John A. Nicholson
American politician (1827-1906)
John Anthony Nicholson (November 17, 1827 – November 4, 1906) was an American lawyer and politician from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and served as U.S. Representative from Delaware.
Early life and family
He was born in Laurel, Delaware, the son of Jacob Cannon Nicholson and Susannah Fauntleroy Nicholson. He began preparatory studies in Laurel, completing them at a seminary in Nelson County, Virginia, possibly the Presbyterian school at Lynchburg. After four years study, in 1847 he graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He married Angelica Killeen Reed in August 1848 and John Reed Nicholson was one of their children.
Professional and political career
Nicholson began his career as briefly the superintendent of the free schools of Kent County in 1851. At the same time he studied law with Martin W. Bates in Dover, was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1850, and began a law practice in Dover. In addition he served as brigadier general of militia in Kent County in 1861. In 1864 he defeated the Republican and Ultimate Unionist candidate Nathaniel B. Smithers, another Dickinson graduate, and was ultimately elected as a Democrat to the 39th and 40th Congress, serving from March 4, 1865, to March 3, 1869.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1699073. VIAF identifies the subject as 51520387. The Library of Congress control number is no2008181023. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1827, 1906, 1847 and 1848.
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This entry incorporates text from “John A. Nicholson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.