Henry P. Nichols

Quick Facts

Significance:

Boston Vigilance Committee member, Bookseller and publisher

Place of Birth:

Salem, Massachusetts

Date of Birth:

1816

Place of Death:

Boston, Massachusetts

Date of Death:

December 21, 1889

Place of Burial:

Salem, Massachusetts

Bookseller and publisher Henry P. Nichols served as a member of the 1850 Boston Vigilance Committee. 

Born in 1816 in Salem, Massachusetts, Henry Pierce Nichols grew up as the son of noted auctioneer George Nichols. Henry moved to Boston in 1844, where he partnered with his friend William H. Crosby to open a bookselling firm. Nichols operated his business with many other partners throughout his career. The firm found the most success in publishing religious tracts such as Christian Examiner and Unitarian Minister William E. Channing’s complete works.¹

Following the passage of a new Fugitive Slave Law, Bostonians formed the 1850 Boston Vigilance Committee. The organization assisted freedom seekers coming to Boston on the Underground Railroad with funds, shelter, transportation, legal support, amongst other forms of aid. Nichols served as a member of the organization, however, his direct contributions remain unknown.²

Nichols’ company expanded their business by acquiring John P. Jewett’s failed publishing business in 1857. They purchased his remaining stock and took over his store, also on Washington Street. Nichols ultimately retired as a partner from his business in 1870 but continued to work in the publishing industry. Nichols died on December 21, 1889, in Boston, Massachusetts after a carriage accident. His remains are interred in his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts.³

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Footnotes

1. The Boston Directory, (Boston: Sampson & Murdock Company, 1850), https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015066720635?urlappend=%3Bseq=131%3Bownerid=13510798895627647-141; “Obituary: Henry P. Nichols,” Publisher’s Weekly, January 11, 1890, 30, The Publishers' Weekly 1890-01-11: Vol 37 Iss 2 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.  
2. Nichols is mapped at his location listed on the Vigilance Committee Broadside, 111 Washington Street. "Members of the Committee of Vigilance," broadside printed by John Wilson, 1850, Massachusetts Historical Society. 
3. “New Publishing Firm,” Boston Evening Transcript, May 2, 1870, 2; “Copartnership Notice,” Boston Evening Transcript, February 11, 1860, 3; “Deaths,” Boston Evening Transcript, December 23, 1889, 4; “Obituary: Henry P. Nichols,” Publisher’s Weekly, January 11, 1890, 30, The Publishers' Weekly 1890-01-11: Vol 37 Iss 2 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.