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assessed value £12.10.0, 1783; assessed value
£105.0.0, including 1 slave, 1793-1798; 3 slaves,
1797; 8 slaves, 1802. LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: 49
acres in Montgomery County (deeded as a gift
from his father). In 1782 Nicholls purchased 1,182
acres in Montgomery County, on which he paid
taxes in 1783. He sold it all in 1785 shorthly before
his election. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND
BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: probably
moved out of state shortly after his legislative
service, without any significant change in land-
holdings. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: ca. 1802 in
Mason County, Kentucky; inventory proven March
22, 1802. PERSONAL PROPERTY: TEV, at least
£779.3.7 (including 4 slaves, 5 books, 27 still and
mash tubs, livestock, and farm implements). LAND:
at least 102 acres in Mason County, Kentucky.
NICHOLSON, BENJAMIN (?-1792). BORN, in
Kent County, of age by 1765; younger son. NA
TIVE: third generation. RESIDED: in Baltimore
County, by 1771-death (for part of this period
he lived in Baltimore Town). FAMILY BACK-
GROUND. FATHER: Col. Joseph Nicholson (1709-
ca. 1787) of Chestertown, Kent County, a mer-
chant; son of William Nicholson (?-1719) of Anne
Arundel County, a merchant, and wife Elizabeth
(?-1716/17). MOTHER: Hannah (ca. 1708-?),
daughter of James Smith (ca. 1683-1760) and wife
Sarah Hynson. Hannah was the granddaughter
of John Hynson (?-1705). Hannah married first,
in 1725, Edward Scott (?-1729), son of Edward
Scott (?-1725). STEPMOTHER: by 1772 Mary (?-
ca. 1799), daughter of William Hopper (1707-1772).
BROTHERS: Joseph Nicholson, Jr. (?-1786); Wil-
liam; James (ca. 1736-1804), captain of the
Maryland ship Defence and a senior officer in the
Continental Navy, 1778-1783; Samuel (1743-
1811), a captain in the Continental Navy, 1776-
1783, who married in 1780 Mary Dowse of Bos-
ton; Thomas (?-1783), who married in 1774
Rachel, daughter of John Ridgely (by 1724-1771);
and John, a captain in the Continental Navy. HALF
BROTHERS Edward Scott (1726-?); John Scott
(ca. 1727-1790); and Joseph Hopper Nicholson,
Jr. SISTER; Elizabeth, who married Charles Gor-
don (?-1787). HALF SISTERS: Mary (by 1772-by
1797); Henrietta, who married first, John Bracco,
Jr. (ca. 1763-1797), son of John Bracco (?-1794),
and second, Robert Goldsborough, son of John
Goldsborough (1711-1778). NIECE: Frances Ni-
cholson, who married Joshua Seney (1756-1798).
MARRIED by 1771 Mary (?-1804), daughter of John
Ridgely (by 1724-1771) and wife Mary Dorsey
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(1725-ca. 1786). Mary was the granddaughter of
Charles Ridgely (by 1705-1772). She was the niece
of Charles Ridgely (1733-1790); Edward Dorsey
(1718-1760); and Rachel Ridgely, who married
Darby Lux (?-1795). Her brothers were (first name
unknown) (ca. 1746-1748); Charles Ridgely, of
John (ca. 1749-1786); William (?-1797); John
(1764-1814); and Edward (1771-?). Her sisters
were Deborah (1749-1817), who married John
Sterett (1750/51-1787); Rachel; Elinor; and Ach-
sah (?-by 1771). Her first cousins were Rachel
Goodwin (?-1819), who married second, Jesse
Hollingsworth (1732/33-1810); Prudence Carnan
(1755-1822), who married Harry Dorsey Gough
(ca. 1745-1808); Thomas Dorsey (?-1790); Eleanor
Dorsey, who married Upton Sheredine (1740-
1800); Harry Dorsey Gough (ca. 1745-1808);
Achsah Dorsey, who married Ephraim Howard
(1745-1788); Rebecca Dorsey (1739-1812), who
married Charles Ridgely (1733-1790); Eleanor
Dorsey, who married John Hall (1729-1797); Mary
Dorsey, who married John Weems (1727-1794);
Elizabeth Dorsey (?-ca. 1811), who married
Richard Ridgely (1755-1824); Henry Woodward
(1733-1761); Frances Todd, who married George
Risteau (?-1792); and Deborah Lynch (?-1810),
who married Samuel Owings, Jr. (1733-1803).
CHILDREN. SONS: William; Benjamin; John Ridgely
(ca. 1772-1800), a doctor, who married Matilda
Heath Smith; and Benjamin Joseph, who was
possibly lost at sea by 1804. DAUGHTERS: Mary,
who married in 1798 Darby Lux (ca. 1772-1812),
son of Darby Lux (?-1795); Elizabeth; Eleanor;
Sarah; and Juliet. PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION:
studied law. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Protestant,
buried by Rev. John Coleman, rector of St. John's
Parish, Harford County. SOCIAL STATUS AND AC-
TIVITIES. Gent., by 1771; Esq., by 1789. OCCU-
PATIONAL PROFILE: lawyer, admitted to the fol-
lowing courts: Queen Anne's County, June 1765;
Baltimore and Frederick counties, August 1765;
Provincial Court, October 1768; Anne Arundel
and Cecil counties by March 1769; merchant, by
June 1771 until at least 1773, in partnership for
at least part of this period with his brother James;
planter; mill owner, 1789-1792 (although the mill
land was mortgaged shortly before his death, its
assets were included in Nicholson's inventory).
PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Conven-
tions, Baltimore County, 2nd-3rd, 1774, 4th, 1775,
5th, 1775, 6th-8th, 1775-1776 (did not attend
the 8th Convention). OTHER STATE OFFICES: judge,
Court of Admiralty, 1776-1789 (commissioned
on October 30, 1776). LOCAL OFFICES. Commit-
612
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