Hart 
 
 Memoir of the Life and Services 
 of c olonel John
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 COMMODORE BYRON MCCANDLESS
 
 COLONEL JOHN NIXON
 
 Maine JKsforieal Soeiete. 
 
 u / 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 WITHDRAWN.
 
 >
 
 
 
 FROM THE ORIGINAL PICTURE BY GILBERT STUART.
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 LIFE AND SERVICES 
 
 COLONEL JOHN NIXON 
 
 PREPARED AT THE REQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE 
 
 RESTORATION OF INDEPENDENCE HALL FOR "THE 
 
 NATIONAL CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION" OF 
 
 JULY 2, 1776 
 
 AND PRESENTED AT THE MEETING IN INDEPENDENCE CHAMBER, 
 SATURDAY JULY 1, 1876 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES HENRY HART 
 
 [Reprinted from "The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography"] 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 1877
 
 COLLINS, PRINTER.
 
 E 
 FM-A/fc 
 
 TO 
 
 Miss ELIZABETH NIXON 
 
 SOLE SURVIVING DESCENDANT OF 
 
 COLONEL JOHN NIXON 
 
 THIS MEMOIR OF HER GRANDFATHER 
 
 WITH AFFECTION AND RESPECT 
 
 BY 
 THE AUTHOR
 
 INDEPENDENCE HALL. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, October 25, 1875. 
 
 To CHARLES HENRY HART, ESQ. 
 
 SIR: The Committee on the Restoration of Independence Hall have 
 resolved to invite the presence of American Historians, Biographers, and 
 Literati at that place on the second day of July, 1876. They desire that a 
 Biographical sketch of every individual, whose memory is associated with 
 this Building during the early days of the Republic, may be prepared and 
 deposited on that day among the Archives of the National Museum. 
 
 You are respectfully requested to be present at Independence Hall on 
 the day above mentioned, and to bring with you a sketch of the life of 
 
 JOHN NIXON; 
 
 or in case of a preference for another subject, to communicate the fact. It 
 is desired that these sketches should not exceed two pages of foolscap. 
 
 With great respect, 
 
 FRANK M. ETTING, 
 
 Chairman of Committee.
 
 COLONEL JOHN NIXON. 
 
 BY CHARLES HENRY HART. 
 (Centennial Collection.) 
 
 When I accepted the invitation, I had the honor of receiving 
 in October, 1875, from the Committee on the Restoration of 
 Independence Hall, to prepare a memoir of the life of John 
 Nixon to be presented at the meeting of American literati, 
 requested to assemble in Independence Chamber on July 
 2, 1876, the centennial anniversary of the adoption of the 
 " Resolutions respecting Independency," I was doubtful if I 
 should be able to fulfil my engagement, so little was known 
 of his public services. That he was a merchant highly 
 esteemed ; the second president of the Bank of North America, 
 and had read and proclaimed publicly to the people for the 
 first time the Declaration of Independence, were the only 
 prominent facts known even to his descendants. It seemed as 
 if the limited "two pages of fool's cap" could not be supplied. 
 But careful and laborious investigation among published and 
 unpublished archives, revealed incident after incident throwing 
 light upon his important career, until at last when the rough 
 material was sifted and shaped into its present form, the im- 
 probable two pages had been duplicated a dozen times. It is 
 presented in its extended size, so that those who come after us 
 may be made fully acquainted with the life and services of 
 one of the country's early and pure patriots. 
 
 John Nixon, who read and proclaimed publicly to the people 
 for the "first time the Declaration of Independence, was born 
 in the city of Philadelphia, in the year 1733. The exact date 
 of his birth is uncertain, but on April 17, 1734-35 (0. S.), 
 when two years old, he was baptized at Christ Church by the 
 rector. His father, Richard Nixon, is believed to have been a 
 native of Wexford, County Wexford, Ireland, but if so, when 
 he came to this country is unknown. That he was a born
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 Irishman lias been sought to be established from the fact that 
 his son, the subject of this memoir, was, as will be seen later, 
 a member of "The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick," a social 
 society formed in 1771, whose prerequisite to membership was 
 being descended from an Irish parent in the first degree, or to 
 have been a native of Ireland, or a descendant of a former 
 member ; but, as a mother is a parent as well as a father, she 
 might have been the one of Celtic birth and not he. This 
 view is strengthened by the fact that there is an heirloom in 
 the family, in the shape of an old and very large sea jj. 
 chest with these initials on the top in brass nails, G. S. 
 
