Nicholas George

Background

George Nicholas was born in 1754 in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. He was a brother of John, Wilson Cary, and Philip Norborne Nicholas and the eldest son of Robert Carter and Anne (Cary) Nicholas.

Education

Nicholas attended the College of William and Mary and entered the army on the outbreak of the Revolution, rising from the rank of captain to that of colonel.

Career

During 1781 Nicholas made his political debut in the House of Delegates by moving an investigation into the conduct of Governor Jefferson during Arnold's invasion. The charges were later dropped and no ill feeling arose between the two men because of the incident, Nicholas presently becoming one of Jefferson's leading supporters.

Harry Innes, whose friendship with Nicholas dated from their college days, had gone to Kentucky in an official capacity after the Revolution, and had become closely associated with James Wilkinson and others in land speculations and in trade with the Spanish at New Orleans.

In 1790 Nicholas removed to Kentucky and became interested in the operations of these men.

In Virginia his associations with Madison and Jefferson were entirely creditable to him, and his policy was enlightened as was theirs. In Kentucky his associations with Wilkinson and Innes were certainly devious. Though he probably had no treasonable intent in connection with the Spanish Conspiracy, it is certain that he worked in harmony with a group of land speculators and that he used his public position in order to promote his private interests. In most of his political activities he had the cooperation of his brother, Wilson Cary, who later became governor of Virginia.

Achievements

• Nicholas was a member of the convention which, in 1792, drafted the first Kentucky constitution. One of the remarkable features of that instrument, for which Nicholas was said to be largely responsible, was a clause requiring all cases involving land titles to be tried before the supreme court of the state. Nicholas became the first attorney-general when Kentucky was admitted to statehood. He took a leading part in the framing and advocating of Jefferson's famous anti-Federalist resolutions of that year, thus becoming one of the leaders of the rising Republican party in Kentucky.

Politics

In the Assembly Nicholas cooperated with Madison in the struggle for religious freedom in 1784. In 1787 he at first supported and then deserted him when he advocated the payment of British debts. During the same period he opposed the issuance of paper money by Virginia. He was an ardent advocate of the adoption of the Federal constitution. During the debates on this subject, Nicholas and Patrick Henry hurled at each other certain implications regarding land speculations, which indicated that each had information concerning the investments of the other.

Views

Quotations: "If the federal government try to reach any supplementally condition to impose upon us, we would be in Virginia exonerated. "

Personality

In personal appearance George Nicholas was stocky, blond, and bald. Taciturn in public, he is said to have been genial and humorous in private conversation. He must have been a man of great energy and restless enterprise.

Connections

In 1778, at an officers' ball in Baltimore Nicholas met Mary Smith, daughter of John and sister to Robert and Samuel Smith of that city, a family notably conspicuous for its part in the political and commercial life of Maryland. Retiring from the army, he married her.

Father:

Robert Carter Nicholas

Mother:

Anne (Cary) Nicholas

Spouse:

Mary Smith

Brother:

Wilson Cary Nicholas

Brother:

John Nicholas

Brother:

Philip Norborne Nicholas

Friend:

Harry Innes

References

• Some Prominent Virginia Families; Volume 2
• Some Prominent Virginia Families