John Nicholson (1724 - 1790)

Born 1724 in Baltimore, Maryland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1790 at about age 66 in Kanawha, Virginia

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Biography

John Nicholson, son of Richard was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1724, and died at Kanawha, Virginia, 1790.

He married ELIZABETH in Sussex, Virginia

CHILDREN:

RICHARD NICHOLSON 1752–1820

Joseph Hopper NICHOLSON

Samuel NICHOLSON

Joseph Hopper was a lawyer, and became Judge in Baltimore, and was prominent at the time of the war of 1812-1815, and to him is accredited the adaptation of an old English air to Francis Scott Key's poem, "The Star Spangled Banner."

Richard and Samuel were soldiers and surveyors and both fought in the War of the Revolution. Richard was born in 1752 and was married to Margaret DuBois, and settled on the French Broad River, in what is now Cocke County, Tennessee, and later came to Kentucky and settled on Big Goose Creek, in what is now Clay County. He died there about 1820, and is buried in Bundy Graveyard on Horse Creek in Clay County.

Samuel settled on the Kentucky River where he died at Three Forks, but date not learned. Richard served in the Maryland Line (Regulars) in the war and was one of the men chosen to storm Paulus Hook, October 7, 1778, where he was severely wounded.

John was a linguist and surveyor, spoke French, German, and several Indian dialects and was an interpreter for Colonel George Washington, on his expedition to Fort Duquesne. After the Revolution, at the request of Washington, he surveyed land for the soldiers along the Kanawha, Ohio, and Rapid Ann (Rapidan) Rivers, for the state of Virginia.

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