 1 ftfift 
 
 a not uncommon method with the early emigrants 
 to this country for denoting and memorizing the period of 
 their departure from their homes, and the arrangement of the 
 letters would show that the initial of the surname was " N," 
 while "G" and "S" represented respectively the Christian 
 names of the emigrant husband and wife. 
 
 The earliest mention we have of Richard Nixon is the record 
 of his marriage to Sarah Bowles at Christ Church, by the 
 Eev. Archibald Cummings, on January 7, 1727-28 (0. S.). He 
 was a prominent merchant and shipper, and in 1738 purchased 
 the property on Front Street, below Pine, extending into the 
 Delaware River, afterwards known for nearly a century as 
 Nixon's Wharf. In 1742, he was chosen a member of the 
 Common Council of Philadelphia, which position he continued 
 to hold until his death. Pending the French and Spanish 
 "War, which was encled by the Peace of Aix La Chapelle, con- 
 cluded on the 7th of October, 1748, Franklin urged upon the 
 citizens to associate together for the purposes of defence, and 
 two regiments of " Associators" were accordingly formed, one 
 for the city and the other for the county, which were divided 
 into companies, one for each ward and township, and of the 
 Dock Ward Company, in the City Regiment, Richard Nixon 
 was chosen captain. The Dock Ward at this time was, and 
 continued up to the present century, the most important and 
 influential ward in the city. He was a prominent member of 
 Christ Protestant Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, and one of 
 the vestrymen during the years 1745, 1746, and 1747. He
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 had four children, all of whom were baptized there, and three 
 of them who died in infancy were buried in its ground, where 
 he himself found a resting place also on the 6th of December, 
 1749 (0. S.). His personal property after his decease was 
 appraised at 20,000, a no inconsiderable sum in those days. 
 His wife survived him many years, dying July 25, 1785, at 
 the advanced age of eighty years, and was buried at Christ 
 Church, where reposed the remains of her husband. 
 
 John Nixon, the only child who survived his father, and 
 the subject of this notice, early took a leading interest in 
 public affairs. In March, 1756, at the age of twenty-three, 
 during the excitement of the French "War, he was chosen by 
 a majority of votes of the freemen of Dock "Ward, Lieutenant 
 of the Dock Ward Company, " in the stead of Mr. Thomas 
 Willing, the late lieutenant of said company, who was pleased 
 to resign his commission." This company was a sort of home 
 guard, and doubtless the same as the one formed in 1747, 
 of which his father was the first captain. He succeeded to 
 the business of his father, at the old place on Front Street, 
 with Nixon's wharf in the rear, adjoining the warehouses of 
 Willing & Morris, the most considerable merchants in the 
 province or indeed in the colonies. His first transaction of 
 which we have any knowledge is one which, with the light 
 of modern ideas, is not calculated to be looked upon with 
 favor. We find him in March, 1761, with Willing, Morris, & 
 Co., and other prominent merchants of the city, signing and 
 presenting to the Assembly of Pennsylvania, a remonstrance 
 to a petition that had been presented the previous month by 
 citizens of Philadelphia against the importation of slaves, and 
 in consequence of which a bill had been prepared laying a duty 
 of 10 per head on each negro brought from abroad. The 
 importers, in their remonstrance to the bill, represented that 
 the province was suffering great inconvenience for want of 
 servants, and " an advantage may be gained by the introduc- 
 tion of slaves, which will likewise be a means of reducing the 
 exorbitant price of labor and in all probabilities bring our 
 commodities to their usual prices." They represent that they 
 have "embarked in the trade" of importing negroes 'through
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 the motives they have mentioned, and that they will lahor 
 under great hardships by the law taking immediate effect 
 without giving them time to countermand their orders. This 
 protest, however, had no effect upon the Quaker House, for 
 the law to lay a duty on negroes was passed within two weeks. 
 
