Early Years
Political Career
The year before his marriage Nicholas entered politics and won election to the House of Delegates representing Albemarle County. He was reelected to a second one-year term in 1785. Nicholas served on the Committee for Courts of Justice in both terms and on the Committees on Propositions and Grievances and for Religion in his second. He left politics briefly to devote more time to his family and to Warren, his Albemarle County estate where he raised primarily wheat with the labor of as many as ninety-five enslaved people. Nicholas also founded a small settlement on the James River that eventually included grain mills, a distillery, and a ferry, among other buildings and services. In 1795 the settlement, previously known as Nicholas's Landing, was legally established as the town of Warren.
He resigned his seat in the Senate on May 22, 1804, and in August, Jefferson appointed Nicholas collector of the ports of Norfolk and Portsmouth. Nicholas had reluctantly requested the appointment to meet his mounting debts and later regretted taking it when his political enemies charged him with being more concerned with his personal profit than with the good of the nation. Furthermore, within just a few months of taking office Nicholas began to fear for his life in the coastal climate. He also found the distance from his home, family, and business enterprises in Albemarle County inconvenient. In November Nicholas wrote Jefferson expressing his intention to resign, but he did not manage to leave the office until the following spring.
Nicholas stayed out of politics for the duration of the first Madison administration, focusing on his own agricultural pursuits at Warren. In 1811 Nicholas suggested to Jefferson the formation of an agricultural society in Albemarle and became a member when it was finally established six years later. He also served as the first vice president of the Virginia Society for Promoting Agriculture following its reorganization in 1816.
Governor
Later Years
Time Line
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January 31, 1761 - Wilson Cary Nicholas is born in Williamsburg.
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1779 - Wilson Cary Nicholas attends the College of William and Mary.
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1780 - Wilson Cary Nicholas is appointed a lieutenant of Virginia's volunteer troops.
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January 29, 1785 - Wilson Cary Nicholas and Margaret "Peggy" Smith marry. They will have at least three sons and seven daughters.
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1788–1789 - Wilson Cary Nicholas represents Albemarle County in the House of Delegates.
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Spring 1788 - Brothers Wilson Cary Nicholas and George Nicholas are elected to represent Albemarle County at the Convention of 1788.
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1794–1799 - Wilson Cary Nicholas represents Albemarle County in the House of Delegates.
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October 1798 - Thomas Jefferson and Wilson Cary Nicholas revise a draft of what will become the Virginia Resolutions.
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1799–1804 - Wilson Cary Nicholas serves in the U.S. Senate.
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May 22, 1804 - Wilson Cary Nicholas resigns his seat in the U.S. Senate due to financial problems.
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August 1804–spring 1805 - Wilson Cary Nicholas serves as collector of the ports of Norfolk and Portsmouth.
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1807–1809 - Wilson Cary Nicholas serves in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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1814–1816 - Wilson Cary Nicholas serves as governor of Virginia.
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1816 - Wilson Cary Nicholas serves as the first vice president of the Virginia Society for Promoting Agriculture.
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1817 - Wilson Cary Nicholas becomes president of the Richmond branch of the Bank of the United States.
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August 3, 1819 - Wilson Cary Nicholas defaults on two $10,000 notes, endorsed by Thomas Jefferson, at the Bank of Virginia. He resigns as bank president.
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March 1820 - Wilson Cary Nicholas's debt is estimated to be $280,000.
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October 10, 1820 - Wilson Cary Nicholas dies at the home of his son-in-law Thomas Jefferson Randolph. He is buried at Monticello.
References
Further Reading
External Links
Cite This Entry
- APA Citation:
Roberts, A. K., & the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Wilson Cary Nicholas (1761–1820). (2018, May 14). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Nicholas_Wilson_Cary_1761-1820.
- MLA Citation:
Roberts, Anna K. and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. "Wilson Cary Nicholas (1761–1820)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, 14 May. 2018. Web. READ_DATE.
First published: May 10, 2018 | Last modified: May 14, 2018
Contributed by Anna K. Roberts and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography.