of Jeremias Van Rensselaer, and widow of Kilian Van Rensselaer, her cousin, by whom he left three sons and three daughters. Benjamin, eldest son, d. in 1724, aged thirty, leaving a widow. Charity, daughter of Col. Richard Floyd, who married in 1725 Dr. Samuel Johnson, first" president of King's college. — William's son, William, b. in 1702 ; d. in 1768, like his father, was a lawyer, legislator, and public man, and like him was elected to the assem- bly for Suffolk in 1739. He served twenty-nine years in succession, being regularly re-elected till his death, during the last nine years of which time he was the speaker of the house. He died a bache- lor. — His nephew, William, eldest son of his brother Benjamin, b. in 1715 ; d. 29 March, 1780, also became a lawyer, and in 1750 was made clerk of Suffolk county, which office he held all his life. He was elected to the assembly to succeed his uncle in 1768, and on the dissolution of that body was re- elected in 1769, and sat till the beginning of the Revolution. He had two sons, William (1756-'95) and Samuel Benjamin (1762-1828), to the former of whom he devised his great Islip Grange estate, and to the latter his Shelter island estate, about three fourths of that island originally devised to the first William Nicoll by Gyles Sylvester in 1708. To the grandchildren of these two sons these es- tates mainly belong at this day.
NICOLLS, Sir Richard, first English governor
of New York, b. in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, Eng-
land, in 1624; d. at sea, 28 May, 1672. He was the
fourth son and youngest child of Francis NicoUs, of
the Middle Temple, and of Ampthill. The civil
war put an end to his studies at one of the Eng-
lish universities, and he joined the king's army,
though only eighteen years old,, and was made cap-
tain of a troop of horse. On the fall of the royal
cause he fled to Holland, entered the service of the
Duke of York, served with him in the continental
wars, and at the restoration of Charles II. was
appointed gentleman of the bed-chamber to the
Duke of York. Being of fine presence, clear head,
and pleasant manners, and a good linguist, speak-
ing French and Dutch as well as he did English,
he was appointed the chief of the commission that
was charged by Charles II., in 1664, to settle dis-
putes between and with the New England colo-
nies, and "to reduce " New Netherland from the
Dutch. NicoUs sailed with his fleet from Ports-
mouth, 15 May, 1664. Stopping at Boston, and di-
recting Winthrop to meet him at the west end of
Long Island, he reached Gravesend bay, 25 Aug.,
1664, but three of his ships did not arrive till the
28th. He demanded the instant surrender of New
Netherland. A successful resistance being out of
the question, Stuyvesant reluctantly negotiated.
After long discussion between the representatives
of Stuyvesant and those of Nicolls, articles of sur-
render were agreed to on Saturday, 6 Sept., at Stuy-
vesant's Bowery house, which Nicolls signed the
same day. On Sunday the Dutch council consid-
ered them, and early Monday morning, 8 Sept., 1664,
they were signed by Stuyvesant, and the ratifica-
tions were exchanged. Nicolls took possession of
New Netherland the same day, the Dutch troops
marching out of the fort at New Amsterdam and
the English marching in. Nicolls at once gave to
the conquered territories the names of the titles of
his patron, calling the province and city " New
York," Long Island and Westchester county " York-
shire." and the northern portion of the province
"Albania "and its chief town "Albany." By his
prudent and mild conduct and pleasing manners,
Nicolls so overcame the prejudices of the Dutch
that, on 25 and 26 Oct., 1664, Stuyvesant, Van Cort-
landt, and all the other officials and chief men of
New Amsterdam took the oath of allegiance to
Charles II. as sovereign, and the Duke of York as
lord proprietor of New York, and acknowledged
Nicolls to be the duke's deputy governor, under the
latter's commission, dated 2 April, 1664. On 8
March, 1665, he published, in a convention of dele-
gates at Hempstead, "the duke's laws," the first
code of English law in New York. It was drawn up
by Matthias Nicolls {q. v.), secretary of the province,
from the laws in the other British colonies, the
common law of England, and the former Roman-
Dutch law of New Netherland. On 12 June. 1665,
he established the English municipal government
of the city of New York by a mayor, alderman, and
sheriff, in place of the Dutch burgomaster and
schepens, and appointed Nicholas Bayard, Stuyve-
sant's nephew, the first clerk of the common coun-
cil. In 1666 he was engaged in settling difficulties
with the Indians and the French, and reconciling
minor disputes among the Dutch and English peo-
ple of the province. In 1667 he applied to the Duke
of York for permission to resign, which, after some
delay, was granted, but, at the duke's request, he re-
mained till the arrival of his successor. Col. Francis
Lovelace, with whom he made a journey through the
province to introduce him to the magistrates and
people. On 25 Aug., 1668. after a notable dinner
that was given in his honor by the city authorities,
he was escorted to the vessel by the largest proces-
sion of military and citizens that had then been seen
in New York, and sailed for England, amid the re-
grets of the people among whom he had come as a
conqueror. Nicolls's rule was honest and wise :
his decisions as chief of the court of assizes under
" the duke's laws " were just, and his government
was marked with moderation and integrity. On
his return to England he took his former place in
the Duke of York's household, and at the begin-
ning of the war with Holland in 1672 served with
him in the fleet under his command, and lost his
life in the battle with De Ruyter on 28 May, 1672.
He lies buried in the chancel of Ampthill parish
church, where a white marble monument is erected
to his memory, its upper part inclosing the cannon-
ball that killed him, with the words " Instrumen-
tum Mortis et Immortalitatis." Below it is a
Latin inscription testifying to his merits as a sol-
dier, governor, and scholar, and, as he requested
in his will, mentioning his family. Sir Richard
was never married.
NICOLSON, Samuel, inventor, b. in Plymouth,
Mass., 22 Dec, 1791 ; d. in Boston, Mass.^ 6 Jan.,
1868. He engaged in commerce early in life, and
became a partner in a large commission-house in
Charleston, S. C. Being compelled to return to
New England on account of his wife's health, he
was chosen superintendent of the Boston mill-dam
company, and secretary of the Water-power com-
pany, which offices he filled for many years. He
was the author of several valuable inventions, the
most noteworthy of which were an improved steer-
ing-apparatus for vessels, and the wooden-block
pavement that bears his name. This was adopted
in several cities, and is well adapted for light
travel. Subsequently a judicial decision rendered
it of great pecuniary value.
NICUESA, Diego de (ne-kway'-sah), Spanish adventurer, b. in Seville in 1464; d. at sea in 1511. He was a companion of Americo Vespucci and of Alonso de Ojeda in his voyage in 1501, and returned
afterward to Spain to solicit a grant of new countries that he intended to discover. Ojeda went to court with a similar request, and was given the countries from Cape Vela to the middle of the Gulf
