Herewith is presented the information I have discovered regarding Samuel Nicholas, Philadelphia, who founded the Marine Corps which has honorably endured through one hundred and fifty-seven years.

The MARINE CORPS GAZETTE of December, 1925, reproduced a portrait of Major Nicholas, and mentioned that his commission, dated November 28, 1775, was in existence and possessed by a descendant, Mr. C. Mitchell, of Glen Ridge, N.Y. The article states, “We know very little of Major Nicholas’ life before the Revolution. He was a Philadelphian, but we do not know the date of his birth, or any other details concerning his private life.” There then follows a very interesting account of his recruiting services, his duty on the Alfred at New Providence, and with the Army at the battles of Trenton and Princeton, his subsequent duty in Philadelphia as a sort of Commandant of Marines and as Muster Master for the Navy until the end of the war. In 1781 Major Nicholas wrote to Congress requesting duty on the America, a 74-gun ship being fitted out, but she was given to France as partial payment of a debt.

At the close of the war, Major Nicholas drops almost out of sight. Apparently he continued to live in Philadelphia, since his immediate descendants are buried there. His wife was a Miss Jenkins, and he left two sons, Samuel, Jr., and Charles Jenkins Nicholas. He was a member of the Patriotic Association of Philadelphia and a charter member of the Pennsylvania Society of Cincinnati. He is said to have died comparatively young, but his burial place is not known. On May 12, 1919, the destroyer Nicholas was named in his honor.”

Collum’s “History of the United States Marine Corps,” 1890, consistently spells his name as Samuel Nichols.

The Leatherneck of November, 1927, also reproduced a pen sketch, evidently copied from the GAZETTE portrait at a slightly different angle, of Major Samuel Nicholas, and deals in a very interesting manner with further data concerning his naval career. It adds the information that he served on the standing committee of the “Pennsylvania Society of Cincinnatorium” from 1785 to 1788. “It is strange indeed that such a heroic and capable figure faded quickly from view. It is the general belief among American historians that he died while comparatively a young man. Unfortunately, Marine Corps officials have never succeeded in finding any record of the death or burial place of the First Marine Officer. The Marine Corps of today is greatly indebted to this gallant Quaker, who, armed in righteousness, established the prestige and the glory, that we are pledge to ‘carry on’.”

In the spring of 1926 I was assigned to command the 43rd Company, Fifth Marines, at the Sesquicentennial Exposition at League Island Park, South Philadelphia. This unit consisted of three officers and one hundred and eighteen Men. Colonel Cyrus Radford, Depot Quarter-master, and his able assistants, did everything in their power to help us to construct a camp of interest and to our east was built a replica of the old Tun Tavern which used to stand on King (now Water) Street, near Walnut, where the first Marines were organized for the Continental forces in 1775. The interior of this model had no second floor, and served as an art gallery for the exhibition of heroic scenes in Marine Corps history, painted by J. Joseph Capolino.

Across the street from our exhibit was the Army camp, where one thousand officers and soldiers were comfortably billeted. This was named in honor of that great hero Anthony Wayne of Pennsylvania. Not be outdone by the Army in this regard, the Commandant of Marines ordained that our camp be named for Samuel Nicholas, likewise a Pennsylvanian and a leader in the American Revolution.

It was considered desirable to invite to the dedication of Camp Samuel Nicholas one of the lineal male descendants of our founder, and search was made for him. The publicity bureau had on file a copy of the following Communication:

The official inauguration of Camp Samuel Nicholas took place on Tuesday, June 29, 1926 at 4:00 P. M. and our most significant guests of honor were the founder’s great, great grandson, Mr. Charles Thomas Mitchell of 60 High Street, Glen Ridge, New Jersey, his wife, née Anna Gantvoort, and two young daughters, Florence Elizabeth and Anne Rosalie Mitchell. Neither son, John Nicholas nor William Gantvoort Mitchell could be present, the latter then being in service with the First Coast Artillery, Panama Canal Zone. In addition to regular Army, Navy, and Marine Corps representatives, there was present Captain Clement Biddle Wood, First Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry (known locally as the First City Troop), especially invited as commanding officer of that famous military organization that antedates the Marine Corps and has been in continuous and honorable existence since the day it was founded, November 17, 1774.

Mr. Mitchell brought with him, as requested, the original commission of Samuel Nicholas dated November 28, 1775, and it was read aloud to the guests during the reception that followed in Tun Tavern.

After this duty there followed for me a trick at mail guard, a year here and there in Nicaragua, and a return to Philadelphia on recruiting duty. As a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, I had access to the sacred books, and determined to see what could be done to find something more about Samuel Nicholas, of whom so little was known. In the documents of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania Gilbert Cope Collection, “Permits for Interments; Friends Burial Grounds, Philadelphia, page 111, from the original papers of the Arch Street Meeting, it was stated that a permit was granted for the interment of Samuel Nicholas on August 27, 1790. The age was recorded as 46 years. In a letter to me dated February 17, 1932, from one of our best Pennsylvania historians, Charles Francis Jenkins, he writes: “He (Samuel Nicholas) was born in Philadelphia in 1744 and died there August 27, 1790. He was a son of Anthony Nicholas.”

The land in which Major Nicholas is buried is the second oldest cemetery in Philadelphia, and contains no headstones. James Logan, who died in 1751, secretary to William Penn, is thought – for example – to lie under the front brick walk. William Penn issued a patent dated 1701, confirming a verbal gift made in 1693 of the ground for burial purposes. It is located at the south-east corner of Arch and Fourth Streets, with entrance on Arch (early Mulberry) Street. The ground was used by The Religious Society of Friends for general burial for over a hundred years and especially during the yellow fever epidemics of 1793 and 1798. As many as 20,000 people are supposed there to be interred. The Meeting House, built of red brick and white trim, beautiful in its simplicity and in good repair, was erected in 1804, and has been used continuously ever since. It is under the care of the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia, and is used for Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly Meetings of Friends; the last is held in the spring of each year and represents approximately five thousand Friends who gather from Eastern Pennsylvania, West Jersey, Northern Delaware, and Northeastern Maryland. The grounds are well tended, and a high red brick wall surrounds the whole; a view may be had from the street through iron grilled gates. The congregation is very cordial to strangers, as is typical of Friends the country over, in their meeting houses. This neighborhood of old Philadelphia was a very fashionable residential district in colonial days and contained many mansions of elegance.

Major Nicholas left no will; a letter of administration was granted September 8,1790, to his widow, Mary Nicholas. This is numbered 69 and is at City Hall, Penn Square, Philadelphia, in Book 1, page 232. It was photostated and sent to the Publicity Bureau, as also the commission as captain.

The Philadelphia Directory for 1785, Francis White Editor, page 53, gives:

The Society meets on the 4th of July annually at the City Tavern and the Committee meets as often as applications are made, at the Conostogoe Waggon, for the purpose of granting relief to the distressed widows, orphans, and members of the Society.

At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania were found the records of the Society of Cincinnati of Pennsylvania, 1891, in which is reproduced the original parchment scroll on which are signed the names of original members. The first name to head this historic document is that of Sam Nicholas, Major Marines, £75, dis d 81 Philadelphia. Then follows Joshua Barney, Lieutenant in Navy, and third comes Isaac Craig, Major Pennsylvania Artillery – the former Lieutenant Isaac Craig, commissioned November 29, 1775, for service as a Marine on the Andrea Doria.

This was photostated and sent to the Publicity Bureau.

Also listed as member of the Society are the son, Samuel Nicholas, 1802, and the great grandson, Thomas Mitchell, 1891.

Hoping to find further information of the family by correspondence with the secretary of the “Pennsylvania Societas Cincinnatorum,” I wrote to Mr. Francis Caldwell, 1108 South 40th Street, Philadelphia, and received the following reply:

Searches in the Pennsylvania Packet and Advertiser, and in the Pennsylvania Gazette for August and September, 1790, failed to produce and obituary notices about the late Samuel Nicholas.

Wills were found at City Hall, Philadelphia, listed as follows:

It seemed quite probable that the 1709 will is that of the founder’s grandfather, a lawyer who died in Philadelphia April 19, 1709, leaving a widow, Margaret, daughter of Anthony and Jane Moore. I did not see it, however, not knowing the relationship of the two men, but have since had it photostated, and it actually is the grandfather’s will.

