Rev. D. B. Nichols


	This biography appears on pages 1046-1047 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	REV.  D. B. NICHOLS has devoted his life to two of the most important 
callings which man can give his energies, the healing of the body and 
the care of the soul, and his life has been one of extreme usefulness, 
his influence widely felt for good as a factor in the community in which 
he lives.  He was born in Massachusetts on the 8th of October, 1816, 
and is a son of James and Lydia D. (Bliss) Nichols, natives of the old 
Bay state.

	The father was a miller and for several years was superintendent 
of a large cotton mill.  He also served as deputy sheriff of Bristol 
county and gave his political support to the Whig party.  He held 
membership in the Congregational church and died in that faith in 
1832, while his wife passed away in 1864.  In the family were six sons 
and one daughter, but all have passed away with the exception of the 
subject.

	Rev. Nichols was reared in the east and enjoyed the excellent 
school privileges of his native state, while later he had more advanced 
advantages. lie pursued a classical course in Oberlin College of Ohio in 
1839 and then, for ten years engaged in teaching and occasionally 
preached, being then employed by the missionary society in Iowa.  
Subsequently, he pursued a course in .medicine in Howard University , 
where he was graduated in 1872.  He is the oldest graduate of that 
institution, a fact which was mentioned in one of the Washington papers.  
He was identified with the rise and progress of Howard University, being 
one of its instructors, its librarian, a trustee and curator of its 
museum.  For about eleven years he remained in the Capital city and also 
spent a short time in the practice of medicine in Florida.  Since 1850 
he has engaged in preaching and followed that calling in Kentuckv, where 
he was also engaged in teaching school.  His labors have alwavs been 
directed along lines which have proven of the greatest benefit to his 
fellow men.  He served as citv missionary in Chicago, Illinois, and was 
superintendent of the Chicago Reform School from 1854 until 1860, when 
he resigned and went to Europe at his own expense, visiting reform 
schools in England, Scotland and Germany for the purpose of rendering 
his own labors in that line more effective.  Upon his return to his 
native country he was appointed superintendent of the State Reform 
School at Lansing, Michigan, where he remained for a year and then went 
to Boston. Locating at Scituate Harbor, he there remained until after 
the outbreak of the Civil war.  In 1861 he went to South Carolina to 
preach to the negroes who had formerly been held as slaves and also to 
act as a teacher among them.  There he continued until midsummer when he 
went to New York and afterward to Washington to act as a missionary 
among the colored people of that city.  In Washington he was appointed 
superintendent of the contraband department service and had four 
thousand people under his charge to whom he gave supplies of food and 
clothing.

	In the year 1880 Mr. Nichols came to Decatur, settling in Bon 
Homme county, where he began preaching.  He built a church there and 
remained for three years as its pastor, at the end of which time his 
health failed and he returned to Boston, Massachusetts, but after he had 
recovered somewhat his usual health and strength he once more came to 
Dakota, visiting various churches in the state and preaching to many 
congregations.  He was also engaged in presenting the claims of Yankton 
College.  His influence has been most marked in the moral development of 
South Dakota since his arrival here about twenty-five years ago.  He is 
now an honorable trustee of Howard University, at Washington, D. C., 
and also for years a trustee of Yankton College, and now a member of the 
college corporation.  At one time he served as librarian of Yankton 
College.  Seventeen years ago he located at his present home, which was 
then in the midst of the frontier district.  He built the church at 
Mission Hill and has assisted in the entire growth and development of 
this portion of the state.  For three years he served as postmaster and 
with the work of progress and improvement he has been actively 
identified along material as well as moral lines.  His chief interest, 
however, has centered in the moral development of the people and his 
influence has been far-reaching and beneficial.

	Rev. Nichols has been twice married.  He first married Sarah 
Chisman, whose parents were from Virginia.  After the death of his first 
wife he wedded Elizabeth Booth and they lived together for sixty years, 
her death having occurred in the latter part of the year 1903, at the 
age of eighty-eight years.  Rev.  Nichols has now reached the advanced 
age of eighty-six years.  They were the oldest couple in the county and 
none were more respected.  Mr. Nichols votes with the Republican party 
and has been active and helpful in matters pertaining to the 
intellectual progress of the community, acting as one of the school 
officers.  He is identified with the Congregational church here and in 
Dakota as in other sections of the country where he has lived and 
labored for his fellow men he has accomplished much good.  His life has 
been devoted to the welfare of the human race and to the opposition of 
all the vices that hold men in bondage and today there is no citizen of 
Yankton county held in warmer regard or higher esteem than Rev. D. B. 
Nichols.