Nicholson, Robert

NICHOLSON

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/29/2021 at 14:13:04

History of Warren County, Iowa; Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns & Etc., by Union Historical Company, 1879, p.719

NICHOLSON, ROBERT, Allen Township, proprietor Carlisle Flouring Mill; born in Thumberland county, England, January 9, 1831; he came to the United States when he was about twenty- two years of age; he first stopped in Stark county, Ohio, where he remained one year; from there he went to Rockport, Will county, Illinois, where he remained two years; he then came to Iowa, and stopped in Cedar Rapids six months, then came to Des Moines, in 1855, and to this county in 1861, and has been engaged in the milling business ever since; he married Miss Mary A. Garton, in Des Moines, October 22, 1857; she was born in Surrey county, England; they have five sons and two daughters; William T., Frank W., Hattie J., Bertie, Robert W., Artie J. and Gracie.

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.751

ROBERT NICHOLSON
Robert Nicholson, now living retired in Carlisle, was for many years engaged in the milling business at that place, owning and operating a grist the flouring mill. He is a native of England, born near Newcastle, June 8, 1832, and spent the first twenty years of his life in the land of his birth, in the meantime learning the trade of a miller. In 1852 he emigrated to the new world, taking passage on a sailing vessel at Shields, which after a long and tedious voyage of seven weeks dropped anchor in the harbor of New York, having encountered many severe storms on the trip.
Locating at Minerva, Stark County, Ohio, Mr. Nicholson there worked at his trade for about a year and then removed to Will County, Illinois, where he secured employment in a mill, where he perfected himself in the business during the four years spent there. He contracted ague [malarial fever], however, and with the hope of benefiting his health he then came to Iowa and found work in a mill at Cedar Rapids. A year later he removed to Des Moines, where he started the City Flouring Mills, which he conducted for six years and a half and in 1862 came to Carlisle, where he has since made his home. Here he bought a steam mill and engaged in merchant milling, buying wheat which he manufactured into flour, shipping thousands of barrels to Des Moines. His plant being destroyed by fire in 1888, he erected a new mill, putting in a full roller process and up-to-date machinery, and he successfully carried on the business until 1905, since which time he has lived retired in the enjoyment of the fruits of former toil. Besides his business property he built two residences in Carlisle, including his present comfortable home, which was erected in 1898 and is a well improved place, heated by furnace and surrounded by a neat lawn and beautiful shade trees.
Mr. Nicholson was married in Des Moines in November, 1858, to Miss Mary Ann Garton, who was born near London, England, and came to the United States at the age of fifteen years. Of the eight children born to them one died in infancy and Burt died at the age of seventeen years. Those living are: William T., a farmer of Allen Township, who is married and has four sons and three daughters; Frank W., who is engaged in the wholesale flour business in Des Moines and is married and has one son; R. V., a traveling man living in Des Moines, who is also married and has one son; Arthur J., who is travel­ing salesman residing in San Francisco; Mrs. Hattie J. Hastings, who is a widow living in Des Moines and has two children; and Grace, wife of C. S. Beymer, a business man of Des Moines.
The Republican Party finds in Mr. Nicholson a staunch supporter of its principles and he was elected the first mayor of Carlisle, which office he most creditably filled. He was also officially connected with the schools for many years and served as school treasurer. Public spirited and progressive, he has taken an active interest in all measures calculated to advance the interests of his town and county and he is justly regarded as one of the leading citizens of Carlisle, where he has now made his home for almost half a century. Relig­iously he and his wife are earnest members of the Baptist Church.