Wayne County Biographies



Part of the Indiana Biographies Project



Timothy Nicholson

Timothy Nicholson, of Richmond, is too well known to the people of Indiana to need any introduction to the readers of this volume. He is a prominent factor in the industrial and mercantile life of Richmond, but is better known in connection with his labors in the interests of his fellow men. He has a mind above all personal considerations, concerned with those large, loving interests belonging to humanity. There are many men in Indiana—leaders in professional and commercial circles—who have acquired wide reputation in business circles, but in the homes of the land, as well as in the establishments devoted to trade, the name of Timothy Nicholson is familiar. Amid life's busy cares he has found time to devote to humanity, and recognizing the brotherhood of mankind he has labored for the advancement of the human race, aided in raising the fallen and extended a helping hand to the down-trodden and the needy. It is this that has made him one of the highly esteemed and loved citizens of Richmond and inseparably interwoven his history with the record of its best development.

He was born in Perquimans county, North Carolina, on the 2d of November, 1828, and is a son of Josiah and Ann (White) Nicholson, both of whom were elders in the Society of Friends and prominent and influential citizens of the community in which they made their home. His ancestors were of a sterling, stalwart people who suffered persecution for the sake of their religion. In order to secure freedom of conscience they came to America at an early period in the settlement of the New World. The first of whom we have record, Edmond and Elizabeth Nicholson, were natives of England, whence they emigrated to New England, where the remainder of their days were spent. Their son, Christopher Nicholson, also crossed the Atlantic about 1660 and for a time resided in New England, but he and his brother were beaten on account of their religious views, and in consequence he sought a home in North Carolina, where his marriage was recorded in 1680. He had two sons, one of whom was Christopher Nicholson, who became the father of Thomas Nicholson, the great-grandfather of the subject of this review. This Thomas Nicholson was an able minister of the Society of Friends, and a leading man of the community in which he resided. He owned a number of slaves, and in common with the people of that time and place believed that such proprietorship was scriptural and right, but later study of the question taught him that the practice of holding human beings in bondage was contrary to the law of God. Accordingly, despite the difficulty and unpopularity of the act, he liberated his negroes and his example was followed by other Friends until there was not a slave-owner among the Friends in that section of North Carolina. He afterward declared that he would not again become entangled in slave-holding for the weight of the slaves in gold. The grandfather of Timothy Nicholson was also named Thomas, and like other of the family devoted his life to agricultural pursuits, and held to the religious faith of the sect with which his people had so long been identified.





Oliver Wendell Holmes has said that "the way to reform a man is to begin with his grandfather," and, indeed, fortunate is he who has back of him an honorable ancestry. In this particular Timothy Nicholson was particularly blessed, as well as having in his youth the surroundings of a cultured Christian home; yet with all these a man's character must depend upon himself, and his accomplishments or failures in life are attributable to his own desires and efforts. While trained to habits of industry, sobriety and probity, it remained to Timothy Nicholson to put them to practical use in every-day life and to test his principles in the fire of actual experience. He was reared upon a farm and was afforded excellent educational privileges that his mental culture might be in accord with his physical and moral development. He was for some time a student in Belvidere Academy, an institution established and maintained by the Society of Friends, and when eighteen years of age he became a student in the Friends' school in Providence, Rhode Island, where he remained for a year and a half. He then returned to his home and was appointed principal of the Belvidere Academy, a position which he ably filled for six years. He then accepted an invitation to take charge of the preparatory department of Haverford College, near Philadelphia, one of the oldest and best known Friends' schools in the country. There he performed his duties with such signal ability and skill that at the close of his fourth year in that school he was advanced to the position of general superintendent of the college, in which capacity he acceptably served two years.

On the expiration of that period Mr. Nicholson resigned, and in 1861 removed to Richmond, Indiana, where he joined his brother, John Nicholson, in the book and stationery business, a connection which was continued until 1873, when he purchased his brother's interest and has since been alone in business. He also has a large book bindery, and carries on operations under the name of the Nicholson Printing Company. He has built up an extensive trade in both departments of his business. He is a very systematic and methodical, possesses keen discrimination and excellent executive ability, and carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. He is always just to and considerate of his employes, who know that faithfulness on their part means advancement as opportunity offers.

Broad-minded and progressive and imbued with strong humanitarian principles, Timothy Nicholson takes a deep interest in all that pertains to the development and improvement of the city with which he is connected, and with its educational and moral progress. As a leading member of the Friends church, he is well known throughout all the branches of that denomination, being active in all the church conferences. He has been chairman of the committee on arrangements of the three quinquennial conferences that have been held by the Friends in America, and at the last conference was again appointed to that position. He has been very active in the state and national Sunday-school work, was president of the Indiana Sunday school Union for one year, and for three years a member of the executive committee of the International Sunday-school Association. For twenty years he has been superintendent of the home Sunday school, for many years has been an elder in the church and for twenty-two years was clerk of the yearly meeting of ministers and elders, while for twelve years he was clerk of the Whitewater monthly meeting, comprising four congregations.