Mr. Charles Thomas Mitchell replied to my enquiry by sending a pedigree made by Thomas Mitchell, Cincinnatus in 1891, great grandson of the founder, to which were added data to include later generations. This correspondent referred me to his cousin, Dr. Elsie Reed Mitchell, 64 Barrow Street, Manhattan, N.Y., and I now quote from their letters;

Whilst continuing my casual research for some light on our much neglected founder, I decided to have a look at the list of early members of the State in Schuylkill, a club that has continuously existed in the former capital of the United States since 1732. It is said to be the oldest surviving club in the United States, if not in the entire world. John Fanning Watson, famous and accurate antiquarian, who wrote his Annals of Philadelphia in 1842, the 1927 edition, of which I possess, describes it briefly on page 431, volume I, but on page 291, volume III, are supplementary and more detailed notes of Willis P. Hazard:

Besides those in the City Troop the following served in the Revolution: Major Samuel Nicholas of the Marine Corps; Lieutenant Anthony Morris of the Militia, killed at the Battle of Princeton; Lieutenant Colonel William Bradford; Captains John Graff and John Wharton, of the Militia; Captain Tench Francis of the rifle corps, etc. Several others appeared in the ranks of the Quaker and Silk-Stocking Companies, so designated on account of the wealth or high standing of the spirited gentlemen composing those corps raised in the city, and in other volunteer corps of infantry, at a crisis in affairs when neutrality was treason. In the war of 1812 many served or marched to the field. Below are a few names:

Another reference is made to Samuel Nicholas’ occupation five years before his death on page 345, volume III Watson’s Annals: The following were tavern signs in Philadelphia in 1785:

Having learned that our Major Nicholas was on the rolls of the State in Schuylkill, I wrote to Captain Clement Biddle Wood, who had been present to represent the First City Troop at the dedication of Camp Samuel Nicholas, vice president of the Penn Athletic Club, and newly elected member of the State in Schuylkill, to enquire for further details as to the hero of this tale. The reply of Captain Wood is so intelligent and painstaking that it is recorded in full:

The first Nicholas ancestor of whom I have found record is Samuel Nicholas, Esq., a lawyer and intimate friend of John Cadwallader, on of Philadelphia’s first schoolmasters and of Welsh extraction. Samuel died in 1709, – his will is dated “Reign of 7th/yr. Queen Anne,” – and he left a Quaker widow, Margaret, daughter of Anthony and Jane Moore. One of his two sons, apparently the younger, was Anthony Nicholas, who married two sisters successively, Rebecca and Mary Shute, whose brother, Atwood Shute, was lieutenant in Captain Charles Willing’s company of the Associated Regiments in 1748, Mayor of Philadelphia from 1757-58, and who in 1761 was on the committee to supervise the building of St. Peter’s Church at 3rd and Pine Streets, where Washington worshipped in later years when it housed the post-Revolution Protestant-Episcopal Church, successor to the Church of England in America. The latter of Anthony’s wives, Mary, was the widow Cowman at the time of this second venture for them both, and bore her husband two daughters and one son, Samuel, the subject of this sketch, born 1744 at Philadelphia. As we have learned, he was an able seaman, a skilled horseman, a convivial bon-vivant, and a thorn in the side of his Majesty George III’s brave henchmen in America. He married a Friend, Mary, one of nine children born to Dr. Charles Jenkins, of Jenkintown, PA (whose father Stephen was a Welshman) and his wife Mary, daughter of Joseph Gray and Mary Hastings, all of Philadelphia. Another daughter, Sarah Jenkins, married General Josiah Harmer of the Revolution and subsequent Indian wars in Ohio, who descendants flourish to this day, some of whom I know.

This union of Major Samuel Nicholas and Mary Jenkins was blessed with three sons and two daughters: (1) Samuel 3d, (2) Charles Jenkins, (3) William, (4) Sarah, and (5) Mary Jenkins. Charles Jenkins Nicholas married Alice Ann Hoffman, of Philadelphia, whose only son, Ogden Hoffman Nicholas, died an infant; the only known daughter, Matilda, is now represented by Mr. J.R. Molony, of Berkeley, California.

William Nicholas entered the Sixth U.S. Infantry in 1808 as second lieutenant, and as first lieutenant resigned in 1811. As soon as the War of 1812 broke, he again entered the army, and was commissioned captain of the Second U.S. Artillery, being transferred to Corps Artillery in 1814. In 1813 he was captured, and imprisoned at Montreal, Canada. Exchanged, he continued in service until his honourable discharge, June 15, 1815. Later he engaged in business in Philadelphia, and in 1816 made a commercial voyage on the schooner Paul Jones, captain Stotesbury, to the West Indies. In the Bight of Léogrance, Haiti, the vessel was wrecked in a storm, and all on deck were washed overboard. Captain Nicholas, in the cabin at the time, escaped to the deck through the skylight. After drifting for three days and nights, they grounded near Mole St. Nicholas, in the north-west part of Henri Christophe’s Kingdom, and at this desolate spot those who had survived drowning slowly died of fever – all save the mate and one sailor, who returned to New York in the brig Bee. Thus tragically perished Captain William Nicholas, aged 33 years and unmarried, November, 1816. The Gazette, Philadelphia, February 13, 1817, records the details, taken from a letter written to Samuel Nicholas by his brother Charles Jenkins Nicholas. Copies of both are at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, as well as a letter written by Washington Irving to David Ogden, Esq., Montreal, dated 1813, asking that “all the services and attentions which you consider due to a Gentleman of worth and honourable standing, and a particular friend of mine” be shown to Captain William Nicholas. Mr. Ogden was a relative of Alice Ann Hoffman, above mentioned.

