 15 Sept., 1885. He was a journalist in early life, but at the beginning of the civil war in 1862 he became a member of Gen. John C. Fremont's staff, and remained with him until the battle of Cross Keys. He was then attached to Gen. William T. Sherman's staff, and went with him on his march to the sea. He had some skill as a painter, and excelled as a writer on art and musical subjects. He spent the last sixteen years of his life in Cin- cinnati, where he projected and accomplished the establishment and endowment of the Cincinnati -college of music, of which he was president at the time of his death. He published " The Story of the Great March," of which 70,000 copies were'sold in one year (New York, 1865) ; " Art Education ap- plied to Industry " (1877) ; and " Pottery, how it is Made." with a bibliography (1878). See a me- morial address delivered by Gen. Jacob D. Cox (Cincinnati. 1887).

NICHOLS, Ichabod, clergyman, b. in Ports- mouth, N. H.. 5 July, 1784;" d. in Cambridge, Mass., 2 Jan., 1859. He was graduated at Harvard in 1802, was tutor of mathematics there in 1803-'9, and at the latter date was ordained associate pas- tor of the 1st Congregational church in Portland, Me., becoming its sole pastor in 1814, and serving till 1855. He then removed to Cambridge, Mass., where he engaged in scholarly pursuits until his death. He was a trustee of Bowdoin for many years, and vice-president of the American academy of arts and sciences. Bowdoin gave him the degree of D. D. in 1821, and Harvard the same in 1831. Dr. Nichols was a Unitarian of the conservative school in theology, a metaphysician, and an independent thinker. His publications include a work on "Natural Theology" (Boston, 1830) and two post- humous volumes entitled " Hours with the Ean- gelists " (1859) and '• Remembered Words, from the Sermons of Rev. Ichabod Nichols" (1860). — His nephew, George, editor, b. in Salem, Mass., 30 Jan., 1809 ; d. in Cambridge, Mass., 5 July, 1882, was graduated at Harvard in 1828, and studied at the divinity-school, but never was settled as a min- ister. After being employed as a private tutor, he became in 1833 one of the owners of the University bookstore in Cambridge, and in 1842 one of the pro- prietors of the University press. Mr. Nichols was noted for his accuracy and skill as an editor, and es- pecially as a proof-reader. For several years he was paid a high salary for reading the proof of the " Atlantic Monthly." In his edition of Burke's works he cleared the text of innumerable errors. He edited his uncle's " Hours with the Evange- lists " (Boston, 1859) ; the " Works of Edmund Burke" (12 vols., 1865-'7); and the "Works of Charles Sumner" (14 vols., 1871-'83).

NICHOLS, James Robinson, author, b. in West Amesbury (now Merrimae), Mass., 19 July, 1819 ; d. in Haverhill, Mass., 2 Jan., 1888. He was self-educated, and attended medical lectures at Dartmouth in 1842, but was not graduated, became a druggist in 1843, and in 1867 founded a firm of manufacturing chemists in Boston, retiring from business in 1872. In 1878 he became a member of the State board of agriculture. In 1866 he estab- lished the " Boston Journal of Chemistry " (now " Popular Science News " ), which he edited till his death. He was active in railroad matters, and founded and endowed a public library in Merrimae, Mass. Dartmouth gave him the honorary degree of M. D. in 1867. Dr. Nichols invented scientific apparatus and methods of chemical manipulation, and published " Chemistry of the Farm and the Sea " with other essays (Boston, 1867) ; " Fireside Science " (1869) ; and " Whence, What, Where ? a View of the Origin, Nature, and Destiny of Man " (1882). He has also issued Dr. James Hinton's " Mystery of Pain," with an introduction (1886).

NICHOLS, Mary Sargeant Gove, physician, b. in Goffstown, N." H., 10 Aug., 1810. After her marriage with her first husband, whose name was Gove, she taught for several years in Lynn, Mass., where she began a course of lectures on anatomy and hygiene, subsequently delivering a similar course in the New England and middle states. She began to contribute papers on hygiene to the " Democratic Review " and " Godey's Lady's Book " in 1841, and in 1845 established a water-cure in New York, which she conducted successfully for many years. In 1848 she married Dr. Thomas L. Nichols, with whom she was associated in the water-cure establishment. She published '" Lectures to Ladies on Anatomy and Physiology " (New York, 1840); "Experience in Water-Cure" (1859); and novelettes under the pen-name of " Mary Orne."

NICHOLS, Moses, physician, b. in Amherst, N. H., in 1759 ; d. there in May, 1790. He was a general of militia during the Revolution, and com- manded the troops that attacked the rear of the enemy's left at Bennington, 17 Aug., 1777. After the peace he practised medicine, attained to emi- nence in his profession, and held several local offices in Amlierst.

NICHOLS, Rebecca S. Reed, author, b. in Greenwich, N. J., in August, 1820. She removed with her father, who was a physician, to Kentucky in 1836, and the next year married Willard Nichols, with whom she edited the " Pennant," a daily newspaper. They removed about 1839 to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she edited " The Guest," a literary journal. Her earliest original productions