For thirty-four years he has been a trustee of Earlham College, in which he takes a very deep and active interest, and because of his special fitness for that office and his residence in Richmond, much of the labor of the board of trustees has devolved upon him, and to his labors the high standing of the institution is attributable in no small degree. During the years 1865-6 he was a member of the board of trustees of the Richmond city schools, and from 1868 until 1873 was a trustee of the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute. Two years afterward, in 1877, when a vacancy occurred on that board, the remaining trustees united in requesting Governor Williams to appoint Mr. Nicholson to the vacancy, which he did although the latter's political views were at variance with those of the governor and of every other trustee. From 1872 until 1877 he was trustee of the Home of the Friendless, of Richmond, and from early life he has been an earnest temperance worker. For nearly thirty-three years, as a member of the committee of the Friends society on prison reform, he has taken a very active and earnest interest in that work. This committee was appointed and continued from year to year for the purpose of arousing the people and the law-makers to the evils of the prison system of the state. Every year the committee made a written report of their work, which demanded great patience, perseverance and indomitable effort.

The progress that Indiana has made along the line of prison reforms in the last few years is due more to the efforts of Timothy Nicholson than to any other one man, though he does not take the credit for it. Other men wrote the statutes and voted them into legal existence, but the demand for their passage came from the thirty years' campaign of education carried on by him and his associates in the work. In 1887 when a law was enacted creating a board of state charities, the governor appointed him a member, and he is still one of its most prominent representatives. His interest and efficiency in this line of work have made him well known among prison reformers throughout the United States, and he is an active member of the National Prison Congress and of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections. In 1896 he was president of the Indiana State Conference of Charities and Corrections. The establishment of the woman's prison and reform school for girls was one of the first victories of the "standing committee of the Society of Friends. This advanced step in prison legislation was directed and hastened by recommendations of the committee and by reports disclosing the abuses arising from the keeping of prisoners of both sexes in the same institution. As a member of the board of state charities since its creation, he has made two or more visits to the institution every year and often addresses the men individually, speaking words of hope and encouragement to them.

In politics Timothy Nicholson has always been a stanch Republican, and in 1872 was president of the Richmond Grant Club, but has never sought or desired the honors or emoluments of public office. With a deep realization of the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, however, he has kept well informed on the momentous issues of the day and is therefore capable of giving an intelligent support to the measures which he believes are for the public good.

On the 11th of August, 1853, Timothy Nicholson married Miss Sarah N. White, a daughter of John and Mary White, both of whom were elders in the Society of Friends in Perquimans county, North Carolina. Three sons of this marriage are now living. The mother died September 26, 1865, and the father was married April 30, 1868, to Miss Mary A. White, a sister of his first wife. Two daughters were born to them, both of whom are living.

Such in brief is the history of one of Richmond's most prominent and honored citizens, and Indiana may well be proud to number him among her sons. He conducts, with two of his sons, the oldest book house in the eastern part of the state, and his efforts in business life have crowned him with financial success. At all times a reputation for honesty, his own self-respect and the well-merited esteem of his fellow men have been more to him than money, which has been but the means which has enabled him to provide for his family and aid his fellow men. He has unusual executive talent, and as an organizer and manager of educational and benevolent institutions has few superiors in the state. A local paper has said: "To know Timothy Nicholson is to respect and esteem him. With a soul overflowing with warm human sympathy, with a quick appreciation of any combination of circumstances and a tact which enables him instantly to do or say the right thing upon every occasion, he is yet adamantine in his convictions of right and wrong. He can say 'No!' in a manner which then and there closes the question. He has an old-fashioned idea that simple, plain speaking between man and man in the long run makes better friends and leaves a clearer conscience. He has not departed from the manner of speech of the Friends, and his 'thee' and 'thou' seem peculiarly in keeping with his simple, direct and kindly manner of speech. He is sparing in the use of titles and prefers not to be called Mr. Nicholson. It is taken as entirely proper and quite the usual custom in Richmond for his acquaintances, young and old, to address him by his first name, and the custom is followed by children, all without the slightest color or thought of disrespect." Modest in manner, free from all ostentation, his true worth and kindly life have endeared him to all who know him, and his example is indeed one which may profitably be followed by the younger generation.

Source:
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana, Volume 1, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1899





Timothy Nicholson was born in Perquimans County, N. C, Nov. 2, 1828, a son of Josiah and Anna (White) Nicholson. He was reared on a farm, but received his education in the best schools. Prior to his eighteenth year his instruction was mainly received in the Belvidere Academy. He then attended the Friends' school at Providence, R. I., nearly two years, and subsequently was Principal of Belvidere Academy six years. At this time he took charge of the preparatory department of Haverford College, near Philadelphia, Pa., and four years later was given the general superintendency of the college. At the end of two years he resigned and moved to Richmond, Ind., in 1861, to join his brother John in the book and stationery business. He has at all times manifested an interest in all public enterprises. For nineteen years he has been a Trustee of Earlham College. From 1868 till 1875 and from 1877 to 1880 he was a Trustee of the Indiana State Normal School, at Terre Haute. From 1872 till 1877 he was a Trustee of the Home for the Friendless, at Richmond. Mr. Nicholson has taken an active interest in the temperance cause from early life. For fourteen years he has been Clerk of the Yearly Meeting of Ministers and Elders of the Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friends, and was Clerk of the Whitewater Monthly Meeting, comprising four congregations, twelve years.

He was married Aug. 11, 1853, to Sarah N., daughter of John and Mary White. They had a family of three sons and one daughter. His wife died Sept. 26, 1865, and April 30, 1868, he married Mary S., a sister of his first wife. They have two daughters. Mr. Nicholson is a practical philanthropist, manifesting his regard for humanity chiefly through the channels of the church and of education and temperance, and with an interest that amounts to enthusiasm.