Sarah Nicholas married Peter Hagner, Esq., a gentleman of considerable prominence, and died without issue; Mr. Hagner then married Miss Randall of Annapolis, from whom is descended Dr. Francis Randall Hagner, M.D., of Washington, D.C.

Mary Jenkins Nicholas, a famous beauty; died unmarried; family tradition relates that she was betrothed to the famous New York author, Washing Irving, who was an intimate friend of the Nicholas family.

Samuel Nicholas, third of the name in America, oldest son of Major Samuel Nicholas, U.S. Marines, and Mary Jenkins, succeeded to his father’s membership as a Cincinnatus in 1802. He married Maria Redman, one of the belles of Philadelphia society, and by her had two sons and one daughter: Samuel 4th, who died unmarried aged 24 years; Charles Jenkins 2nd, who died unmarried in 1881, and Rebecca, born 1814, who married, 1839, John Cowell Mitchell, Esq., born 1817, of “Elmwood” now in West Philadelphia, son of Thomas Mitchell, Esq. and Maria Matilda Cowell, (daughter of John Cowell, provost of Princeton College and Mary Cash), and grandson of Benjamin Mitchell, Esq. Native of Ireland. All were lawyers in Philadelphia.

It is from the marriage of Rebecca Nicholas and John Cowell Mitchell that the senior line of Major Nicholas descends. In 1838 Mr. Mitchell, aged twenty-one years, was admitted to the bar for practice of law. Four sons and two daughters were born: Samuel Nicholas (1840-1846); Stephen Tyng (1850-1850); Maria (1842-1876) unmarried; Julianna Miller (1849-1923) unmarried; and those who survived and had issue: Thomas ( 1845-1909) and John Nicholas (1847-1934). The younger of these two brothers, Dr. John Nicholas Mitchell, M.D., studied the classic at Pennsylvania and medicine and surgery at Hahnemann, and practiced his profession in Philadelphia. He married twice; first Florence Lovina Thomas, daughter of Dr. Amos Russell Thomas, M.D. founder and dean of the new Hahnemann College of Philadelphia, and Elizabeth Bacon, of Watertown, N.Y. By this marriage there is one son: Charles Thomas Mitchell, of whom presently. By his second marriage with Anne Rosalie Leonard, of Philadelphia, there was no issue.

The older of the two surviving brothers was Captain Thomas Mitchell, Pennsylvania, 1865, who read the law in the offices of Henry Wharton, and later became a Federal judge in Denver, Colorado. He was an intimate friend of Judge Benjamin Brewster and Lewis Cochran Cassidy, Attorney General of Pennsylvania, and was elected the third Cincinnatus in 1891. During the Civil War he served as second lieutenant, 198th Pennsylvania Volunteers, and later was captain on General Chamberlain’s staff, being cited for gallantry in action. He married Lucy Breck Reed, daughter of Samuel Payne Reed, of Cane Island, Beaufort, S.C. (son of Samuel Reed of Boston, of S.C. and Eliza Manory Dopson of S.C.), and Eliza Breck, daughter of George Breck and Catherine Israel, of Bristol, Pa. The Breck family was famed for its culture, wealth, and charm. George’s brother, Samuel, of Sweetbriar Mansion (now standing in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia), was the intimate friend of many of the most distinguished men of his day, and both were sons of Samuel Breck and Hannah Andrews, who came from Boston and settled in Philadelphia. By this marriage there were three sons and one daughter: Samuel Nicholas (1873-1925); George Breck, born 1875; John Austie (1876-1902) educated at Illinois as an architect and unmarried; and Elsie Reed, born 1871.