 The next important mercantile transaction, however, with 
 which we find him connected, was one of a far different 
 character, as it joined him with the destinies of his native 
 land in its conflict with the mother country. After much 
 agitation in the Colonies over their proposed taxation by 
 Great Britain, the fatal Stamp Act was finally passed in 
 March, 1765, with the provision that it should not go into 
 effect until the first of the following November. Meetings 
 were held in every town and village in the land, protesting 
 against this outrage upon the rights and liberties of the Colo- 
 nists as British freemen, and petitions were promptly prepared 
 and forwarded by trusty agents to the home government 
 urging its repeal. But it was left for the merchants of the 
 land to make the hated act nugatory in its purpose, and the 
 first step towards this end was taken by the merchants of 
 Philadelphia, who, in public meeting, pledged to each other 
 their honors not to receive, sell, or import any goods or mer- 
 chandise from Great Britain until the iniquitous Stamp Act 
 should be repealed. This " NON-IMPORTATION AGREEMENT," 
 bearing date October 25 , 1 765 , J was subscribed by three hundred 
 and seventy-five importers and shop-keepers, and prominent 
 among the signatures appears the large bold one of JOHN 
 NIXON. 
 
 The story of the repeal of the Stamp Act, and the subse- 
 quent imposition of a tax on tea, etc. ; followed by the destruc- 
 tion of the tea in Boston harbor, and the Boston Port Bill, 
 
 1 Since the preceding was written, investigations have shown this date to 
 be an error. The agreement itself bears no date, except that placed on it 
 in lead pencil by Mr. Thomas Bradford at the age of ninety, and seventy 
 years after the event took place. Lately discovered contemporary evidence 
 points clearly to November 7, 1765, as the day on which the meeting of 
 merchants was held, and these non-importation resolutions agreed to. Vide 
 Mag. Amer. Hist., N. Y., June, 1877.
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 are too familiar to permit of repetition here, but they kept 
 the Colonies in a state of constant ferment, and in no place 
 was this more the case than in Philadelphia, where in all the 
 measures of these trying times John Kixon took an active 
 part. The inhabitants of Boston, being anxious to know how 
 far they would be sustained by other portions of the Colonies 
 in their effort to withstand the tyranny of the British Crown, 
 sent Paul Revere to Philadelphia with a circular letter, dated 
 May 13, 1774, requesting the advice of the citizens of Phila- 
 delphia upon the bill closing the Port of Boston. Imme- 
 diately upon its receipt on May 20th, a town meeting was 
 called, and held at the City Tavern, and resolutions were 
 passed appointing a committee of correspondence, with direc- 
 tions to answer the letter from Boston, and assure the people 
 of that town " that we truly feel for their unhappy situation, 
 and that we consider them as suffering in the general cause." 
 Of this committee Mr. inxon was a member, and on the fol- 
 lowing day met a portion of the committee, who prepared, 
 signed, and sent " The letter from the Committee of the City 
 of Philadelphia to the Committee of the City of Boston," 
 which contained the key-note of the Revolution in these 
 words : " It is not the value of the tax, but the indefeasible 
 right of giving and granting our own money (A RIGHT FROM WHICH 
 WE CAN NEVER RECEDE), that is the question." 
 
