Call Number:

Item 0055

Repository:

University of Delaware Library Special Collections

Extent:

2 volume

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

MSS 0097, Item 0055, John Reed Nicholson diary, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Date:

1882, 1889 (inclusive)

Creator:

Nicholson, John Reed, 1849-1937

Form:

Diaries

Abstract:

These two volumes are the diaries of John Reed Nicholson of Dover, Delaware, for the years 1882 and 1889.

John Reed Nicholson was born in Delaware to John A. Nicholson and Angelica Reed Nicholson in 1849. He graduated from Yale College, now Yale University, in 1870 and earned his law degree from Columbia University in 1873. After practicing law in New York for several years, Nicholson returned to Dover, Delaware, in 1876. He married Isabella Hayes Hager in the 1880s. Nicholson was the Dover’s town solicitor from 1885 until 1892, when he was appointed Attorney General for the state of Delaware. Nicholson resigned this office in 1895 to become Chancellor of Delaware, the highest judicial position in the state. He died in Dover, Delaware, in 1937.

Streets, Thomas Hale. Some Allied Families of Kent County, Delaware: The Stout Family of Delaware: with the Story of Penelope Stout. Philadelphia: Thomas Hale Streets, 1915.Men and Women of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries. New York: L.R. Hamersly and Company, 1910.Information derived from the collection.

These two volumes are the diaries of John Reed Nicholson of Dover, Delaware, for the years 1882 and 1889.

Nicholson made brief notations of how he spent each day, often recording the weather, when he took meals, and work completed at his law office. His descriptions are brief and often contain abbreviations. Nicholson recorded several trips to Wilmington, Delaware, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in his diary. He also made several references to engaging in “political talk.” In the first volume of his diary, Nicholson frequently noted what he was reading. He recorded a partial list of the books he read during 1882 in the memoranda section at the back of the volume, along with the weight of his horse, Monarch. At the start of Volume 2, Nicholson began recording the sleeping habits of his infant son or daughter, identified only as “baby.”

Volume 1 of the diary is bound in a black leather case with the inscription “Standard Diary No. 178” gilt-stamped on the front flap. A piece of raised metal on the back cover is inscribed “PATENTED/ June, 29, 75.” The title page reads “The Standard Diary/Published for the Trade/1882” and includes the inscription “John Nicholson Reed” in pencil. The first part of the diary contains a printed calendar and various printed tables. Each diary entry is handwritten in black ink with the date typewritten at the top of the page. At the back of the volume, there are sections for memoranda, cash accounts, and bills payable. This volume contains 218 leaves of lined wove paper. Volume 2 of the diary is bound in yellow cloth over boards with the inscription “Standard Diary 1889” gilt-stamped on the front cover. There is a typewritten “Counting-House Calendar” on the front paste down. The title page reads “The Standard Diary/Published Annually for the Trade/1889.” The typewritten portion of the diary consists of postage rates and a table for calculating interest. Like volume 1, the daily diary entries are handwritten in black ink with the date typewritten at the top of each page. There are sections for memoranda and cash accounts at the back of the volume, but these have been left blank. The volume contains 194 leaves of lined wove paper.