De Lancey Nicoll
New York County
District Attorney
In office
1891–1893
Preceded byJohn R. Fellows
Succeeded byJohn R. Fellows
Personal details
Born(1854-06-24)June 24, 1854
Shelter Island, New York, U.S.
DiedMarch 31, 1931(1931-03-31) (aged 76)
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Political partyRepublican, Democrat
Spouse
Maud Churchill
​
​
(m. 1890; died 1924)​
ChildrenDe Lancey Nicoll Jr.
Parent(s)Solomon Townsend Nicoll
Charlotte Anne Nicoll
RelativesCourtlandt Nicoll (nephew)
EducationSt. Paul's School
Alma materPrinceton University
Columbia Law School
Signature

De Lancey Nicoll (June 24, 1854 – March 31, 1931) was a New York County District Attorney.[1]

Early life

De Lancey Nicoll was born on Shelter Island on June 24, 1854. He was the son of Solomon Townsend Nicoll (1813–1864) and Charlotte Anne Nicoll (1827–1891). State Senator Courtlandt Nicoll (1880–1938) was his nephew.[1]

He attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire; and graduated from Princeton University in 1874, and from Columbia Law School in 1876.[1]

Career

After serving in private practice,[2] he was appointed Assistant New York County District Attorney by D.A. Randolph B. Martine in 1885.[3] In November 1887,[4] he ran on the Citizens Reform, Republican and Irving Hall (a faction of Anti-Tammany Democrats) tickets to succeed Martine as D.A., but was defeated by his fellow Assistant D.A. John R. Fellows who ran on the Tammany Hall/County Democracy (the larger faction of Anti-Tammany Democrats) ticket. Upon taking office in January 1888, Fellows dismissed Nicoll from the office of Assistant D.A.[5]

In November 1890, Nicoll ran on the Tammany Hall ticket to succeed Fellows as D.A., and was elected.[6] Nicoll was D.A. from January 1891 until the end of 1893. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law.

In 1896, Nicoll was among the Democrats who repudiated William Jennings Bryan and campaigned for Republican William McKinley. In 1904, he was chosen by Chairman Thomas Taggart as Vice Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.[7]

He successfully represented Joseph Pulitzer and the New York World in a libel case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1910 regarding press freedom.[8][9] During the 1908 U.S. presidential campaign, the New York World had published an account of how a consortium involving President Theodore Roosevelt's brother-in-law Douglas Robinson, U.S. Secretary of War William H. Taft's brother Charles P. Taft, William Nelson Cromwell and J. P. Morgan had bought the French Panama Canal company for US$4,000,000 and re-sold it to the U.S. government for US$40,000,000, thus netting a fortune of about US$36,000,000.

Personal life

On December 11, 1890, he married Maud Churchill (1871–1924).[10] Together, they were the parents of:

  • De Lancey Nicoll Jr. (1892–1957), also an attorney.[11]
  • Josephine Churchill Nicoll (1894–1915), who died at age 19.[12]

Nicoll died at his home at 23 East 39th Street in Manhattan.[1] He left a fortune of nearly a million and a half dollars.[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "DE LANCEY NICOLL, NOTED LAWYER, DIE; Former District Attorney Is Stricken Suddenly in His 77th Year. "BOODLE ALDERMEN'S" FOE Convicted Several for Accepting Franchise Bribes--Delegate to Constitutional Conclaves. His Early Struggles. Won Fight for Pulitzer". The New York Times. April 1, 1931. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  2. ↑ "THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S AIDS.; THE ASSOCIATES SELECTED BY RANDOLPH B. MARTINE" (PDF). The New York Times. December 31, 1884. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  3. ↑ "IRVING HALL'S SUPPORT.; INDORSING THE WHOLE OF THE REPUBLICAN TICKET" (PDF). The New York Times. October 28, 1887. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  4. ↑ "DE LANCEY NICOLL CHOSEN; PUT ON THE REPUBLICAN TICKET WITH MARTINE. DECIDING TO ACCEPT THE NOMINATION --THE OTHER CANDIDATES SELECTED BY THE COUNTY CONVENTION" (PDF). The New York Times. October 26, 1887. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  5. ↑ "RESULT OF THE CITY VOTE; IT PROVES TO BE A SWEEPING DEMOCRATIC VICTORY. THE LABOR VOTE BROKEN UP IN AN UNEXPECTED WAY--CANDIDATES WHO ARE ELECTED TO OFFICE" (PDF). The New York Times. November 9, 1887. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  6. ↑ "HAS REPUDIATED HIS PLEDGES.; DE LANCEY NICOLL'S CURIOUS POSITION AS A TAMMANY NOMINEE" (PDF). The New York Times. October 20, 1890. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  7. ↑ "SHEEHAN FOR HEAD OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE; Democratic Chairman Taggart Selects His Campaign Aids. PEABODY TO BE TREASURER De Lancey Nicoll Vice Chairman -- McLean, Guffey, and Smith Named -- Gorman to Assist" (PDF). The New York Times. August 4, 1904. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  8. ↑ "SUPREME COURT ENDS PANAMA LIBEL SUIT; Federal Courts Lack Jurisdiction in The World Case, Chief Justice White Holds" (PDF). The New York Times. January 4, 1911. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  9. ↑ "PANAMA LIBEL SUIT QUASHED BY COURT; Judge Hough Holds That the Circuit Court Lacks Jurisdiction Under the Storey Act. SENT TO SUPREME COURT Useless to Waste Time, He Declares, on a Question Which Pertains to State Jurisdiction" (PDF). The New York Times. January 27, 1911. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  10. ↑ "DE LANCEY NICOLL MARRIED.; A VERY QUIET CEREMONY PERFORMED AT THE HOME OF THE BRIDE" (PDF). The New York Times. December 12, 1890. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  11. ↑ "DELANCEY NICOLL, LAWYER, 65, DEAD; Ex-Counsel for Taxi Group Had Represented General Motors and Ford Here Had Variety of Interests Operated Muskrat Farm". The New York Times. September 16, 1957. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  12. ↑ "JOSEPHINE NICOLL DEAD.; Lawyer's Only Daughter Had Intended to Become a War Nurse" (PDF). The New York Times. April 27, 1915. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  13. ↑ "$1,403,603 NET LEFT BY DE LANCEY NICOLL; Appraisal Shows Lawyer Had $1,559,790 in Securities -- $25,000 Gift to Hospital. FRENCH'S ESTATE $158,388 Sculptor's Property Included Bronzes of Lincoln -- R.C. Black's Wealth Put at $2,294,914 Gross". The New York Times. November 1, 1932. Retrieved September 29, 2017.

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