Robert C. Nicholas
Robert Carter Nicholas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator from Louisiana | |
| In office January 13, 1836 – March 3, 1841 | |
| Preceded by | George A. Waggaman |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Barrow |
| Secretary of State of Louisiana | |
| In office 1845–1845 | |
| Governor | Alexandre Mouton |
| Preceded by | Levi Pierce |
| Succeeded by | Zenon Ledoux, Jr. |
| Louisiana Superintendent of Education | |
| In office 1849–1853 | |
| Preceded by | Alexander Dimitry |
| Succeeded by | John N. Carrigan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 10, 1787 Hanover, Virginia |
| Died | December 24, 1856 (aged 69) Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana |
| Political party | Democratic |
Robert Carter Nicholas (January 10, 1787 – December 24, 1856) was a United States senator from Louisiana. He was a veteran of the War of 1812, and also served as Secretary of State of Louisiana and Louisiana's Superintendent of Education.
Early life and education
[edit]Born in Hanover, Virginia, on January 10, 1787, he was the son of Revolutionary war veteran and politician George Nicholas (1754–1799) and his wife Mary (Smith) Nicholas (d. 1806).[1] and the grandson of Robert Carter Nicholas (1728–1780).,[2] and named for his late grandfather Robert Carter Nicholas, Sr.[3] In 1816 and 1817 Nicholas attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.[4][5]
Military service
[edit]Nicholas joined the United States Army in 1808, receiving a commission as a Captain in the 7th Infantry Regiment.[6] Nicholas was promoted to major in 3rd Infantry Regiment in 1810[7] and became Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Infantry Regiment in 1812.[8] He served with his regiment in the War of 1812, including combat at the Battle of Chippewa.[9] After serving with the 30th Infantry, in 1814 he was promoted to colonel, and he commanded the 8th Infantry Regiment until resigning his commission in 1819.[10][11]
Career
[edit]After his military service, Nicholas relocated to Kentucky, and in 1821 received an appointment as U.S. Indian Agent to the Chickasaw Nation.[12]
Nicholas later moved to Louisiana, where he owned a sugarcane plantation in Terrebonne Parish while residing in St. James Parish.[13] He operated that plantation using enslaved labor. In the last federal census in his lifetime, Nicholas owned 236 enslaved people.[14]
Nicholas was elected as a Jacksonian (later a Democrat) to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator-elect Charles E.A. Gayarre, and served from January 13, 1836, to March 3, 1841.[15]
He was Secretary of State of Louisiana in 1845.[16] From 1849 to 1853 he was Louisiana's Superintendent of Education.[17][18]
Death and legacy
[edit]Nicholas died in Terrebonne Parish on December 24, 1856.[19]
Personal life
[edit]He married Susan Adelaide Vinson, and their children included a daughter, Mary. Mary Nicholas was the wife of Frederick George Burthe.[20]
Nicholas was a nephew of John Nicholas, a U.S. Representative from Virginia and Wilson Cary Nicholas, a Senator from Virginia.[21]
References
[edit]- ^ du Bellet, Louise Pecquet (1907). Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volumes I and II. Baltimore, MD: Clearfield. p. 316. ISBN 9780806307220.
- ^ "Historical and Genealogical Notes: Nicholas". William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Volume 27. Williamsburg, VA: William and Mary College. July 1, 1918. p. 132.
- ^ "Ni5-1 Robert Carter Nicholas". The Genealogy of the Hester Family of Saginaw and the Bland and Nicholas Families of Shelbyville Ky. Dr. William Hester. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
- ^ "Alumni of William and Mary College". The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 42. Boston, MA: 361. October 1, 1888. ISBN 9780788405839.
- ^ Biographical Directory of the American Congress. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. 1961. p. 1387.
- ^ United States Senate, Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, 1810, page 309
- ^ Journal of the Senate of the United States of America. Washington, DC: R. C. Weightman. 1810. p. 308.
- ^ Powell, William H. (1900). List of Officers of the Army of the United States from 1779 to 1900. New York, NY: L. R. Hamersly & Co. p. 88.
robert c. nicholas 12th infantry.
- ^ Quisenberry, Anderson Chenault (1969). Kentucky in the War of 1812. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company. p. 165. ISBN 9780806302829.
- ^ Anderson Chenault Quisenberry, Kentucky in the War of 1812, 1996, page 165
- ^ United States War Department, A Compilation of Registers of the Army of the United States, from 1815 to 1837, 1837, page 19
- ^ United States Senate, Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the United States Senate, Volume 3, 1821, page 235
- ^ Robinson, Merritt M. (1843). Reports of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of Louisiana, Volume 22. New York, NY: A. S. Gould. pp. 7–8.
- ^ 1850 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedule for Eastern District, St. James Parish, Louisiana pp. 49-51 of 85, available on ancestry.com
- ^ Byrd, Robert (1993). Senate, 1789–1989: Historical Statistics, 1789–1992, Volume 4. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 114. ISBN 9780160632563.
- ^ Michel, John T. (1902). Annual Report of the Louisiana Secretary of State. Baton Rouge, LA: Baton Rouge News Publishing Company. p. 328.
- ^ Jeanne Frois, Louisiana Almanac: 2006-2007, 2006, page 555
- ^ The Boardman, Volumes 6-8, 1951, page 5
- ^ "Louisiana Intelligence: Death of Robert C. Nicholas". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans. December 29, 1856. p. 4. (Incorrectly indicates that Nicholas served 12 years in the Senate and as Chargé d'Affaires in Naples.)
- ^ The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 57. Richmond, VA: Virginia Historical Society. 1949. p. 83.
- ^ American Political Leaders 1789–2009. Washington, DC: CQ Press, Inc. 2010. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-60426-537-8.
External links
[edit]- United States Congress. "Robert C. Nicholas (id: N000085)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
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