 On the 18th of June a meeting of citizens was held in the 
 State House Yard, at which Thomas "Willing and John Dick- 
 inson presided, when it was resolved that the Act closing the 
 Port of Boston was unconstitutional, and that it was expedient 
 to convene a Continental Congress. A committee of corre- 
 spondence was appointed, directed to ascertain the sense of 
 the people of the province with regard to the appointment of 
 deputies to a general Congress, and to institute a subscription 
 for the relief of the sufferers in Boston. Mr. luxon was made 
 the third member of this committee, the first and chairman 
 being John Dickinson. The authority of the committee being 
 doubtful, they recommended that at the next general election 
 a new permanent committee should be regularly chosen, which 
 was accordingly done, and he was again duly returned. He
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 was a deputy to the General Conference of the Province, 
 which met at Carpenters' Hall, July 15, 1774, and remained 
 in session until the 22d ? with Thomas Willing in the chair and 
 Charles Thomson for its clerk. The important action of this 
 body was the adoption of resolutions condemning in strong 
 terms the recent acts of Parliament, and recommending the 
 calling of a congress of delegates from the different colonies. 
 Mr. Nixon was also a delegate to the Convention for the 
 Province of Pennsylvania, held at Philadelphia from the 23d 
 to the 28th of January, 1775, which, among other things, 
 unanimously endorsed and approved the conduct and proceed- 
 ings of the late Continental Congress the famous first Con- 
 gress of September 5, 1774. 
 
 The open strife between the mother country and her 
 colonies had now fairly begun, and on the 19th of April, 
 1775, the first conflict of the Revolution took place at Lexing- 
 ton and Concord. It was not until the night of April 24th 
 that the intelligence of these fights reached Philadelphia, and 
 the sensation caused by the news was intense. A meeting 
 was held in the State House Yard, at which it was computed 
 that eight thousand people were present. One brief resolution 
 was passed, in effect that the persons present would "associate 
 together to defend with AKMS" their property, liberty, and lives 
 against all attempts to deprive them of their enjoyment. The 
 committee of correspondence elected the previous autumn be- 
 came in this emergency an authority not contemplated at its 
 formation. The members entered at once upon the task, and 
 desired that all persons having arms should give notice, so 
 that they might be disposed of to those wishing them. The 
 "Associators" immediately began to enroll themselves into 
 companies, and drills were held daily, and sometimes twice in 
 the day. The companies were formed into three battalions ; 
 and the " Third Battalion of Associators," consisting of about 
 five hundred men, and known as the " Silk Stockings," was 
 officered by John Cadwalader, Colonel ; JOHN NIXON, Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel ; Thomas Mifflin and Samuel Meredith, Majors. 
 The first known appearance of these "Associators" in public 
 was early in May, when the officers met the southern dele-
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 gates to the Continental Congress about two miles from town, 
 and escorted them into the city. A few days later a similar 
 compliment was paid to the delegates from the Eastern States. 
 Samuel Curwen, the loyalist, who was in Philadelphia at the 
 time, has preserved an account of this reception in his diary. 
 He writes : " The cavalcade appeared first, two or three 
 hundred gentlemen on horseback, preceded by the newly 
 chosen city military officers, two and two, with drawn swords, 
 followed by John Hancock and Samuel Adams in a phaeton 
 and pair." The Congress duly met on Tuesday, May 10th, 
 and on the 15th of June, upon the motion of Thomas John- 
 son, Jr., of Maryland, George Washington was chosen unani- 
 mously Commander-in-Chief of the Army raised and to be 
 raised, and his first appearance in public in his military 
 capacity was made five days later, when upon the commons 
 near Centre Square he reviewed the City Associators, number- 
 ing about two thousand men. On the following day he set 
 out for Cambridge, escorted for some distance by the City 
 Troops. 
 
