Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Research Report Series - 1082
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library
Williamsburg, Virginia
1990
(Antiques Forum - 1976)
One of the French officers* quartered in Williamsburg during the Revolutionary War observed that "Beyond the Capitol, looking towards York, is a large built-up street which forms the suburb". This land was originally part of a huge tract belonging to Mann Page of Gloucester County, whose ambitious plantation house, Rosewell, now lying in ruins, was perhaps the most architecturally sophisticated Georgian mansion undertaken in colonial Virginia. Mann Page's son (of the same name) broke the entail on his father's local property in 1743 so that he could sell seven hundred acres to Benjamin Waller.
Emulating Williamsburg's initial town planners, Benjamin Waller surveyed the tract and proceeded to sell off lots. His deeds of sale contained a building clause stipulating forfeiture unless "on Good Dwelling House" of specified property at the edge of the tract, just outside the city limits. (The nearby Benjamin Waller House, contemporaneous with the Nicolson House, is also open to today's tour.) Benjamin Waller's "suburb", lying along the busy thoroughfares to Yorktown and Capitol Landing, was 2 soon heavily populated. Its residents petitioned the City of Williamsburg in 1756, asking to be incorporated so they might "enjoy all the rights, privileges, and immunities [of]...freeholders", and the municipal government complied by authorizing its first annexation act. By 1774, York Street had become know as "Woodpecker Street", a name persisting into the nineteenth century, apparently because so many residents had painted their shingled roofs red.
Robert Nicolson, a twenty-six year old tailor, purchased a lot in Waller's subdivision in 1751. Shortly thereafter he built the white frame, gambrel roof dwelling which he owned until his death in 1797. His tailoring ship was across the road opposite his house, and to augment his income he took in lodgers. Nicolson charged £3 per month for "genteel" bed-and-breakfast, and entertained a regular clientele of gentlemen who attended the "assemblies and general courts" during Publick Times.
As a landlord, Nicolson endured the predictable inconveniences of boarding strangers in his home. When Cuthbert Ogle, a music teacher, died while lodging there in 1755, Nicolson had to assume responsibility for arranging his funeral and acting as administrator of his estate. He advertised "good STABLING" as an inducement to sojourners, but his remote location must also have been enticing 3 to thieves because twice valuable horses were "STOLEN out of [his] stable". In 1767 one of his frequent boarders, James Mercer, got into an argument with Arthur Lee that aroused scandalous publicity and almost ended in violence. Nicolson was drawn into the dispute as an eye-witness to Mercer's activities one night when he was summoned to attest some deeds, and later "saw him come down the [front] steps" to depart for the dueling grounds. Finally, perhaps weary of the nuisance, Nicolson in 1777 informed those "gentlemen who . . . used to put up at his house" that he had "entirely discontinued" accommodating lodgers.
The Nicolson House exemplifies the type of comfortable dwelling built by prosperous tradesmen in mid-eighteenth-century Williamsburg. Soon after its initial construction (possibly around 1766 when his notice announcing "genteel LODGINGS" for let appeared in the Virginia Gazette), Nicolson enlarged the house by building an addition on the west end that doubled its size. He thus achieved the handsome symmetry of its five-bay facade, yet effectively increased its interior space by extending the new section's depth several feet at the rear. Although originally the same plan type as the Tayloe House, Nicolson's 4 dwelling was transformed through this alteration into a double pile-central passage house in much the same way that the Benjamin Waller house was altered. The 1796 insurance policy on Nicolson's domicile described it as a "wood Dwelling House", measuring 28' X 46', worth one thousand dollars. It had an adjacent 20' X 26' "wood Kitchen" valued at one hundred dollars.
The size of the Nicolson House exceeded its modest architectural character. While stylistically related to the Tayloe House, this dwelling was simplified in its decorative appointments. Structural elements designed for economy, such as the corner chimneys and wide gambrel roof (which, with its nearly perpendicular lower slopes, provided roominess upstairs), were intended to create spaciousness at a minimum cost. Some expense, however, was lavished on finish details. Imported circular stone steps graced the front entrance; its interior was enhanced with fine paneled wainscoting; the mantels were plain, except where a moulded dentil shelf was installed in the parlour; and turned, poplar balusters embellished an otherwise simple, closed string stairway. Even so, a modicum of interior trim existed, and those design features 5 were less sophisticated than highly skilled joinery exemplified elsewhere in Williamsburg and vicinity. With its principal attribute the quality of its sound construction, rather than its ornamentation, the Nicolson House was essentially a commodious, if unpretentious, structure. Its restrained appearance, and the practicality of its design, reflected the businesslike sobriety of its owner.
