Robert C. Nicholas

{{for|the New York politician|Robert C. Nicholas (New York politician)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Robert Carter Nicholas

| image name = Robert Carter Nicholas.jpg

| jr/sr = United States Senator

| state = Louisiana

| term_start = January 13, 1836

| term_end = March 3, 1841

| predecessor = George A. Waggaman

| successor = Alexander Barrow

| office2 = Secretary of State of Louisiana

| term_start2 = 1845

| term_end2 = 1845

| governor2 = Alexandre Mouton

| predecessor2 = Levi Pierce

| successor2 = Zenon Ledoux, Jr.

| office3 = Louisiana Superintendent of Education

| term_start3 = 1849

| term_end3 = 1853

| predecessor3 = Alexander Dimitry

| successor3 = John N. Carrigan

| birth_date = {{birth date|1787|1|10}}

| birth_place = Hanover, Virginia

| death_date = {{death date and age|1856|12|24|1787|1|10}}

| death_place = Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana

| party = Democratic

| alma_mater = College of William & Mary

}}

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

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).{{cite book |last=du Bellet |first=Louise Pecquet |date=1907 |title=Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volumes I and II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wEL-bI-QNmYC&q=%22robert+carter+nicholas%22+%22son%22+%22george+nicholas%22&pg=PA316 |location=Baltimore, MD |publisher=Clearfield |page=316|isbn=9780806307220 }} and the grandson of Robert Carter Nicholas (1728–1780).,{{cite magazine |date=July 1, 1918 |title=Historical and Genealogical Notes: Nicholas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EThDAQAAMAAJ&q=%22robert+carter+nicholas%22+%221728%22+%22son%22+%22george%22&pg=PA132 |magazine=William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Volume 27 |location=Williamsburg, VA |publisher=William and Mary College |page=132}} and named for his late grandfather Robert Carter Nicholas, Sr.{{cite web |url=http://www.multiwords.de/genealogy/Ni5-1%20Robert%20Carter%20Nicholas.html |title=Ni5-1 Robert Carter Nicholas |website= The Genealogy of the Hester Family of Saginaw and the Bland and Nicholas Families of Shelbyville Ky. |publisher=Dr. William Hester |access-date=March 18, 2015}}

In 1816 and 1817 Nicholas attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.{{cite journal |date=October 1, 1888 |title=Alumni of William and Mary College |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMC7zEgO9L4C&q=%22robert+c+nicholas%22+%22william+and+mary%22+%221816%22&pg=PA361 |journal=The New England Historical and Genealogical Register |volume=42 |location=Boston, MA |page=361|isbn=9780788405839 }}{{cite book |date=1961 |title=Biographical Directory of the American Congress |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PAg7AQAAMAAJ&q=%22nicholas+robert+carter%22 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=US Government Printing Office |page=1387}}

Military service

Nicholas joined the United States Army in 1808, receiving a commission as a Captain in the 7th Infantry Regiment.United States Senate, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BoguAAAAIAAJ&dq=r+c+nicholas++captain&pg=PA309 Journal of the Senate of the United States of America], 1810, page 309

Nicholas was promoted to major in 3rd Infantry Regiment in 1810{{cite book |date=1810 |title=Journal of the Senate of the United States of America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BoguAAAAIAAJ&q=%22robert+c.+nicholas%22+%22major%22+%221810%22&pg=PA308 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=R. C. Weightman |page=308}} and became Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Infantry Regiment in 1812.{{cite book |last=Powell |first=William H. |date=1900 |title=List of Officers of the Army of the United States from 1779 to 1900 |url=https://archive.org/details/listofficers00powerich |quote=robert c. nicholas 12th infantry. |location=New York, NY |publisher=L. R. Hamersly & Co. |page=[https://archive.org/details/listofficers00powerich/page/88 88]}} He served with his regiment in the War of 1812, including combat at the Battle of Chippewa.{{cite book |last= Quisenberry |first=Anderson Chenault |date=1969 |title=Kentucky in the War of 1812 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yUZ3FU2QMncC&q=%22robert+carter+nicholas%22+%22chippewa%22&pg=PA165 |location=Baltimore, MD |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Company |page=165|isbn=9780806302829 }} 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.Anderson Chenault Quisenberry, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yUZ3FU2QMncC&dq=%22robert+carter+nicholas%22+%22war+of+1812%22&pg=PA165 Kentucky in the War of 1812], 1996, page 165United States War Department, [https://books.google.com/books?id=XIcFAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22r+c+nicholas%22+major&pg=PA19 A Compilation of Registers of the Army of the United States, from 1815 to 1837], 1837, page 19