 A " Committee of Safety for the Province of Pennsylvania" 
 having been appointed by the Assembly in June, 1775, John 
 Nixon was made a member on its reorganization, October 20, 
 1775, and continued an active and prominent member of the 
 body until its dissolution, July 22, 1776, on the formation of 
 the Council of Safety with David Rittenhouse at its head, 
 and out of the two hundred and fifty-eight meetings which 
 were held between October 20, 1775, and July 22, 1776, he is 
 recorded as being present at one hundred and ninety-seven. 
 Of this Committee of Safety, Franklin was President and 
 Robert Morris Yice-President, but, owing to their being 
 absent so often from the meetings by reason of other public 
 duties, application was made to the Assembly for authority 
 to choose a chairman pro tern, at any time when there was a 
 quorum, and the president and vice-president absent, which 
 was granted, and under this authority Mr. Nixon was chosen 
 the first chairman, November 20, and at all subsequent meet- 
 ings, when he was present and the president and vice-president 
 absent, he was selected to fill the chair. He was Chairman
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 of the Committee on Accounts, and all orders for the payment 
 of money for public purposes were drawn upon him. In 
 May, 1776, upon information being received that the enemy's 
 vessels were coming up the Delaware, he was requested by 
 the committee to go down to Fort Island and take charge of 
 the defences there, and in July, he was placed in command 
 of the guard ordered to be kept in the city, which was com- 
 posed of four companies, one from each battalion. It was in 
 the month of July also that he performed that act which 
 entitles him peculiarly to a commemorative notice in this 
 centennial year. 
 
 The resolution for Independence, which had been offered in 
 Congress on the 7th of June by Richard Henry Lee, was 
 finally adopted on ths 2d of July, one hundred years ago, and 
 on the following 4th the reasons for that Independence as 
 set forth in Jefferson's immortal Declaration were agreed to. 
 On the 5th, which was Friday, Congress passed the following 
 resolution : 
 
 "Resolved, That copies of the Declaration be sent to the 
 several Assemblies, Conventions and Councils of Safety, and 
 to the several commanding officers of the Continental Troops, 
 that it be proclaimed in each of the United States, and at the 
 Head of the Army." 
 
 A copy of this resolution was sent the next day by the 
 President of Congress to the Committee of Safety, whereupon 
 it was 
 
 "Ordered, That the Sheriff of Philad'a read or cause to be 
 read and proclaimed at the State House, in the City of Phila- 
 delphia, on Monday the Eighth day of July instant at 12 
 O'clock at noon of the same day the Declaration of the Repre- 
 sentatives of the United Colonies of America, and that he 
 cause all his officers and the Constables of the said city to 
 attend the reading thereof. 
 
 "Resolved, That every member of this Committee in or 
 near the city be ordered to meet at 12 O'clock on Monday to 
 proceed to the State House where the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence is to be proclaimed." 
 
 The chronicler, Christopher Marshall, records a "warm sun-
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 shine morning" for Monday, July the Eighth. The Committee 
 of Inspection met at eleven o'clock in the Hall of the Philo- 
 sophical Society on Second Street, and went in a body to the 
 Lodge, where they joined the Committee of Safety. The two 
 committees then went in procession to the State House, where, 
 standing on the platform of the observatory which had been 
 erected by the American Philosophical Society to observe the 
 transit of Yenus, June 3, 1769, JOHN NIXON READ AND PRO- 
 CLAIMED, to a great concourse of people, in a voice clear and 
 distinct enough to be heard in the garden of Mr. Norris's 
 house on the east side of Fifth Street, THE DECLARATION OF 
 INDEPENDENCE PUBLICLY FOR THE FIRST TIME. It is recorded 
 that it was received with heart-felt satisfaction, and that the 
 company declared their approval by their repeated huzzas. 
 Thomas Dewees was at this time Sheriff of Philadelphia, and 
 as he had the alternative of reading it himself or causing it to 
 be read, Mr. Nixon was selected, doubtless from his prominence 
 as a citizen and as a member of the Committee of Safety. 
 There is now deposited in Independence Hall a broadside copy 
 of the Declaration, printed at the time, which was found 
 among some papers of John Nixon, and is possibly the very 
 one from which he read and proclaimed it on the eighth of 
 July, 1776. 
 
