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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
1795
History of
Clermont County, Ohio
with
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches
of its
Prominent Men and Pioneers
Philadelphia:
Louis H. Everts
Press of J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia
1880
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P. J. Nichols |
PERRY JACKSON NICHOLS. The present efficient Probate
Judge of Clermont County, Perry Jackson Nichols,
is of English descent on his paternal side, and was born
some three miles from New Richmond, in this county, Mar.
30, 1839. He was the second in a family of six
children, whose parents were Thomas L. Nichols'
and Eveline (Donham) Nichols, who were married by
N. E. Walton, a justice of the peace, on Dec. 18,
1836. Judge Nichols' father, a native of
Clermont, followed through life the vocation of
engineer, and is still living at New Richmond. His
mother, born in the county, was a daughter of one of the
early settlers in Southern Ohio, Col. Jonathan S.
Donham, originally of Spanish extraction, and who
was married to Elizabeth Ayers by
Timothy Rardin, a justice of the peace, on
April 19, 1818. The grand-father of the subject of
this sketch, Philip Nichol, was a pioneer
of note and substance, and was married to Nancy
Marsh, by Rev. Jesse Justice, on
Nov. 3, 1812. The boyhood days of Judge
Nichols until he had reached his thirteenth year
were passed alternately in working on a farm and
attending school during the winter months. In 1852
he was employed in carrying the United States mail
between New Richmond, Blanchester (Clinton County), and
Deerfield (Warren County), and in which service he
consumed four days per week for four years. During
the remaining days of the week he was engaged in
laboring on the farm, and through those years of toil
his leisure hours were assiduously devoted to the
improvement of his mind, and the works then read by him
added much to his subsequent store of knowledge.
In 1856 his attention was directed to engineering, and
during the following two years he was engaged at this
employment. He then attended various select
schools for about three years; and also pursued a select
course of higher studies at Parker's Academy and in the
Farmers' College, near Cincinnati. In 1859 he
assume the rule of an educator, and for two years taught
school, in the mean time occupying his spare moments by
reading law, under the supervision of lion.
Perry J. Donham, now a prominent attorney of
Cincinnati. In 1861, having passed the requisite
examination, he was by the September term of the
Clermont District Court admitted to practice law, and
formed a partnership with his former preceptor, Mr.
Donham, which continued until the removal of the
latter from New Richmond to Cincinnati. In 1867 he
took as partner Frank Davis, ·under the
firm-name of Nichols and Davis, who were
associated together until January, 1879, when he removed
to Batavia to enter upon his judicial office, to which
ho had been elected in the October previous by a
handsome vote. When chosen to the Probate
judgeship of the county, he and his partner, Frank
Davis, had a most extensive and lucrative legal
practice. He was married, Aug. 21, 1862, by
Rev. W. J. Essick, to Jeannette Gilmore,
daughter of the late Hugh Gilmore, of New
Richmond, a prominent and successful business man of
that city, born in County Down, Ireland, and of Jane
(Hays) Gilmore, born in County Antrim, Ireland, both
early settlers in Clermont, by whom he has the following
children: Annie Matilda, Lewellyn Hugh, Carrie Belle,
Nellie May, Florence Eva, and Allen Brunaugh
(the latter named after his two predecessors in office,
Judges Cowen and Brunaugh.)
He has been a member of Mistletoe Lodge, No. 97,
Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, for sixteen years, and
belongs to New Richmond Lodge, No. 43, of Ancient Order
of United Workmen. He was mayor of the city of New
Richmond from 1865 to 1870, and for five years was a
member of its school board, during three of which he
held the office of president. He took great
interest in the common and high schools of that city,
and their present efficiency and high standing is
largely attributable to wise measures instituted and
carried out under the able administration and watchful
care of himself, colleagues, and predecessors. The
Nichols family is one of the oldest and probably
the largest in Clermont, and from the first settlers of
that name in Ohio and Monroe townships have sprang many
persons who have become eminent in business,
professional, and military life; but among them are the
chief elements of true manhood, varied learning, broad
humanity, and high public spirit, largely embodied in
Perry J. Nichols, the man whose social and personal
characteristics and unblemished private life, with his
strong mental force, make him prominent in the county.
New Richmond owes to Judge Nichols as
great a debt of gratitude as to any other of its
citizens, for in the past fifteen years no one has
surpassed him in successful labors for its growth in
material resources, and in the tone and character
imparted to its educational advantages. Working
for years to secure a railroad along the Ohio River, to
him more than to any other man is the meed of
commendation to be given for the building of the New
Richmond or Ohio River branch of the Cincinnati and
Eastern Narrow-Gauge Railroad, which was inaugurated and
carried to completion by his strong will and unflagging
industry, and while others desponded and grew weary in
that and
kindred enterprises, his hopes were ever buoyant and his
energy untiring.
Source: 1795 History of Clermont County, Ohio, Publ.
Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts - Press of J. B.
Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia - 1880 - Page (between
254-255) |
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