Francis T. Nicholls
Francis T. Nicholls | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 28th Governor of Louisiana | |
| In office May 20, 1888 – May 10, 1892 | |
| Lieutenant | James Jeffries |
| Preceded by | Samuel D. McEnery |
| Succeeded by | Murphy J. Foster |
| In office April 24, 1877 – January 14, 1880 | |
| Lieutenant | Louis A. Wiltz |
| Preceded by | Stephen B. Packard |
| Succeeded by | Louis A. Wiltz |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 20, 1834 Brigadier General (CSA) |
| Unit | 2nd U.S. Artillery 8th Louisiana Infantry (CSA) |
| Commands | 15th Louisiana Infantry (CSA) Nicholls' Brigade |
| Battles/wars |
|
Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls (August 20, 1834 – January 4, 1912) was an American
Early life and career
Nicholls was born at Prevost Memorial Hospital in
He then attended the University of Louisiana (subsequently Tulane University) in New Orleans. He practiced law in Napoleonville, the seat of Assumption Parish, until the start of the Civil War.
Two weeks after the surrender of Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, Nicholls wed the former Caroline Zilpha Guion, the daughter of George Seth Guion and the former Caroline Lucretia Winder. The couple had one son, Francis Welman Nicholls (born 1863), and six daughters, Caroline (born 1865), Louisa (born 1868), Harriet (born 1870), Virginia (born 1873), Margaret (born 1875), and Elizabeth (born 1877). He was a member of The Boston Club of New Orleans.[2]
Civil War
Nicholls joined the Confederate Army in 1861 as a captain in the 8th Louisiana Infantry Regiment and participated in the
In 1874, while testifying before a Congressional Committee investigating election fraud in Louisiana, Nicholls said of his service in the war; "I think that we made the attempt [the war for secession] under the most favorable circumstances...of course we all regret our want for success; but I do not believe that there is anywhere any desire for a renewal of the attempt." and that "My war record is a source of private misfortune without a corresponding gain to anyone. My services to my country were not worth the price to me. Every battle I went into I was wounded, and so I could not serve all the time."[3]
Postbellum
After the war, Nicholls returned to his law practice. In 1876, he ran for governor against the Republican Stephen B. Packard. The outcome was disputed, and both men claimed victory. Nicholls garnered a majority of 8,000 votes, but the Republican-controlled State Returning Board cited irregularities and declared Packard the winner. As part of the Compromise of 1877 to resolve the disputed presidential election of 1876, President Hayes recognized the Democrat Nicholls as the winner.[4]
During his first term, he battled political corruption, which was epitomized by Samuel James, the operator of the
Nicholls chaired the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1879, and returned the state capital from New Orleans to Baton Rouge.
Nicholls was governor of Louisiana in 1891, the year eleven Italians were
After his tenure as governor closed, Nicholls became Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court in 1892, a post which he held until 1911. He also grew sugarcane and other crops on his Ridgefield Plantation near Thibodaux, the seat of Lafourche Parish. He died at Ridgefield. Francis and Caroline Nicholls, Thomas Clark Nicholls, and other family members are interred in St. John's Episcopal Church and Cemetery in Thibodaux.
Memorialization
From 1913 to about 1950, there was a vocational school at 3649 Laurel Street in New Orleans named for Nicholls. It opened as the Francis T. Nicholls Industrial School for Girls, and offered secondary vocational training, concentrating on apparel manufacturing. The school was later renamed Nicholls Vocational School for Girls, and even later Nicholls Evening Vocational School.[7]
In 1940, a new
There is a "Governor Nicholls Street" in New Orleans. Where it meets the Mississippi River near the downriver end of the French Quarter, there is a Governor Nicholls Street Wharf. Atop the wharf shed there, the United States Coast Guard built a manned control tower with a red and green traffic signal to control vessel traffic rounding Algiers Point.[9] When speaking to the controller via marine VHF radio, mariners address him or her familiarly as "Governor Nick."
In Baton Rouge, there is a sculpture of Nicholls by Isidore Konti.
Nicholls State University, founded in 1948, is a public university located in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System. Originally called Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the university is named for Francis T. Nicholls.
He is played by James Bearden in the 1999 HBO original film Vendetta.
See also
Notes
- ^ Rowse, A. L. "The Cousin Jacks", The Cornish in America
- ^ https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.cu09362126&seq=339
- JSTOR 4230683.
- ^ Appletons' Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events. D. Appleton and Company. 1878. p. 455.
455.
- ^ Tedesco, Larie (March 14, 1991). "Anti-Italian Mood Led to 1891 Lynchings". Times Picayune.
- ISBN 1550711032.
- ^ "Blake Pontchartrain, New Orleans Know-It-All". Gambit Weekly. February 14, 2006. Archived from the original on May 24, 2006. Retrieved April 29, 2006.
- ^ Etheridge, Frank (July 5, 2005). "Derailing Plessy Park". Gambit Weekly. Archived from the original on June 25, 2006. Retrieved April 29, 2006.
- ^ "Vessel Traffic Service Lower Mississippi River". EPA: Federal Register. April 26, 2000. Retrieved April 29, 2006.
References
- Eicher, John H., and ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
- "Francis Tillou Nicholls", A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 2 (1988), p. 603.
- Garnie W. McGinty, "Francis Tillou Redding Nicholls", North Louisiana History, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Winter 1984), pp. 30–39
- Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4.
- ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.
External links
- State of Louisiana - Biography
- Biography from History Central
- Cemetery Memorial by La-Cemeteries
- Nicholls State University
- Francis T. Nicholls at Find a Grave
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
