Person:Timothy Nicholson (1)

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• Timothy Nicholson Papers, 1860-1922, Friends Collection and Earlham College Archives - documents aspects of the career of one of the most influential Indiana Friends of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Consisting of correspondence, essays, printed materials, and a sound recording, the collection, although relatively small, is a rich resource for American Quaker history, especially for the period 1880-1900. Nicholson's correspondents between 1880 and 1900 included some of the most prominent Quakers in America, and his papers are a rich resource for the tensions that holiness revivalism caused among Orthodox Friends. Of special interest are letters from his brother William Nicholson (1827-1898), the long-time clerk of Kansas Yearly Meeting of Friends, and Joel Bean (1825-1914), one of the best-known opponents of the revival.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Biography, in Morrisson-Reeves Library.

   Timothy Nicholson was born in North Carolina and was educated at Belvidere Academy in North Carolina the Friends' School in Providence, Rhode Island. He was then named principal of Belvidere and later taught at Haverford College, near Philadelphia.
   
   In 1861, he moved to Richmond where he joined his brother, John, in the book and stationery business. He later became president of this company, Nicholson and Brother, and later of the Nicholson Printing Co.
   
   But he is best known for his life of public service. A prominent Quaker, he held numerous positions in the church including elder, clerk of the Yearly Meeting of ministers and elders for 22 years, and clerk of the Whitewater Monthly Meeting for twelve years. He was also active in various Sunday school organizations.
   
   He was a trustee of the Richmond City Schools from 1865-66 and from 1867-73 a trustee of Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute. For nearly fifty years he was a trustee of Earlham College. In honor of his dedication to education, in 1925 the Whitewater School located at North G and 13th Streets was remodeled and renamed the Timothy Nicholson Elementary School.
   
   In 1864, when Robert Morrisson founded the Morrisson Library, he appointed a committee to select the original collection, and Timothy Nicholson was a member of that committee. He also served as a member of the Morrisson Library Committee for 23 years.
   
   He was active in many social reform movements, most notably in prison reform. He was instrumental in many reforms in the Indiana prison system, including the establishment of the Women's Prison and Reform School for Girls. In 1889, state law created a Board of State Charities, and Nicholson was one of the first appointed and served for nineteen years. Locally he was on the board of the Home for the Friendless. A life-long temperance advocate, he was elected president of the Indiana Anti-Saloon League when it was founded in 1898 and held the title until his death.
   
   For more information see:
   Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1899: 422-427. [Adult Non-Fiction 920.0772 B61a]
   
   Fox, Henry Clay. Memoirs of Wayne County and the City of Richmond Indiana. Madison, Wis.: Western Historical Assn., 1912: 128-131. [Adult Non-Fiction 977.263 F79a]
   
   Testimonial in honor of Timothy Nicholson... Richmond, Ind.: 1908 [Richmond Collection BN628t]
   
   Woodward, Walter C. Timothy Nicholson, Master Quaker. Richmond, Ind.: Nicholson Press, 1927. [Richmond Collection B N628w]

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Biography, in Earlham College Archives.

   Timothy Nicholson was born in Perquimans County, North Carolina, Nov. 2, 1828, the son of Josiah and Anna (White) Nicholson, prominent Friends. Educated in local Quaker schools and in the Friends School (now Moses Brown School) in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1849 he returned to North Carolina to head Belvidere Academy. In 1855 he joined the faculty of Haverford College, first as a teacher and then as superintendent.
   
   In 1861, Nicholson moved to Richmond, Indiana, where he resided until his death, operating a book and stationary store. He became one of the leading members of Indiana Yearly Meeting of orthodox Friends, serving for many years as clerk of the yearly meeting of Ministers and Elders and as clerk of the yearly meeting from 1904 to 1911. From 1865 to 1914 he was a member of the Earlham College Board of Trustees. For most of that time he was considered the board's most active and influential member. When the American Gurneyite yearly meetings of Friends were swept by holiness revivalism in the 1870s, Nicholson was a leading proponent of a more moderate and traditional Quaker vision, and was central to Indiana Yearly Meeting resisting the revival movement's most radical tendencies. He also became nationally known for humanitarian work in prison reform and temperance.
   
   Nicholson was twice married: first in 1853 to Sarah N. White (1827-1863) and in 1868 to Mary S. White (1839-1911). He died in Richmond, Sept. 15, 1924.