John Nicholson was an officer in the Continental Navy

Continental Navy

The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War, and was formed in 1775. Through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron, John Adams and vigorous Congressional support in the face of stiff opposition, the fleet cumulatively became relatively...

 during the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

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The son of Joseph and Hannah Scott Nicholson, he was born in Chestertown, Maryland

Chestertown, Maryland

Chestertown is a town in Kent County, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,746 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Kent County. The ZIP code is 21620 and the area codes are 410 and 443...

. John Nicholson entered the Continental Navy as Lieutenant in October 1776 and the next month was promoted to Captain to command sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 Hornet

USS Hornet (1775)

The first USS Hornet was a merchant sloop chartered from Captain William Stone in December 1775 to serve under Stone as a unit of Esek Hopkins' Fleet....

. After the war he was active in public affairs for many years in Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, where he died in the summer of 1844.

The ships named USS Nicholson

USS Nicholson

Four ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Nicholson, named in honor of the Nicholson family, James; Samuel; John; William; and James W.., was a Blakely-class torpedo boat, launched in 1901 and struck in 1909...

 were named for him, his older brothers, James Nicholson

James Nicholson (naval officer)

James Nicholson was an officer in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War.The son of Joseph and Hannah Scott Nicholson, he was born in Chestertown, Maryland. James Nicholson served in the colonial Navy with the British in the assault on Havana in 1762, and was commissioned...

 and Samuel Nicholson

Samuel Nicholson

Samuel Nicholson was an officer in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War and later in the United States Navy. -Early life:...

, his son, William Nicholson

William Nicholson (naval officer)

William Carmichael Nicholson was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812 and the Civil War.A native of Maryland, Nicholson was the son of naval officer John Nicholson...

 and his grandnephew, James W. Nicholson

James W. Nicholson

Rear Admiral James William Augustus Nicholson was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War.-Biography:...

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