Career

After his military service, Nicholas relocated to Kentucky, and in 1821 received an appointment as U.S. Indian Agent to the Chickasaw Nation.United States Senate, [https://books.google.com/books?id=I3aIAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22robert+c+nicholas%22++%227th+infantry%22&pg=PA235 Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the United States Senate], Volume 3, 1821, page 235

Nicholas later moved to Louisiana, where he owned a sugarcane plantation in Terrebonne Parish while residing in St. James Parish.{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Merritt M. |date=1843 |title=Reports of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of Louisiana, Volume 22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5lDAAAAcAAJ&q=%22robert+carter+nicholas%22+%22louisiana%22&pg=PA7 |location=New York, NY |publisher=A. S. Gould |pages=7–8}} He operated that plantation using enslaved labor. In the last federal census in his lifetime, Nicholas owned 236 enslaved people.1850 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedule for Eastern District, St. James Parish, Louisiana pp. 49-51 of 85, available on ancestry.com

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.{{cite book |last=Byrd |first=Robert |date=1993 |title=Senate, 1789–1989: Historical Statistics, 1789–1992, Volume 4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PeHByMYxVm8C&q=%22robert+c+nicholas%22+%22louisiana%22+%22senator%22&pg=PA114 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=114|isbn=9780160632563 }}

He was Secretary of State of Louisiana in 1845.{{cite book |last=Michel |first=John T. |date=1902 |title=Annual Report of the Louisiana Secretary of State |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NugqAAAAYAAJ&q=nicholas&pg=PA330 |location=Baton Rouge, LA |publisher=Baton Rouge News Publishing Company |page=328}} From 1849 to 1853 he was Louisiana's Superintendent of Education.Jeanne Frois, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6Bm5yc8Pdc8C&dq=%22robert+carter+nicholas%22+education+superintendent&pg=PA555 Louisiana Almanac: 2006-2007], 2006, page 555[https://books.google.com/books?id=NqEhAQAAIAAJ&q=%22robert+c+nicholas%22 The Boardman], Volumes 6-8, 1951, page 5

Death and legacy

Nicholas died in Terrebonne Parish on December 24, 1856.{{cite news |title=Louisiana Intelligence: Death of Robert C. Nicholas |work=The Times-Picayune |location= New Orleans |page=4 |date=December 29, 1856 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/25890663/}} (Incorrectly indicates that Nicholas served 12 years in the Senate and as Chargé d'Affaires in Naples.)

File:Hanover, VA.jpg

Personal life

He married Susan Adelaide Vinson, and their children included a daughter, Mary. Mary Nicholas was the wife of Frederick George Burthe.{{cite book |date=1949 |title=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 57 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kU8RAAAAIAAJ&q=%22burthe%22 |location=Richmond, VA |publisher=Virginia Historical Society |page=83}}

Nicholas was a nephew of John Nicholas, a U.S. Representative from Virginia and Wilson Cary Nicholas, a Senator from Virginia.{{cite book |date=2010 |title=American Political Leaders 1789–2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ktR1AwAAQBAJ&q=%22robert+carter+nicholas%22+%22nephew%22+%22john+nicholas%22&pg=PA205 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=CQ Press, Inc. |page=205 |isbn=978-1-60426-537-8}}