Nicholson was a civil engineer who enlisted in Company K of the 6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861. In 1865 he was employed by the U.S. government as an engineer to assist in the construction of the fortifications around Louisville, Kentucky. He worked on the Lewis and Clark expedition and resurveyed the wagon roads to Bitter Route Mountain. The data which Nicholson collected was used by Elliot Coues in his book on Lewis and Clark written in 1893. Nicholson also supervised the construction of the St. Charles bridge over the Mississippi River in the 1880's. In 1884 he became Division Engineer for the Cincinnati Southern Railway Company and occupied that position until his death in 1906.
From the description of Papers, 1860-1914. (Ashland University). WorldCat record id: 29456667
