Dr. William Henry Nicholson (April 1, 1864-April 8, 1935) and his wife, Genevieve Perry Nicholson (March 15, 1865-January 14, 1947), made significant contributions to Louisburg’s built environment before moving to Hickory and then Henderson. Two important homes and a church in Louisburg testify to their prominence.

W. H. Nicholson, the son of John C. and Mary Conyers Nicholson, grew up on a farm near Franklinton. He was educated at Trinity College in North Carolina, attended the University of Virginia, and in 1889 was graduated from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. He soon established a medical practice in Louisburg, where he was an active member of the Edwin Fuller Literary Club.

On Tuesday, February 10, 1891, Nicholson married Genevieve Perry, the daughter of Dr. Algernon Sidney and Martha Leah (Hilliard) Perry. The ceremony took place at Cascine, the Perry family’s expansive estate south of Louisburg. The couple soon made plans for a new home in Louisburg. On June 1, 1891, Genevieve purchased from members of the Person family a two-acre lot on Main Street, just south of the property of J. J. Barrow. The Franklin Times reported on February 19, 1892, that the Nicholsons had moved into their new residence: “It is a very nice and elegantly arranged dwelling.” Family tradition maintains that the staircase newel and mantel in the parlor came from Cascine. Featuring late Victorian and Queen Anne details, including a tall central tower, the house was—and is—one of Louisburg’s finest.

It was not long, however, before the Nicholsons decided to move closer to the heart of town. On June 5, 1896, they sold their home to J. K. Spencer for $3,500 (future Governor Thomas Walter Bickett and his wife, Fannie Yarborough Bickett, moved into the house the following year). Then, on September 1, Genevieve paid $1,500 for a large lot belonging to John A. and Mary Burt on the southwest corner of Main and College Streets. The property formerly had belonged to the Neal family. The Nicholsons hired W. R. Beacham of Greensboro to superintend the construction of their new home. He completed his work in January 1897, and the Nicholsons moved into their picturesque story-and-a-half cottage adjacent to the property of Louisburg Female College the same month.

This location made it easier for William to participate in local affairs. In April 1898, he was elected chairman of a town convention at the Franklin County Courthouse that had been called to elect the town’s mayor and commissioners. Active in the Methodist Church, which was located in the block across the street from his new home, he served as chairman of a committee appointed to oversee the erection of a new church. He placed an ad in The News and Observer on January 29, 1899, seeking a contractor to erect a building that had been designed by Benjamin D. Price of Philadelphia. The impressive new brick church, which replaced one that had been built in 1850, was completed in the summer of 1900 by contractor Hill C. Linthicum of Henderson.

The Nicholsons did not remain in Louisburg much longer. The Franklin Times reported on November 18, 1898, that Dr. Nicholson had requested the paper to announce that, for health reasons, he had been compelled to suspend his medical practice. The reason is unknown, but in 1901 the couple moved to Hickory, in Catawba County.

They purchased a rural property but later moved to a residence in town. William became active in local business affairs, serving as secretary and manager of the Hickory Land & Development Company and as a director of the First National Bank and the First Building & Loan Association. When the chamber of commerce was organized in 1908, he was chosen as its first president. He served also as secretary and treasurer of the Southern Desk Company. The Nicholsons divided their time between Hickory and a winter home in Lakeland, Florida.

In 1929 the couple moved to Henderson, where they lived with Nicholson’s sister, Evelyn. They resided in a house at the corner of Burwell Avenue and Parham Street. The Nicholsons continued to live in Henderson until their deaths and were buried in the Elmwood Cemetery there.

Published in The Franklin Times on June 29, 2017.

Maury York is director of the Tar River Center for History and Culture at Louisburg College.