 Towards the close of July, the Philadelphia Associators 
 were called into active service. New Jersey was threatened, 
 and the several battalions marched to Amboy in its defence. 
 Their service lasted about six weeks, when they returned to 
 the city, and remained until December, when they were called 
 for again, this time to serve immediately under the com- 
 mander-in-chief. At "Washington's suggestion all the Asso- 
 ciators of the City and Liberties were formed into one brigade 
 under the command of Colonel Cadwalader, whereupon Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Nixon succeeded to the command of the third 
 battalion, and on the 10th, the city troops, twelve hundred 
 strong, were in full march for Trenton. "Washington, hi writ- 
 ing to the President of Congress from Trenton Falls, under 
 date of December 13, 1776, says : " Cadwalader- with the 
 Philadelphia militia occupies the ground above and below
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 the mouth of Neshaminy River as far down as Bunks' Ferry, 
 at which place Colonel Nixon is posted with the Third Bat- 
 talion of Philadelphia." Here Washington directed redoubts 
 to be thrown up, and, if the enemy attempted to cross, a stand 
 was ordered to be made against them, and on the 22d, he 
 issued an order to Cadwalader specifying " Colonel Nixon's 
 regiment to continue where it is at Dunks' Ferry." This ferry 
 was the important post to guard on the Delaware, as it was 
 fordable, and it was the point assigned for the crossing of one 
 body of the troops on Christmas night to attack Donop and 
 the Hessians near Mount Holly, while Washington crossed 
 higher up the river. How, owing to the floating ice at this 
 point, only a few officers got across, and how Washington 
 took the enemy by surprise and gained a signal victory over 
 them without the aid of these troops, are well known to all, 
 for with this event is connected one of the much controverted 
 points in our history the disaffection of Joseph Reed. 
 
 It becomes necessary to advert to this subject in this place 
 for the reason that in the controversy which ensued between 
 Reed and Cadwalader, and which called forth the celebrated 
 pamphlets bearing their names, Colonel Nixon was an actor. 
 On page 24 of General Cadwalader's "Reply to General Joseph 
 Reed's Remarks," appears this certificate : 
 
 " I do hereby certify that in December, 1776, while the 
 militia lay at Bristol, General Reed, to the best of my recol- 
 lection and belief, upon my enquiring the news, and what he 
 tho't of our affairs in general, said that appearances were very 
 gloomy and unfavorable ; that he was fearful or apprehensive 
 the business was nearly settled, or the game almost up, or 
 words to that effect. That these sentiments appeared to me 
 very extraordinary and dangerous, as I conceived, they would, 
 at that time, have a very bad tendency, if publicly known to 
 be the sentiments of General Reed, who then held an appoint- 
 ment in the army of the first consequence. 
 
 JOHN NIXON. 
 
 Philadelphia, March 12, 1783." 
 
 14
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 That Joseph Reed at this time contemplated transferring 
 his allegiance from the Continental Congress to the British 
 King the light of historical research leaves no room for doubt. 
 On the 1st of January, 1777, the time limited to accept the 
 privileges of Howe's proclamation would expire, and if the 
 Battle of Trenton had proved a defeat to "Washington instead 
 of a brilliant victory, Joseph Reed would have accepted its 
 provisions and committed openly the treason he meditated in 
 his heart. It was Washington's success and not Reed's 
 unswerving patriotism that saved him. These conclusions at 
 least are reached after a careful and diligent examination of 
 the subject from all available standpoints. 
 
 The Philadelphia Associators remained with Washington 
 until late in January, and took a gallant part in the Battle 
 of Princeton on the second. In a letter written by Reed to 
 Thomas Bradford from head-quarters at Morristown, dated 
 January 24, 1777, he says : " General Cadwalader has conducted 
 his command with great honour to himself and the Province, 
 all the field officers supported their characters, their example 
 was followed by the inferior officers and men, so that they 
 have returned with the thanks and praises of every general 
 officer in the army. * * * It might appear invidious to 
 mention names where all have behaved so well, but Colonel 
 Morgan, Colonel Nixon, Colonel Cox, your old gentleman 
 [William Bradford], and Majors Knox and Cowperthwaite, 
 certainly ought not to pass unnoticed for their behaviour at 
 Princeton." This campaign is the only active service in 
 which we know the Philadelphia Associators to have been 
 engaged, except wintering at Valley Forge in 1778. 
 