Nicolson's commercial prosperity encouraged him to expand his tailoring trade into haberdashery sales, so that by the time he was fifty he had successfully established his occupation as a "merchant". In 1773 he bought the two-story, "Spanish Brown"-painted store on Duke of Gloucester Street still called the Nicolson Shop (also an original building), and moved his business "downtown" to the shopping district. He sold all manner of imported "European Goods" in the new store, advertising commodities from garden seeds to "Glasgow Checks" and "spotted jeans" to sealing wax. As a service to his customers, Nicolson also handled business transactions and accepted monetary exchanges on deposit. John Hobday, an aspiring manufacturer, announced in 1778, for example, that Robert Nicolson would collect the payments and subscription papers for 6 his newly invented "Wheat machine". Later, Nicolson's shop became a subsidiary post office, where letters, postage, and Norfolk newspaper subscriptions were dispatched. Nicolson continued to employ journeymen tailors "who [were] sober descreet Lads, and complete Workmen" competent to "understand" their craft, and occasionally had to retrieve the exasperating apprentices who "absconded" from his service.
Nicolson's reputation as an astute tradesman was well respected by the time of the Revolution. He was chosen by the commissioners of a Fredericksburg arms manufactory in 1775 to act as their representative and purchaser in Williamsburg. In this capacity he was responsible for the procurement of "BRASS, for [gun] mountings". He also contributed his expertise as a tailor to patriotic purposes when the need for uniforms became urgent, and contracted to supply the State of Virginia with "Soldiers Cloth[e]s" made from blankets. Nicolson was already experienced as a government purveyor, since he had previously furnished the official garb ["Clothing"] worn by colonial doorkeepers at the Capitol. His son, William, with whom he shared partnership, was placed in charge of the 7 Public Tailor's Shop in 1778, where he supervised the work of soldiers assigned to seamster duty.
A significant indication of Robert Nicolson's prestige and influence in Williamsburg was his appointment in 1774 to a local, pre-Revolutionary citizens' committee, which included such prominent members as George Wythe and Peyton Randolph. Because of his active participation in Revolutionary civic affairs, Nicolson undoubtedly attended the public meeting held on August 11, 1774, when, as the Virginia Gazette reported:
Obviously Nicolson cooperated by subscribing to the Non-Importation Agreement along with other prominent merchants, and was content to satisfy his customers with coffee (substituted for English tea) and Virginia cloth (instead of "Irish linen") as the stock of supplies on his shelves gradually dwindled. Two years later, Nicolson was also probably among the crowd that gathered at the Capitol on Thursday, July 25, 1776 to see the Army parade, and hear "the Declaration of Independence . . . solemnly proclaimed at four o Clock in the afternoon . . ." Following the war, Nicolson was elected a magistrate of the City of Williamsburg. By 1783, when he was appointed a justice of James City County, his stature in the community had become that of "Robert Nicolson Gentleman".*"AT the desire of our worthy representative [Peyton Randolph], most of the inhabitants of this city met at the courthouse on Monday last, and considering themselves bound by every principle of humanity, and brotherly affection, to afford the speediest relief to our suffering brethern in Boston, immediately subscribed a considerable sum of money for their use, … [and "contributed most generously for the Relief of our distressed Fellow Subjects at Boston, both in Cash and Provisions"… — — the other Gazette version, Purdie & Dixon, eds.]
They also considered the [Non-Importation?] association lately entered into the representatives of this colony, and most cordially and unanimously acceded thereto. A committee was then appointed to wait on such of the citizens as could not attend the meeting, 8 and request that they would also sign, the same, [agreement] and report the names of such as refused, if any such there were; but we have learned that there are few who have not already acceded thereto. "
Wm. Rind., ed., The Virginia Gazette,
August 11, 1774, page 3, column 2.