Samuel Nicholas Mitchell, oldest son of the above, married Louise Pinkney, daughter to Charles Coatesworthy Pinckney and Mary Elizabeth Boardman of Chicago, resided in Denver, Colorado, with his family of three daughters, and died without male issue. His rights to the Cincinnati passed to his younger surviving brother, George Breck Mitchell born in Germantown, Pa, 1875, Civil Engineer at the Colorado School of Mines, who has spent his life in general engineering construction work in both North and South America, and at the age of 58 years is settled in Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada, where he is director and general superintendent of the Atlas Construction Company, Ltd. He married Elizabeth Margaret Naomi Lewis, daughter of the late Francis John Lewis, an English banker who settled in Montreal. By this marriage there are three daughters and no sons: Naomi Breck Mitchell, born 1905, married to Hubert James Housemayner Du Boulay, eldest sons of a physician of Chandlersford, England, and Elsie Marjorie and Norma Lloyd, young ladies who have but recently made their debut in society.

Neither Samuel Nicholas Mitchell nor his brother George Breck Mitchell, above mentioned, has availed himself of the honour of becoming a Cincinnatus; failing male issue from the latter, the right to membership from Major Samuel Nicholas will pass at his death to his only first cousin of the surname Mitchell, Charles Thomas Mitchell, born Philadelphia 1878, Pennsylvania 1899, Yale Scientific 1901, Freiberg, Saxony 1903, a well-known engineer in Manhattan, who resides at 60 High Street, Glen Ridge, N.J. He is the son of Dr. John Nicholas Mitchell, M.D. above mentioned. In 1904 he married Anna Gantvoort, daughter of Gerrit Jan Gantvoort and Maria Anna Clasina Arends, both of Amsterdam, Holland. By her there are two sons and two daughters: John Nicholas Mitchell, 2nd, born 1905; William Gantvoort Mitchell, born 1906, who as a youngster served an honourable enlistment in the First U.S. Coast Artillery at Panama, and is now living in Evansville, Wisconsin, married to Harriet Brooks, daughter of the late Charles Summer Brooks and Minnie Bement Thomas, both of that city; Florence Elizabeth Mitchell, born 1912; and Anna Rosalie Mitchell, born 1913 – both unmarried.

It is most satisfactory to note that this senior line from the founder of the Marine Corps is still represented by people of culture, intellect, and splendid character, representative of the highest type of Americanism. Perhaps the most famous member of the living generations is Dr. Elsie Reed Mitchell, M.D., only sister of George Breck Mitchell, head of the family. She resides at 50 Barrow St., Greenwich Village, Manhattan, when not abroad in remote parts of the world. Born at Denver in 1871, she defied her father’s wishes and studied medicine and surgery, which she practiced with pronounced success for more than thirty years, seven of which were spent in many parts of India. During the World War, Dr. Mitchell volunteered her services to the Allies, and spent many months in dangerous sectors, where her skill and courage were conspicuous. At the end of this war, Dr. Mitchell served with the Near East Relief, after which she went to Siberia, under Soviet regime, to do surgical and welfare work in the desolate coal mines of that bleak country. Later she travelled in Mongolia and along the basin of the Volga River.

In 1929 Miss Mitchell and Miss Wilson wrote Vagabonding at Fifty, a book of part of her adventures published by Coward, McCann, N.Y. Dr. Mitchell, now sixty-two years of age, is more active than the average woman in her early thirties. She knows Russia as few Americans do, and is personna grata in that country. She is a charming hostess, as the writer can gratefully testify, and possesses a delightful sense of humour and a modest spirit, which have gained for her a host of friends at home and abroad. It is by her and her first cousin, Charles Thomas Mitchell, that much of the data — too complete for inclusion here — have been so generously given for the information of the Marine Corps. Dr. Mitchell has permitted the writer to photostat an original letter dated 1779, signed Joseph Pennell, directing Major Samuel Nicholas to raise a company of Marines; another dated 1781, signed Robert Morris, appointing Major Nicholas a member of a Court Martial Board; and the certificate of membership of her father, Judge Thomas Mitchell, in the Societas Cincinnatorum in 1891. Copies of these are at Headquarters, U.S.M.C.

A bust of Major Nicholas was unveiled at Port au Prince, Haiti, on November 28, 1933, the 157th anniversary of his first commission as a Captain of Marines, by Hugh Mercer Fagan, aged twelve, great great, great, great grandson of Brigadier General Hugh Mercer, friend of Nicholas, who fell mortally wounded at Princeton. The First Marine Brigade in Haiti has recently presented this fine statue to Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, at Washington, D.C. Photographs of it are at the congressional Library, and at the Publicity Bureau, U.S.M.C., Philadelphia.