 All means of supplying the army having failed, a new plan 
 was established in the spring of 1780 by the formation of an 
 institution called " the Bank of Pennsylvania for the purpose 
 of supplying the army of the United States with provisions 
 for two months." The plan was that each subscriber should 
 give his bond to the directors of the bank for such sum as he 
 thought proper, binding himself to the payment thereof in 
 specie in case such payment should become necessary to fulfil 
 the engagements and discharge the notes or contracts of the
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 bank. The securities thus given by ninety-three persons 
 amounted to 315,000, Pennsylvania money, Robert Morris 
 and Blair McClanachan being the largest contributors at 
 10,000 each, while John Nixon and many others subscribed 
 each 5000. The bank was opened July 17, 1780, in Front 
 Street, two doors above "Walnut, and was governed by two 
 directors and five inspectors ; the first director being John 
 Nixon and the second George Clymer. The entire amount 
 secured was called for, and the last instalment was paid in 
 November. In May of the following year Robert Morris, 
 then Superintendent of Finance, submitted to Congress "A 
 Plan for establishing a National Bank for the United States of 
 North America," and on the 31st of December, " The President, 
 Directors, and Corporation of the Bank of North America" 
 were incorporated. This was the first incorporated bank in 
 the United States ; and it is of interest in this connection and 
 may not be generally known, that for this reason, when the 
 National Banking Act of February 25, 1863, went into opera- 
 tion, which provided that all organized banks accepting its 
 provisions should adopt the word " National" in their title, 
 the Bank of North America was permitted specially to accept 
 the provisions of the Act without changing its original title, 
 so that, although a national bank, its title is simply " The 
 Bank of North America." Thomas Willing was the first 
 president of this bank; and upon his appointment to the 
 presidency of the Bank of the United States on its formation, 
 Mr. Nixon, who had served as a director from January, 1784, 
 was elected in January, 1792, to succeed him, and continued 
 in the office until his death, on the 31st of December, 1808, 
 at the age of seventy-six years. 
 
 Mr. Nixon held many positions of public and quasi public 
 importance. In January, 1766, upon the Assembly of the 
 Province passing a bill for the " Regulation of Pilots plying 
 on the River Delaware," he was selected with Abel James, 
 Robert Morris, and three others to officiate as Wardens of the 
 Port of Philadelphia ; and the next year was appointed one 
 of the signers of the Pennsylvania Paper Money, emitted 
 by authority of the Act of May 20, 1767. In November,
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 1776, Francis Hopkinson, John Nixon, and John Wharton 
 were constituted by Congress the Continental Navy Board ; 
 and in December, 1778, the Supreme Executive Council of 
 the State confirmed John Nixon, John Maxwell Nesbitt, and 
 Benjamin Fuller as a Committee to settle and adjust the 
 accounts of the late Committee and Council of Safety ; while 
 in August of the following year he was appointed by Congress 
 one of the Auditors of Public Accounts, whose chief business 
 was to settle and adjust the depreciation of the Continental 
 Currency. 
 
 He was treasurer of the " Society for the Encouragement 
 of American Manufactures and the Useful Arts," established 
 in 178 7, and one of the founders of the " Philadelphia Society 
 for the Promotion of Agriculture," formed in February, 1785. 
 In 1789, upon the reorganization of the College, now the 
 University of Pennsylvania, he was elected one of the Board 
 of Trustees ; and in the same year, under the Act of March 
 11, 1789, incorporating " The Mayor, Aldermen, and Cifci^ens 
 of Philadelphia," he was elected one of the fifteen aldermen, 
 to serve for seven years. It must be remembered that the 
 position of alderman at that period was very different from 
 the office of the same name at the present day. Then it was 
 one of honor and not of reproach, and the duties, similar to 
 those of the present select council, with certain judicial func- 
 tions attached. In the grand Federal procession on the 4th 
 of July, 1788, celebrating the adoption of the Constitution of 
 the United States, Mr. Nixon represented INDEPENDENCE " on 
 horseback, bearing the staff and cap of Liberty ; under the 
 cap a white silk flag, with these words, 'Fourth of July, 
 1776,' in large gold letters." 
 
