Meredith Nicholson 1866-1947

[1] Will Meredith Nicholson, “For the Indianapolis News: Secrets,” Indianapolis News, November 19, 1885, 2; Will Meredith Nicholson, “For the Indianapolis News: Grape Bloom,” Indianapolis News, May 28, 1886, 2, accessed Hoosier State Chronicles; Will Meredith Nicholson, “For the Indianapolis News: Tantalus,” Indianapolis News, July 21, 1886, 2, accessed Hoosier State Chronicles; Meredith Nicholson, “For the Indianapolis News: An Idolater,” Indianapolis News, September 2, 1886, 2, accessed Hoosier State Chronicles; Will Meredith Nicholson, Untitled Poem in “Religious Miscellany,” [Wilmington, North Carolina] Weekly Star, May 29, 1885, 4; Will Meredith Nicholson, “Fire Hunting,” in “Bric-A-Brac,” Boston Globe, September 27, 1885, 9;  Will Meredith Nicholson, “Regarding Cider,” in “Farm and Home,” Watertown [Wisconsin] News, November 4, 1885, 7; “Where Love Was Not,” [Columbus] Republic, November 24, 1886, 3; Meredith Nicholson, “Random Rhymes,” Indianapolis Journal, January 2, 1887, 8; R. L. Polk & Co., Indianapolis City Directory for 1886 (Indianapolis: R. L. Polk & Co., 1887), 598, accessed AncestryLibrary.com; R. L. Polk & Co., Indianapolis City Directory for 1888 (Indianapolis: R. L. Polk & Co., 1888), 603, accessed AncestryLibrary.com; “Personal Mention,” Indianapolis Journal, March 28, 1887, 8; R. L. Polk & Co., Indianapolis City Directory for 1891 (Indianapolis: R. L. Polk & Co., 1891), accessed AncestryLibrary.com; R. L. Polk & Co., Indianapolis City Directory for 1892 (Indianapolis: R. L. Polk & Co., 1892), 621, accessed AncestryLibrary.com; Meredith Nicholson, Short Flights (Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill Co, 1891), accessed HathiTrust; “Nicholson’s ‘Short Flights,’” Indianapolis Journal, December 21, 1890, 12; Meredith Nicholson, The Hoosiers (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1900), accessed HathiTrust; Meredith Nicholson, The Main Chance (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company), accessed HathiTrust; “A New Novel by Meredith Nicholson, ‘The Main Chance,’ Is Just Issued by Publishers,” Indianapolis News, May 14, 1903, 5, accessed Hoosier State Chronicle; “Books and Men Who Make Them,” [Chicago] Inter Ocean, May 25, 1903, 7; “’The Main Chance:’ Mr. Nicholson’s Novel Ranks Among the Popular Ones of the Day,” Indianapolis Journal, November 5, 1903, 3.

Beginning in 1885, the Indianapolis News regularly published poetry by Nicholson. Other newspapers around Indiana and the country soon followed suit. After working for the Indianapolis Sentinel, Nicholson became a reporter for the Indianapolis News in 1887. By 1891, he was an editor at the News. In 1890 Nicholson published his first book, a volume of poetry called Short Flights. In 1900, Nicholson wrote The Hoosiers, a history of Indiana heavy on the state’s literary heritage. Nicholson published his first major novel, The Main Chance, in 1903. It was a best seller for several months and was well-received in the press.

[2] Sarah A. Hibben to Eugenie Kountze Nicholson, Warranty Deed, Recorded December 20, 1902, Deed Book 353, Page 518, Marion County Recorder’s Office; R. L. Polk & Co., Indianapolis City Directory for 1903 (Indianapolis: R. L. Polk & Co., 1903), 817, accessed AncestryLibrary.com; “Colonial Home for Mr. Nicholson,” Indianapolis Star, July 5, 1903, 13, accessed ProQuest Historical Newspapers; “It Looks Like a Book Plate,” Indianapolis Star, September 16, 1903, 4, accessed ProQuest Historical Newspapers; “Livable Home is Nicholson’s,” Indianapolis Star, November 15, 1903, 12; 1920 United States Census, Ward 8, Center Township, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, January 9, 1920, Roll T625_453, Page 5B, Lines 72-76, National Archives and Records Administration, accessed AncestryLibrary.com; Eugenie Kountze Nicholson and Meredith Nicholson to Carl A. Taylor, Warranty Deed, Recorded January 17, 1921, Deed Book 641, Page 92, Marion County Recorder’s Office; “Nicholson’s Book the ‘Best Seller,’” Indianapolis News, May 5, 1906, 7; “Best-Selling Books in April,” Publishers Weekly 69:18 (May 5, 1906), 49, accessed Archive.PublishersWeekly.com, copy available in IHB marker file; “The Best Sellers,” Publishers Weekly 69:20 (May 19, 1906), 4, accessed Archive.PublishersWeekly.com, copy available in IHB marker file; Publishers Weekly 69:21 (May 26, 1906), 4, accessed Archive.PublishersWeekly.com, copy available in IHB marker file; Melissa Meeks, “Nicholson, Meredith: The House of a Thousand Candles,” 20^th-Century American Bestsellers Database, University of Virginia, https://bestsellers.lib.virginia.edu/ ; Meredith Nicholson, Handwritten Note, 1926, Indiana Humanities Collection, copy available in IHB marker file; Meredith Nicholson, Handwritten Inscription in Book, 1928, Indiana Humanities Collection, copy available in IHB marker file; Nicholson, House of a Thousand Candles, 23, 131, 143, 182; “New Novel By An Indiana Author,” Indianapolis Star, November 19, 1905, 17; “Adventure in Indiana,” New York Times, December 16, 1905, 33.

