CHARLES A. NICHOLSON
The Nicholson family in America descends from William Nicholson, who came from Yarmouth, England, to Boston, Mass., in May, 1635. One of his descendants, Ephraim Nicholson, was a soldier in King
Philip's war, while Nathan Nicholson (grandfather of Charles A.) and two brothers served in the war of the Revolution. The latter, Nathan, married Mary Hill, and their youngest son, Ambrose, was born
in Hinsdale, Mass., in 1804, came to Herkimer county when a young man, and died in Marcy, Oneida county, March 2, 1878; he married Maria McElwain, also of Hinsdale, Mass., whose family was
prominently connected with the early history of the Methodist church in New England. Ambrose Nicholson, familiarly known as Squire Nicholson, held several town offices. He served several terms as
supervisor of Russia, Herkimer county, as justice of the peace, etc., and did considerable business in drawing deeds and wills and settling estates. In 1856 he came to Trenton, N. Y., and about seven
years later removed to the town of Marcy, where he carried on a lumber business in connection with a sash, blind and door factory, and where he died. He represented the fourth Oneida district in the
State Legislature in 1868. He had three sons: Nathan D. and Timothy M., both deceased, and Charles A., of Utica, all of whom served with distinction in Co. A, 1st N. Y. Lt. Art., in the war of the
Rebellion, all being mustered out and honorably discharged in June, 1865. Nathan D. enlisted in 1861, and after the battle of Fair Oaks was transferred to General Peck's headquarters at Beaufort, S.
C. Timothy M. and Charles A. enlisted in 1863 and went to the front together.
Charles A. Nicholson was born in the village of Poland, Herkimer county, N. Y., September 2'7, 1843, and received his education in the public schools, chiefly in Trenton, Oneida county, finishing at Whitestown Academy. Before reaching his twenty-second year he had seen two years' hard service at the front in the Civil war and attained the honors due a young and valiant soldier. Returning from the army he went to Harrisburg, Pa., and was engaged for one year as a dealer in musical instruments. He then returned to Trenton, N. Y., and began the manufacturing of sash, doors, and blinds, but two years later sold out the business which he had successfully established. His brother, Timothy M., died at about this time and Mr. Nicholson removed to the homestead farm in Marcy, where he remained for three years. In 1869 he went to Rome, N. Y., as a salesman in the lumber yard of the late G. V. Selden, with whom he remained nine years, or until 1878.
Meanwhile the telephone had been invented and exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in 1876, and at once created great interest throughout the country. In Rome Mr. Nicholson and his friend, Henry H. Sessions, master mechanic of the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburgh Railroad, were the first to put the new invention to practical or even experimental use, and it may be safely said that they were among the very earliest in Central New York to regard it as feasible, and to see its unlimited possibilities from a useful and necessary standpoint. They at once became deeply interested, and at their own expense put up two or three private lines in the city, which were the wonder of the time, creating no little amusement and affording great convenience to the owners. From this beginning Mr. Nicholson naturally drifted into the business with an energy and perseverance which marked all his undertakings.
The business was started in Central New York under Mr. Nicholson's management, with telephones for private persons, two subscribers only having the use of a single line. There was no central office or connecting point. The lines were scattered, and confined almost entirely to business uses. Soon, however, a central switching system was adopted, whereby one subscriber could be connected and talk with one another at will. New lines were pushed out in every part of the territory, and it was not long before every city, village, and hamlet of any size was in telephonic communication. In 1880 he, with H. L. Storke, of Auburn, N. Y., organized the Mohawk Valley Telephone and Telegraph Company and Mr. Nicholson was elected one of the directors and its general manager. This corporation covered the counties of Delaware, Otsego, Chenango, Madison, Lewis, and Oneida (with the exception of the city of Utica). It proved a success from the start and rapidly built up, under Mr. Nicholson's able management, a large and constantly increasing business. In December, 1882, the company was consolidated with four other telephone companies, covering eleven counties in the central part of the State, with headquarters at Utica, N. Y. The new corporation took the present name of the Central New York Telephone and Telegraph Company. At the time of the consolidation Mr. Nicholson was elected a director and the general manager of the company, and has since held these positions.
The last annual report of this telephone company (February 13, 1896), shows that it is caring for over three thousand subscribers in fifteen exchanges. That by the construction of over eighteen hundred miles of pole lines and nearly four thousand miles of wire it has linked together four hundred towns and villages. The number of messages passing over these toll lines, and exclusive of exchange messages, is nearly four hundred thousand annually.
He is a member of Roman Lodge No. 223, F. & A. M., Fort Stanwix Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Rome, N. Y., and of Fort Schuyler Club of Utica, N.Y.
In August, 1864, Mr. Nicholson was married to Miss lone M., daughter of Jacob Wicks, of Trenton, N.Y. They have six children: Mabel M. (Mrs. Nathaniel Peckham), Walter W., Frances, William Sidney, and Harold H. and Harriet A. (twins), all of Utica.
Walter W. Nicholson, the eldest son, was born July 16, 1867, was educated at the Rome Academy, and on leaving school identified himself with the telephone business under his father. He began as a night operator and rose by gradation to the post of general superintendent, on January 1, 1891, which he still holds. He is a member of the American Institution of Electrical Engineers, the New York Electrical Society, and the Arcanum Club, and treasurer of Calvary church, Utica. April 23, 1889, he married Irene E., daughter of Edwin Peckham, of Utica, and they have two sons: Charles Ambrose and Howard Peckham.
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