After Nicolson's death, his heirs sold the house to John Power, who was killed in the Battle of Hampton during the War of 1812. Thereafter, the property passed through 9 a succession of owners and tenants. The Nicolson House was virtually unchanged from its eighteenth-century appearance, however, when it was purchased in 1940 by James L. Cogar, former Curator [of Collections] at Colonial Williamsburg. Mr. Cogar refurbished the house, adding porches and modern conveniences to improve its habitability, and lived there for a number of years. Among the improvements of its renovation, he replaced deteriorated dormer windows and interior plastering (and lath), supplied antique and reproduction hardware where such features were missing, installed a modillion cornice in the living room to complement the original mantel trim, repainted the woodwork throughout according to paint investigations he conducted himself, and covered the roof with fireproof, simulated wood shingles. The dwelling's original fabric, nevertheless, remained essentially unrestored when Colonial Williamsburg acquired the Nicolson House on June 2, 1964.
Thus, the Nicolson House is unique as a comparatively untouched example of Williamsburg's eighteenth-century architecture. It is the last original colonial structure surviving on York Street, and as such is often the first 10 seen by visitors entering the Historic Area. It symbolizes one of the heartening prospects of historic preservation, wherein numerous eighteenth-century buildings stand ready for investigative study in the continuing endeavor of architectural research.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. James R. Short currently occupy the Nicolson House. Mr. Short is Vice President of Preservation and Research for Colonial Williamsburg and Coordinator (Director?) of the Antiques Forum.
MCS
Architectural Research Department
January 26, 1975
(Antiques Forum - 1976)
| 1699-1756 | (Outside City Limits) Mann Page of Rosewell, Gloucester County (d. 1730) |
| 1730 | Mann Page II |
| >1743 | Benjamin Waller (700 acres) |
| 1750 | James Spiers (Cabinetamaker) £10 |
| 1751-1797 | Robert Nicolson (Tailor and Merchant) £10 Nicholson also owned lot across road where he had a shop |
| 1756 | City of Williamsburg (annexation) Nicolson took lodgers 3 £ per month 1773: R.N. bought Duke of Gloucester St. shop 1775: Wm. Page moved into York Street shop: 1777 1777: R.N. discontinued taking lodgers 1779: R.N. sold D. of G. shop to son, Wm. Nicolson 1784: Wm. Nicolson in Richmond. 1796: R.N. insured Nicolson House and D. of G. St. Shop 1797: (July 14) Robert Nicolson died |
| 1797-1803 | Estate of Robert Nicolson |
| 1803 | John Power (died in 1813 - - War of 1812) |
| 1813-1846 | Heirs of John Power |
| 1846 | John Slaughter (final payment - - 1851) 1854: John Slaughter rented house 1868-1883: suit with Lavinia Lawson |
| 1883 | John W. Lawson |
| 1894 | Bascom Dey |
| 1923 | Luther C. Lindsley |
| 1940 | James L. Cogar |
| 1964 | Colonial Williamsburg Foundation 19 James R. Short - - Tenant |
(Antiques Forum - 1976)
Robert Nicolson, a twenty-six-year-old tailor, who became one of Williamsburg's prosperous merchants and a justice of James City County, built the earliest section [the east portion] of this story-and-one-half, gambrel roof dwelling in 1751. Its design was originally a double pile, side passage plan. Shortly thereafter, he enlarged the dwelling to its present size and symmetry with a west addition that created its five-bay, central passage plan. The new section, however, was several feet deeper at the rear. Nicolson occupied the house until his death in 1797. When he insured the dwelling in 1796 with the Mutual Assurance Society, the policy estimated its value at one thousand dollars.
Nicolson took in boarders at this home to augment his income, advertising his "genteel LODGINGS" as suitable accommodation for those gentlemen who attended the "assmeblies and general courts" nearby at the Capitol. One of this frequent boarders was James Mercer, who got into an argument with Dr. Arthur Lee in 1767 while staying here, that aroused scandalous publicity, and almost ended in a duel on the grounds of the nearby racetrack. Lee's brother, Richard Henry Lee, was a member of Virginia's 13 delegation to the first Continental Congress, and it was he who introduced the initial proposal for American Independence at the Philadelphia meeting in 1776. Perhaps weary of the war-time inconvenience of running a lodging house, Nicolson in 1777 informed "those gentlemen . . . who used to put up at his house" that he had "entirely discontinued" taking lodgers.
