In the business life of Rhode Island Squire Senior Nicholson is one of the foremost leaders, being president and founder of what is known as the Nicholson-Thackery chain store system in Rhode Island. This business he established in cooperation with his brother, Frederick Nicholson, many years ago, and it has grown to such proportions that its success is widely and generally recognized. Although now retired from active business endeavor, Mr. Nicholson maintains a lively interest in business affairs in New England and in the stores which he set up many years ago.
Mr. Nicholson was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, in October, 1853, son of John and Anna (Senior) Nicholson. His father, a mill man and a spinner, came to the United States in 1879, settled in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and there spent the rest of his life. He was for a short period in this country in 1877, when he prepared the way for his later work, but after spending a year here returned to England for a year before bringing his family with him and definitely taking up his residence in the New World. Toward the close of his life he was associated with his sons in the grocery business until his death in 1902. He had a family of four girls and three boys, of whom Squire Senior was one. Squire Senior Nicholson himself received his early education in the schools of England, and as a boy started to work in the mills. Later, he established the business which is now the Nicholson-Thackery chain of stores, and in this was eminently successful from the start.
In addition to his work in this connection, Mr. Nicholson has always maintained an interest in public affairs. In his political views he is a Republican, while his religious affiliation is with St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal Church.
Squire Senior Nicholson married, in 1877, Maria Holden, a native of Lancashire, England, daughter of James and Jane (Bilkinton) Holden. Her father was, in his early life, a mill man, although later he became engaged in the retail grocery business. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholson became the parents of one son and five daughters. The family home is now situated on the Angell Road in the town of Cumberland, Rhode Island.
Source: Carroll, Charles. Rhode Island: Three Centuries of Democracy, vol 3 of 4. New York: Lewis historical Pub. Co., 1932.