 Mr. Nixon was a man fond of social enjoyment, and as early 
 as 1760 was a member of the celebrated Fish House, " The 
 Colony in Schuylkill," and in 1763, we find him one of the 
 Mount Regale Fishing Company, which met at Robinson's 
 Tavern, Falls of Schuylkill, every other Thursday from June 
 to October, and was composed wholly of men of wealth 
 and fashion the leaders of Society in that day-; as may be 
 seen from the names of Shippen, Chew, Hamilton, Francis,
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 McCall, Lawrence, Swift, Tilghman, Allen, Hopkinson, "Will- 
 ing, Morris, and Nixon. He was also an original member 
 of " The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick" composed of persons 
 having Irish blood, and was present at the famous dinner 
 given to Washington on New Year's day, 1782. To the 
 Pennsylvania Hospital he was an early and repeated con- 
 tributor, and served as one of the managers from 1768 to 
 1772. 
 
 After the reorganization of the land office in 1792, Mr. 
 Nixon purchased largely of lands in the outlying counties 
 of the State which, like most of such adventures, proved 
 unsuccessful. At the time of his death, he was the senior 
 member of the firm of Nixon, Walker, & Co., shipping mer- 
 chants, composed of himself, his only son Henry Nixon, and 
 Mr. David Walker. His residence was on Pine Street below 
 Third Street, adjoining that of the Rev. Robert Blackwell, 
 Rector of St. Peter's Church, while Fairfield on the Ridge 
 Road, immediately north of Peel Hall the site of the present 
 Girard College, was his country seat. Mr. Nixon was married, 
 October, 1765, in New York, to Elizabeth, eldest child of 
 George and Jane [Currie] Davis, and had five children, four 
 daughters and one son ; Mary, wife of Francis West ; Eliza- 
 beth, wife of Erick Bollman ; Sarah, wife of William Cra- 
 mond ; Jane, wife of Thomas Mayne Willing ; and Henry, 
 who married Maria, youngest daughter of the Honorable 
 Robert Morris. Mrs. Nixon died August 31, 1795, at the 
 age of fifty-eight, and was buried in St. Peter's Church-yard, 
 at the corner of Third and Pine Streets, Philadelphia, where 
 she reposes in the same grave with her husband. 
 
 In appearance, Mr. Nixon was a fine, portly man, with a 
 noticeably handsome, open countenance, as may be seen from 
 his portrait by Gilbert Stuart, painted late in life, in posses- 
 sion of his grandson, Mr. Henry Cramond. 1 His manners were 
 dignified and rather reserved, while he was noted for kindness 
 of heart, high sense of honor, sterling integrity, and firmness 
 
 1 A miniature painted by Peale in 1772 is in possession of his grand- 
 daughter Miss West.
 
 John Nixon. 
 
 of decision. In the early days of the revolutionary struggle, 
 Mr. Nixon shared the conservative views of his fellow towns- 
 men and copatriots Robert Morris, Thomas Willing, and 
 John Dickinson, but after the edict of separation had been 
 announced, none were more eager or earnest in the cause. 
 He was a strenuous opponent of the old constitution of the 
 State, and a firm adherent of the party formed to effect its 
 change. The closing item of his will shows the sentiments 
 of the man better than any other words can portray them. 
 " Having now my children disposed of my estate in a manner 
 that I hope will be agreeable to you all, I request and earnestly 
 recommend to you to live together in terms of the purest love 
 and most perfect friendship, being fully pursuaded that your 
 happiness and that of your respective families will, in a great 
 measure, depend on this. These are my last words to you, 
 and I trust that you will have them in particular and long 
 remembrance."
 
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