Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
May 1775
Primary Source Reference:
Du Simitière Memorandum Books, Library of Congress, fol. 14v
Notes:
The donor, Lewis Nicola (1717–1807), was the editor of The American Magazine, or, General Repository (1769). A native of Dublin, Ireland, who had purchased a commission in the British army about 1740, Nicola in 1766 quit the army and moved to America. Nicola established himself as a merchant in Philadelphia, where he became much involved in cultural affairs, operating a circulating library, editing a short-lived magazine, and participating in the formation of the American Philosophical Society in 1769. During the Revolution he was town major of Philadelphia and colonel of the newly created Corps of Invalids, which was to organize soldiers with physical disabilities for employment in garrisons, magazines, arsenals, and hospitals. See Founders Online, National Archives / https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-09-02-0292
