William Thomas Nichols (March 24, 1829 - April 10, 1882) was a 19th-century politician, soldier, and businessman. He served in both houses of the Vermont legislature and commanded the 14th Vermont Infantry during the American Civil War. After the war, he became a founder of the Illinois village of Maywood, now a suburb of Chicago.
William T. Nichols was born in Clarendon, Vermont, the son of James Tilson Nichols and Minerva D. (Briggs) Nichols. Trained as a lawyer, [1] he served as an assistant clerk in Vermont’s House of Representatives and then as the state's attorney in 1858–59. [2] [3] [4]
In 1855, he traveled to Kansas Territory and became involved in the dispute over whether the territory would enter the United States as a slave-owning or free state. At one point, he volunteered for the risky task of delivering dispatches from the journalist William A. Phillips to Charles L. Robinson, a Free-Stater who was acting as territorial governor and who would later become the first governor of the state of Kansas. For this service, Nichols was appointed to Robinson's staff with the rank of colonel. He returned to Vermont the following year. [4]
Nichols served in two volunteer Vermont regiments during the Civil War. In 1861, he enlisted as a private in the short-lived 1st Vermont Infantry, remaining until the unit was mustered out of service three months later. [5] In 1862, he was commissioned colonel to command the 14th Vermont Infantry. [5] [6] He led his regiment in repulsing Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. [2] [6] Shortly after Gettysburg, the 14th Vermont Infantry was mustered out of service. [5]
Nichols's service in the state legislature overlapped the war years. In September 1861, just after the 1st Vermont Infantry was disbanded, he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives. In 1863, after the disbanding of the 14th Vermont Infantry, he was elected to the Vermont Senate, becoming the youngest man (at age 34) ever to serve as a Vermont state senator. [4]
After the war, having lost money in various investments, Nichols determined to go south to invest in real estate. [6] In October 1865, Nichols took passage on the SS Republic steamship, bound for New Orleans. [6] It ran into a hurricane off the coast of Georgia and sank. [6] Nichols—who afterwards wrote a detailed account of the sinking to his wife in a letter that has survived—managed to get into lifeboat number 2, which two days later was rescued by the sailing ship Horace Beals. [6] [7] Once arrived in the south, Nichols bought two cotton plantations and invested in a tannery. [6]
Nichols did not stay in the south, however, and eventually ended up in the area of Chicago, Illinois. On April 6, 1869, with six other men, he founded the Maywood Company, a consortium that led to the incorporation of the village of Maywood, Illinois, in 1881. [2] Maywood, now a suburb of Chicago, was named in honor of Nichols's daughter May. [2] [6] Nichols served as the president of the company until his death. [2]
Nichols was also the president and treasurer of a subsidiary venture that manufactured farm tools, the Chicago Scraper and Ditcher Company. [3] In 1878, he patented a new version of the screw harrow for soil cultivation. [8]
Nichols died of pneumonia in Maywood in 1882 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Rutland, Vermont. [1] [5]
Nichols married Thyrza Stevens Crampton (b. 1832), and they had two daughters, May (b. 1857) and Lucy (b. 1860). [6] Thyrza and May both died of typhoid fever in 1865. [6] [2] May died before Nichols left on his ill-fated voyage on the SS Republic, and Thyrza died shortly after she learned that Nichols had survived the shipwreck. [6] Nichols remarried, with his second wife being Thyrza's sister Helen. [6]
Nichols's great-great-granddaughter is the writer Thyrza Nichols Goodeve. [6] She accompanied a 2004 expedition to the site of the SS Republic wreck, which had been located the year before. [6]
Redfield Proctor was a U.S. politician of the Republican Party. He served as the 37th governor of Vermont from 1878 to 1880, as Secretary of War from 1889 to 1891, and as a United States Senator for Vermont from 1891 to 1908.
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The 1st Vermont Infantry Regiment was a three months' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, in and around Fortress Monroe, Virginia.
The 2nd Vermont Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.
The 12th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a nine months' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, predominantly in the Defenses of Washington, from October 1862 to July 1863. It was a member of the 2nd Vermont Brigade.
The 15th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a nine-months' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, predominantly in the Defenses of Washington, from October 1862 to August 1863. It was a member of the 2nd Vermont Brigade.
The 14th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a nine months' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, predominantly in the Defenses of Washington, from October 1862 to August 1863. It was a member of the 2nd Vermont Brigade.
William Wirt Henry was a manufacturer and a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was a recipient of the brevet grade of brigadier general of volunteers and of the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action.
The 16th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a nine months' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, predominantly in the Defenses of Washington, from October 1862 to August 1863. It was a member of the 2nd Vermont Brigade.
The 13th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a nine months' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, predominantly in the Defenses of Washington, from October 1862 to August 1863. It was a member of the 2nd Vermont Brigade.
Henry Addison Fletcher was an American Civil War veteran, a farmer and a U.S. politician of the Republican Party. He is most notable for his service as the 38th lieutenant governor of Vermont from 1890 to 1892.
Farrand Stewart Stranahan was an American Civil War veteran, a railroad executive, a banker, and a U.S. politician of the Republican Party.
The 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent most of the war as a member of the famous Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac. It suffered the largest number of casualties as a percentage of its total enlistment of any Union Army unit in the war.
The 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent most of the war as a part of the famous Iron Brigade in the Army of the Potomac.
The 19th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Three companies formerly with Col. Elmer Ellsworth's Zouave Cadets wore a zouave uniform consisting of a dark blue zouave jacket with red trimmings, red pants, leather gaiters, a sky blue shirt, red sash, and a red French styled kepi with a dark blue band. The jacket cuffs were trimmed in yellow-orange and red. Brass buttons went down both fronts of the jacket. They were organized into four separate companies on May 4, 1861, in Chicago. It was consolidated and mustered into Federal service as the 19th Illinois Volunteer Infantry on June 17, 1861. It was mustered out at Chicago on July 9, 1864.
Wheelock Graves Veazey was an American attorney, judge, and government official. Veazey served as a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, and as a member of the Interstate Commerce Commission. During the American Civil War he received the United States military's highest decoration for bravery, the Medal of Honor.
William Young Warren Ripley was a Union Army officer from Vermont in the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for heroism at the Battle of Malvern Hill.
Walter C. Dunton was a Vermont attorney, businessman, politician, and judge. In addition to serving in the Vermont State Senate, Dunton was a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1877 to 1879.
David Enoch Beem was a prominent lawyer, banker, and American Civil War veteran from Spencer, Owen County, Indiana. Beem, who attained the rank of captain of Company H, 14th Indiana Infantry Regiment, fought in numerous battles in the eastern United States before he mustered out of the Union army in June 1864. After the war Beem resumed his law practice in Spencer and became involved in local banking ventures. He was also active the state's Republican Party and civic affairs. Beem, a graduate of Indiana University, class of 1860, served on Purdue University's board of trustees for eighteen years. He also participated in the Grand Army of the Republic at local and state levels. Beem's papers and letters are preserved in the collections of the Indiana Historical Society in Indianapolis. The David Enoch Beem House, his former residence in Spencer, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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