Scope and Content Note
The family papers of John Nicholson (1757-1800) span the years 1786-1868. The collection consists of diary fragments, printed matter, and business and financial records kept by Nicholson and his heirs.
The first portion of business records, 1786-1800, contains letters and miscellaneous financial matter concerning the Pennsylvania Land Company, the Asylum Land Company (intended to offer Pennsylvania lands as a haven for French and Haitian refugees), and other of the senior Nicholson's real estate enterprises. Correspondents include Thomas Bedwell, James M. Broom, Thomas Joubert, Robert Morris, Louis McLane, and Robert Brooke Taney.
Business records after Nicholson's death derive principally from his son, also named John, and are related to attempts by heirs to regain the properties that their father had lost. Much of the correspondence from the period was written by the junior Nicholson to his attorney, Edward Livingston of Louisiana. Printed matter in the collection includes legal decisions, business circulars, and a pamphlet of a Union Canal Convention at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1838.