Nicolson's tailoring shop [no longer extant] was located conveniently across the road. Originally this large tract along York Street was a "suburb", annexed to the city in 1756, which Benjamin Waller developed as a private real estate venture. [The Benjamin Waller House, contemporary with Nicolson's dwelling, is also open on today's Antiques Forum tour.] This area along York Street had become known as "Woodpecker Street" by 1774, apparently because so many of its residences had red-painted, shingle roofs.
Nicolson moved his business 'downtown' in 1773 when he bought this store on Duke of Gloucester Street still called the Nicolson Shop. There he sold all sorts of "European Goods", advertising commodities from garden seeds to "Glasgow Checks" and "spotted jeans" to sealing wax, until the Non-Importation Agreement limited the variety of stock available on the shelves of patriotic merchants. During the Revolution, Nicolson contracted to 14 supply the State of Virginia with "Soldiers Cloth[e]s" made from blankets. In 1778 his son, William, who was his business partner, was placed in charge of the Public Tailor's Shop where army uniforms were sewn for the Continental forces. [Interestingly, another son of Nicolson's, his namesake, Dr. Robert Nicolson, served his medical apprenticeship (before studying in England) under Dr. William Pasteur, the eighteenth-century owner of another home on today's tour - - the Semple House.]
The commissioners of a Fredericksburg arms manufactory recognized Nicolson's astute [trustworthy] reputation as a trades-man in 1775 by selecting him their local representative and purchaser of "BRASS, for [gun] mounting". Nicolson was even more actively involved in Revolutionary affairs as a member of the Williamsburg citizens' committee which included such prominent appointees as George Wythe and Peyton Randolph. Conceivably, he was among the crowd of patriots who assembled at the Capitol on Thursday, July 25, 1776 to see the army parade, and hear "the Declaration of Independence . . . solemnly proclaimed at four o Clock in the afternoon . . ." He may have witnessed from his front doorstep, too, the spectacle of military casualty as "400 sick and wounded" soldiers were carted back to Williamsburg's make-shift hospitals following the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.
15Colonial Williamsburg acquired the Nicolson House in 1964. Its previous owner, from 1940 to 1964, was James L. Cogar, a former curator of Collections at Colonial Williamsburg. Mr. Cogar refurbished the house during his occupancy (and added the "Oasis"), but the eighteenth-century fabric of the Nicolson House is today virtually intact. Thus, today's special opening offers an unusual opportunity of viewing one of Williamsburg's original buildings in unrestored condition.
Although originally of the same plan type as the Tayloe House, the Nicolson House evolved through eighteenth-century modification into a much larger dwelling. Its ample size, however, exceeded its modest architectural character. Structural elements designed for economy, such as the corner fireplaces and wide gambrel roof, were intended to create spaciousness at a minimum cost. Some expense was lavished, nevertheless, upon finish details. Imports, circular stone steps grace the front entrance. The interior boasts handsome paneled wainscoting; a closed string stairway embellished with turned, poplar balusters; and a fine, dentil moulded mantelpiece in the parlour [first floor, southwest room]. The modillion cornice in the parlour is a modern feature, installed to complement the original mantel trim. Likewise, the roof shingles are modern, simulated wood shingles, and the interior 16 plastering is new. Original pine flooring, though, remains throughout the house, except where minor repairs exist. With its principal attribute the quality of its sound construction, rather than the sophistication of its ornament, the Nicolson House exemplifies the commodious, if unpretentious, structure typical of its mid-eighteenth-century period. Its restrained appearance, and the practicality of its design, reflect the business like sobriety of its original owner, who achieved prominence through enterprise amidst opportunities available in a Revolutionary era.
Mr. and Mrs. James R. Short presently occupy the Nicolson House. Mr. Short is Vice-President of Preservation and Research for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and also Coordinator of the Antiques Forum.
MCS
Department of Architectural Research
January 26, 1975
(Antiques Forum - 1976)
House privately owned by James Cogar - and restored by him. No house history has been prepared on property.
In 1750, James Spiers, cabinet-maker, purchased lot No 26, on York Road, from Benjamin Waller and his wife Martha for £10. The building clause appeared in the deed - allowing three years to erect "one good dwelling house containing 16 feet in width and 20 feet in length with a brick chimney thereto." (York Co. Records, Deeds V, p. 362. Card #514).
