Background on Reuben Nichols
Reuben Nichols' improbable life took him from his beginnings in tragedy and poverty to traveling the globe as a sailor and eventually to life near Bridgeport, Conn., as a shipbuilder and would-be politician.
Born in Nichols Farms (now Trumbull), Conn., in 1794, Nichols was just two when his father Reuben (1751-1797), a tailor and veteran of the Revolutionary War, died of consumption. Left to her own scant resources, Nichols' mother Abiah placed out one his siblings by one to relatives until she decided to resolve her financial woes by remarrying. At the ripe age of nine, Nichols saw that he had become "an unwelcome inmate in my mother's house," and requested that he, too, be sent away to relatives. When he was placed with Israel Hawley (1751-1836) in 1805, a paternal relative from Monroe, Conn., Nichols could have been convinced that his life was turning for the better. But as would happen often in his life, he discovered that good fortune and adversity were often partners. In about 1810, a bitter dispute with Hawley over plowing escalated to blows, and Nichols walked off the job, quite literally, with the intent of returning home. Once there, however, he discovered the old home deserted, and even though a neighbor, Ozias Burr (1773-1836), agreed to take him in, good fortune was not on his side. Burr offered work for the teenaged Nichols, but shorted him on pay, leading Nichols to take off on his own again.
Life began slowly to take a better course once Nichols found his way to sea. Traveling to Bridgeport, he signed on with a "Boston coaster," the Antoinette, beginning a quarter century of work aboard a succession of merchantmen and privateers, and slow ascent in rank. During the years of the War of 1812, Nichols was introduced to the nautical life in journeys along the eastern seaboard, throughout the Caribbean, and as far as away as Lisbon, sailing aboard merchant ships such as the Martha, the Aristomenes, and the Sylph.
The violence and chaos of an Atlantic world embroiled in war made for extraordinary experiences. Among other adventures, Nichols was tricked into joining the crew of the Intrepid Bolivar, a ship under command of Luis Brion that fought for Venezuelan independence by seeking prizes on the Spanish Main. Jumping ship in Aruba, he made his way to Haiti, still suffering the pangs of post-revolutionary turmoil and a place,as he noted, where "all white men were looked on with much suspicion." Accompanied by a Haitian officer who spoke no English, Nichols walked from Jacmel to Port au Prince and with the assistance of the American consul, secured a berth aboard a privateer, the Kemp, which had the distinction of capturing a string of prizes in the final weeks of the war.
Yet peace between the United States and Britain did not bring peace at sea. Never one to leave success unsullied, Nichols was impressed into the British Navy, seeing action against the French aboard the Pandora and securing his release from the Navy in London only through the personal intervention of Ambassador John Quincy Adams. As the imperial and colonial conflicts persisted, so did his adventures. After a disappointing stint aboard the Independence, cruising off the coast of Spain, Nichols deserted in Buenos Aires where he soon learned that the Le Brack, a privateer of 36-guns, was looking for hands. Discovering that the ship's captain, David Jewett, was a fellow native of Connecticut, Nichols convinced the commodore to take him on as Master Mate. A couple of prizes and a thwarted mutiny later, Nichols turned his promotion to good end, becoming Master of the merchant brig Exact in 1829, a New York and Savannah packet that sailed as far asea as the eastern Mediterranean.
Nichols' final command came in 1836 when he accepted an offer of one-third ownership of a New York and Savannah schooner, the Angelique. This would prove to be a turning point in his career, but not in the way he expected. In Savannah in 1837, Nichols learned that John Hopper, the abolitionist son of the abolitionist Isaac Hopper, was being threatened by a pro-slavery mob who intended to tar and feather him. Although rescued temporarily by the city's mayor, Hopper clearly needed a way out, and Nichols provided it, hiding Hopper and helping him find passage north.
As a consequence of this assistance, however, Nichols gained a reputation as an abolitionist among his fellow ships' captains and trading partners. Although he insisted he was not one, he was widely reviled and shunned. The situation resulted in Nichols buying out his partners in the Angelique and to clear his finances, he sold the ship in 1838 and returned to dry land to farm. Though waylaid by other nautical schemes, he eventually settled in Stratford, Conn., adjacent to Bridgeport, and reportedly engaged in shipbuilding and local politics.
