Skip to main content

William H. Ross document appointing John A. Nicholson to school superintendent for Kent County, Delaware

 Collection
Identifier: MSS 0098-F0177

Scope and Content Note

Delaware Governor William H. Ross and Delaware Secretary of State Alfred P. Robinson are the signers authorizing this 1851 document, which appointed John A. Nicholson to the position of superintendent of schools for Kent County, Delaware.

This printed form is completed with the names, dates, and appointed position filled in by hand. The document bears a blue embossed Great Seal of the State of Delaware, in addition to the signatures of Governor William H. Ross and Secretary of State Alfred P. Robinson. This item was originally housed in a pocket within the bound volume MSS 097 Item 93, Minutes of the meeting of the Committee on Education of the Trustees of the New Castle Common.

Dates

  • Creation: 1851 March 3

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials entirely in English.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections`, University of Delaware Library, http://library.udel.edu/spec/askspec/

William H. Ross

William H. Ross (1814-1877) served as the Democratic Governor of the state of Delaware from January 21, 1851, until January 16, 1855. Ross, originally a farmer from Seaford, Delaware, was also a member of the State Agricultural Society beginning in the mid-1850s.

Scharf, J. Thomas.History of Delaware: 1609-1888. Philadelphia: L.J. Richards, 1888.

John A. Nicholson

John A. (Anthony) Nicholson was appointed superintendent of schools for Kent County, Delaware, in 1851, by Governor William H. Ross.

Nicholson was born in Laurel, Sussex County, Delaware, on November 17, 1827. He graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1847, and studied law with Martin W. Bates in Dover, Delaware, before being admitted to the bar on April 23, 1850. On August 2, 1848, he married Angelica K. Reed. Beginning in 1861, Nicholson served as a brigadier general of the Kent County militia. He was twice elected to the United States Congress as a Representative from Delaware. He served as a Democratic member of the House of Representatives during the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses (March 4, 1865-March 3, 1869), before retiring to Dover, Delaware, to resume his law career. He died on November 4, 1906, in Dover, Kent County, Delaware, and is buried in the Presbyterian Church Cemetery.

Nicholson, John Anthony (1827-1906). In "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress." Available online at http://bioguide.congress.gov/ (accessed May 28, 2009).Scharf, J. Thomas.History of Delaware: 1609-1888. Philadelphia: L.J. Richards, 1888.

Extent

1 item (1 page)

Abstract

Delaware Governor William H. Ross and Delaware Secretary of State Alfred P. Robinson are the signees authorizing this 1851 document, which appointed John A. Nicholson to the position of school superintendent for Kent County, Delaware.

Source

Transferred from MSS 0097 Diaries, Journals, and Ships' Logs (Item 93), May 2009.

Related Materials in this Repository

This item forms part of MSS 0098 Delaware Miscellaneous Historical and Literary Manuscripts.

Shelving Summary

  1. F177: Shelved in SPEC MSS 098 manuscript boxes

Processing

Processed and encoded by Lora J. Davis, May 2009. Further encoding by George Apodaca, March 2015.

Title
Finding aid for William H. Ross document appointing John A. Nicholson to school superintendent for Kent County, Delaware
Status
Completed
Author
University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
Date
2009 May 14
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the University of Delaware Library Special Collections Repository

Contact:
181 South College Avenue
Newark DE 19717-5267 USA
302-831-2229