struck in Quito by order of the Spanish authorities. Nicolao was a humble, inoilensive person, desirous to avoid the notoriety that attached to his office, for which he was totally unfit, and his name ap- pears only once in the history of the war of the missions, in 1755, when he interfered in behalf of a poor Jesuit at Yapeya. When the Guaranis made their submission to Preire de Andrada in 1756, Nicolao presented himself to the Spanish author- ities at Andaonegui, and, his innocence being proved, was restored to his former post in Coneei- (jao, and the whole story of King Nicolao was offi- cially declared to be a fiction in the " Gazeta de Madrid " (1768). Nevertheless the romantic history of the fictitious king came to be popularly believed through a French work entitled " Histoire de Nicolas I., roi de Paraguay et erapereur des Mame- lucs," purporting to be issued in Sao Paulo in 1756, but probably printed in Germany. In this book he is called Nicolas Robiouni, of Spanish birth, and his career is described as full of crimes, but Southey declares it to be a tissue of falsehoods and the fabrication of some ignorant impostor.
NERAZ, Jean Claude, R. C. bishop, b. in
Anse, France, in 1829 ; d. in Texas, 15 Nov., 1894.
He followed a classical course in the College of
St. Godard, then entered the seminary at Alix,
and finished his theological studies in the Sulpitian
seminary of Lyons. He emigrated to the United
States in 1852, and was ordained priest by Bishop
Odin on 19 Feb., 1853. His first missionary labors
were in Nacogdoches, Tex., and his mission com-
prised the northeastern part of the state as far as Red
river. In 1864 he was removed to southern Texas,
and was pastor of Liberty county till 1866, when
he was appointed assistant at San Antonio. He
was transferred in 1868 to Laredo, where he built
a convent and a church, and in 1873 he was again
stationed in San Antonio and given charge of the
church of San Fernando. He was appointed vicar-
general of the diocese of San Antonio in 1875, and
on the death of Bishop Pellicer was made adminis-
trator of the see. He was then nominated second
bishop of San Antonio, and consecrated on 8 May,
1881. He was present at the third council of Balti-
more in 1884. Under the auspices of Bishop Neraz
a college was founded in Travis county by the priests
of the Holy Ci-oss and an academy at Halletsville
by the Sisters of the Incarnate Word. His diocese
had fifty-one priests, fifty churches, eight chapels,
three academies, two colleges, twenty-six parochial
schools, and three charitable institutions.
NERINCKX, Charles (ner'-inks), clergyman, b.
in HerfEelingen, Belgium, 2 Oct., 1761 ; d. in St.
Genevieve, Mo., 8 Aug., 1824. He was educated at
the University of Louvain and the Theological
seminary of Mechlin, was ordained in 1785, and in
1786 appointed vicar of the inetropolitan church
of St. Romualdus, Mechlin. When the army of the
French republic entered Belgium in 1797. an order
was issued for his arrest, and for the next four
years he was obliged to secrete himself. In 1800
he applied to Bishop Carroll for permission to
labor in the United States, and, on the receipt of a
letter assuring him of welcome, he embarked at
Amsterdam and reached Baltimore in August, 1804. In July, 1805, he was sent to assist Father Stephen T. Badin {q. v.), who was the only priest in Kentucky. In April, 1806, he visited Vin-
cennes, where he engaged for a time in missionary
work. Father Nerinckx was known among his co-
religionists as the " church-builder." During his
nineteen years on the Kentucky mission he built
ten churches, laboring with his own hands on some
of them. Father Nerinckx is regarded as sharing
with Father Badin the credit of consolidating
the Roman Catholic church in Kentucky. A ride
of twenty miles without breaking his fast was
with him a common occurrence, and he never al-
lowed himself more than a few hours' sleep after
the most exhausting labors. Although he had
charge of but six congregations in Kentucky, the
stations that he served were scattered over the
whole extent of the state. Sometimes in swim-
ming rivers at flood-tide he was swept from his
horse and saved himself only by his great physical
strength. In 1808 he was appointed bishop of
New Orleans, but declined the honor. Father Ne-
rinckx visited Europe twice in the interest of his
church in Kentucky, for which he thus obtained
over $15,000. He was the founder of the Institute
of Friends of Mary at the Foot of the Cross, better
known as the Sisterhood of Loretto. The sisters
were soon in charge of institutions for the educa-
tion of girls ; but the rules that he established for
their guidance were looked on as excessively severe,
and a dispute between him and Father (afterward
Bishop) Chabrat on this point led to his withdrawal
from Kentucky in June, 1824. He went to the
convent of Bethlehem, in Perry county.- Mo., a
branch house of his Loretto sisterhood, intending
to prepare for missionary work among the Indians.
He erected a house in Bethlehem for the education
of twelve Indian girls, for whose tuition the U. S.
government had agreed to pay ; but the contract
was not fulfilled, owing to the death of the priest
in a few days. See " Life of the Reverend Charles
Nerinckx,""by the Rev. Camillus P. Maes (1880).
NESBITT, John Maxwell, merchant, b. in
Ireland in 1728 ; d. in Philadelphia, 22 Jan.. 1802.
He came to this country in early life, settled in
Philadelphia, and became one of the chief mer-
chants of that city. He was the paymaster of the
Pennsylvania navy from 14 Sept., 1775, till 1
March, 1778, and treasurer of the Pennsylvania
board of war during the Revolution. He enlisted
in 1777 in the city troop, with which he served
during its campaign in New Jersey, in 1788 was
appointed one of the committee to settle the ac-
counts of the council of safety, in 1780 assisted in
forming the Pennsylvania bank to supply provis-
ions for the army, subscribed £5,000 to its funds,
and was chosen one of its five inspectors. In 1781
he joined with Robert Morris and others in form-
ing the Bank of North America, and he served in
its directorship from its organization until 1792,
when he became one of the founders of the In-
surance company of North America, the oldest
fire and marine insurance company in the United
States, was chosen its first president, and served
four years. He was one of the port-wardens in
1788, and in 1790 an alderman. In 1793 he was
one of a committee of merchants to collect infor-
mation respecting the capture or detention of ves-
sels belonging to citizens of the United States by
the cruisers of nations at war, and to lay the
same before the president. He was a founder of
the Friendly society of St. Patrick (afterward An-
cient order of Hibernians) in 1771, of which he was
chosen vice-president, and in 1773 president.
NESMITH, James Willis, senator, b. in New Brunswick, Canada, 23 July, 1820; d. in Polk county, Oregon, 17 June, 1885. He was left an orphan at an early age, received no education, and was forced to earn his livelihood. He removed to the United States, and in 1843 went with the first emigrants to Oregon, where he took an active part in formmg the provisional government. He was
made a judge in 1845, having studied law during two years in Oregon City. He commanded as cap-
