Robert C. Nicholas

Biography

Born in Hanover, Virginia on January 10, 1787, Nicholas joined the United States Army in 1808, receiving a commission as a Captain in the 7th Infantry Regiment.

Nicholas later served with the 20th and 12th Infantry Regiments. He was promoted to Major in 3rd Infantry Regiment 1810 and became Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Infantry Regiment in 1812. He served with his regiment in the War of 1812, including combat at the Battle of Chippewa. 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.

In 1816 and 1817 Nicholas attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He subsequently relocated to Kentucky, and was appointed U.S. Indian Agent to the Chickasaw Nation in 1821. Nicholas later moved to Louisiana, where he owned a sugarcane plantation in Terrebonne Parish while residing in St. James Parish.

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.

He was Secretary of State of Louisiana in 1845. From 1849 to 1853 he was Louisiana's Superintendent of Education.

Nicholas died in Terrebonne Parish on December 24, 1856. He was originally buried at his plantation, and later moved to the Burthe family vault at Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans.

Family

Robert C. Nicholas was the son of George Nicholas (1754-1799) and Mary Smith. and the grandson of Robert Carter Nicholas (1728–1780).

He married Susan Adelaide Vinson, and their children included a daughter, Mary. Mary Nicholas was the wife of Frederick George Burthe.

Nicholas was a nephew of John Nicholas, a U.S. Representative from Virginia and Wilson Cary Nicholas, a Senator from Virginia.