Marker #125 Colonel George Nicholas

Historical Marker #125 is dedicated to Colonel George Nicholas who was born in Williamsburg, Virginia to Robert Carter and Anne (Carey) Nicholas. George Nicholas gained the rank of lieutenant colonel serving in the Revolutionary War and became a member of the Virginia legislature and the constitutional ratification convention in 1788.

Nicholas moved to Danville, Kentucky in 1788. He used his expertise in government to help establish an organized government in Kentucky. He was on the convention to draft the first Kentucky constitution in 1792 and served as the state’s first attorney general. Nicholas upheld the opinion of more states’ rights. Upon his resignation on December 7, 1792, he practiced law in Lexington.

Nicholas was hired by Transylvania University in Lexington as their first law professor in 1799. Nicholas was described as having a genius of the likes of James Madison and a charismatic personality. He also was described as having a rememberable impression on his students.

However, Nicholas died in that same year and buried in the Third Street Cemetery. When Bourbon and Mason counties divided their land to form a new county, Nicholas County was created in his name. Nicholasville, in Jessamine County, was also named after him.

Nicholas' son followed in his father’s footsteps to eventually become a lawyer and later became the first president of the University of Louisville.