In 1751, James Spiers sold lot No. 26 on York Road to Robert Nicolson, Taylor, for £10 - so apparently no building had been erected on the lot. (Ibid., Deeds V p. 426. Card #525.)
In 1801, a lot on the York Road (unidentified) is described as being bound on S. by York Road, E. by piece of land belonging to Benj. Waller, W. by lot of Robert Nicolson, deceased. (Ibid., VII Deeds, 388. Card 884) The various plats of the town show and name "Nicholson" on Lot #27. - and also on lot #54 opposite #27 on the S. side of York Road. Further study should be done
(over)
on this house - if it seems desirable to have a research report on property outside the restored area, which does not belong to the Restoration.
See also report on the Nicolson Shop - Block 17 - Lot 56 east.
MG
Robert Nicolson (sometimes spelled Nicholson) owned several lots on the York Road. It is not known just when he moved into the house which now bears his name; he was living in it in 1796 when he insured the house and kitchen with the Mutual Assurance Society. He may have occupied it at a much earlier date.
Nicolson, a merchant and tailor, advertised in the Virginia Gazette in 1766 that "Gentlemen who attended the General Courts and Assembly" could be accommodated by him "with genteel LODGINGS, have BREAKFAST, and good STABLING." He gave notice in 1777 that he had "discontinued taking in Lodgers."
During the years 1767-1773, Nicolson frequently advertised for journeymen tailors. Apparently he had a store "a little below the Capitol" prior to 1773 when he purchased his store and shop on Duke of Gloucester Street, next to the Pasteur-Galt Apothecary Shop.
Nicolson was elected a member of a citizens committee of Williamsburg in 1774, together with Peyton Randolph, Robert Carter Nicholas, George Wythe, William Pastuer, John Minson Galt, and others. He was a member of the Williamsburg Lodge of Masons. In the Williamsburg personal property tax records for 1783, Nicolson was taxed for 12 slaves, 2 horses, 2 cows, and 2 wheels (a riding chair).
Robert Nicolson married Mary Waters, and the following of their children were baptized at Bruton: William (1749); John (1751); Robert (1753) who became a physician; George (1758); Andrew (1763); and Rebecca (1766) who married Charles Copeland.
The house, which is privately owned, has been restored.
[MG Oct. 1950 for Mrs. Southworth for 1951 Garden Week hostesses]
Partially restored. This gambrel roof house, located on York Street often called "Woodpecker street," was built by Robert Nicolson, a tailor and merchant. The off-center entrance door bears evidence to two periods of construction, the right side [East] about 1752 and the left side [West] prior to 1782.
As early as 1755 Nicolson was using his residence to take in lodgers. In 1766 he noted in the Virginia Gazette that "Gentlemen who attend the General Courts and Assembly may be accomodated with genteel LODGINGS and BREAKFAST and good STABLING for their HORSES." One frequent lodger was James Mercer, who drew up the will of Mary Washington, mother of George Washington. Mercer was a member of the General Assembly and a delegate to the Continental Congress.
In 1777 Nicolson informed those who "used to put up at his house" that he "has now entirely discontinued taking in lodgers."
Nicolson's shop was across the street from his residence where by 1767 his son William joined him in the tailoring business. In 1773 he opened a shop and store in a new location on the Duke of Gloucester Street, now designated as the Nicolson Shop, a more ideal location for commercial purposes. He sold the shop in 1779 to his son William, but continued on as a tailor and merchant.
Nicolson was prominent in civic affairs. In 1774 he was a member of a citizen committee with such prominent fellow members 2 as George Wythe, Peyton Randolph, and Robert Carter Nicholas. He was appointed in 1775 an agent for the Gun Manufactory in Fredericksburg to receive old brass much needed to provide arms for the Virginia Troops. He also performed services as a tailor and merchant for the Publick Store located in Williamsburg. In 1783 he was listed as a tax collector for the City. His son Robert became a Doctor and settled in Yorktown and another son George was Mayor of Richmond in 1790 and 1799.
Robert Nicolson died in 1797 at the age of 72 and is buried in St. John's Churchyard in Richmond.
Privately occupied.