In 1903, the Nicholsons moved into their new house at 1500 North Delaware Street. They lived there until 1920/21. Nicholson published The House of a Thousand Candles in 1905. It became a best-seller and probably his most famous novel. Nicholson noted that he wrote the book in his study of the home at 1500 North Delaware Street. The novel is set in Indiana with several recognizable landmarks.

[3] “Mr. Meredith Nicholson’s Latest Book, Indianapolis Star, December 23, 1909, 6; “Meredith Nicholson Talks About Literary Hoosierdom,” New York Sun, reprinted Indianapolis Star, December 11, 1910, 40;  Gray 122-123; “Real American Life: ‘A Hoosier Chronicle,’ by Meredith Nicholson,” Boston Globe, March 16, 1912, 11; “Literary News, Views and Criticism: Meredith Nicholson on Writing Books,” [New York] Sun, March 30, 1912, 12; “New Minister Noted as Author,” Muncie Morning Star, June 20, 1913, 8; Gray, 129.

Nicholson stated that he had written “two stories in a realistic vein,” referring to The Hoosiers (1900) and The Main Chance (1903), after which he decided to write a romantic adventure story, The House of a Thousand Candles (1905). According to Gray, with his 1909 novel The Lords of High Transition (1909), Nicolson attempted to transition from purely romantic themes to a blend of romance and realism

Nicholson’s comments to the Indianapolis Star confirm Gray’s assertion. Nicholson stated: “I am only about half realist; the romantic aspects of life – the lives that I see and touch – interest me immensely. It is held by some critics that fiction must be one thing or another, but I prefer a “blend” of the realistic and the romantic.” In 1912, Nicholson wrote his most realistic work, A Hoosier Chronicle. Nicholson and reviewers considered it a more serious and ambitious endeavor than previous works. and his biographer called it “his most significant, and probably his best novel.”

[4] Indianapolis Woman’s Club, Directory, 1904-1906, submitted by applicant; “Would Oust Shank for Woman Mayor,” Indianapolis Star, January 27, 1911, 7, accessed ProQuest Historical Newspapers; “May Debate New Constitution,” Indianapolis Star, April 29, 1911, 9; Betty Blythe, “Regards Suffrage No Ganger to Home,” Indianapolis Star, June 11, 1911, 12, accessed ProQuest; Mrs. Meredith Nicholson, “Choice of Next President Is Held to Affect Every Woman in Indiana,” Indianapolis Star, February 11, 1912, 23; “Declines to Condemn English Suffragettes,” Indianapolis News, March 6, 1912, 7; “To Consider at Once Closing All Resorts,” Indianapolis News, May 2, 1912, 4; “Events Interest Teachers Here,” [Muncie] Star Press, June 9, 1912, 12; “Suffrage Envoys to Form Party of Women of Voters,” Indianapolis Star, March 22, 1916, 6.

[5] Meredith Nicholson to Maxwell E. Perkins, September 9, 1924, Folder 6, Box 1, Collection M268, Indiana Historical Society, copy in IHB marker file; Meredith Nicholson to Robert Bridges, September 9, 1924, Folder 6, Box 1, Collection M268, Indiana Historical Society, copy in IHB marker file; Meredith Nicholson to Maxwell E. Perkins, November 8, 1924, Folder 6, Box 1, Collection M268, Indiana Historical Society, copy in IHB marker file;

“Indiana Democratic Leaders Inaugurate War On Ku Klux,” Baltimore Sun, January 8, 1926, 5; “Declares Klan Has Cost Indiana $1,000,000,000,” Baltimore Sun, November 2, 1926, 1; “Says K.K.K. Costs Indiana $1,000,000,000 in Good Will,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 2, 1926, 17; “Indiana Has Civic Stomach Ace, Says Meredith Nicholson,” [Richmond] Palladium-Item, May 24, 1927, 13; “Supergovernment Hit by Meredith Nicholson, Indianapolis News, November 3, 1927, 21; Meredith Nicholson, “Hoosier Letters and the Ku Klan,” Bookman (March 1928) in Ralph D. Gray, ed., A Meredith Nicholson Reader (Bloomington: Marion County Historical Society, 2007), 193-201.

[6] Official Congressional Directory, 73^d Congress, 2d Session (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1933), 588, accessed Google Books; “Meredith Nicholson Selected As Envoy,” [Baltimore] Evening Sun, Auguat 19, 1933, 3; “Nicholson Gets Paraguay Post,” South Bend Tribune, August 20, 1933, 2; “Dinner to Meredith Nicholson Minister to Paragay, Minister to Paraguay, Indianapolis Athletic Club,” September 6, 1933, pamphlet, Folder 11, Box 2, Collection M142, Indiana Historical Society, copy in IHB marker file; “Daily Mirror of Washington,” [Muncie] Star Press, September 27, 1933, 6; “American Society of Paraguay Gives Dinner in Honor of New Minister, Meredith Nicholson,” Indianapolis Star, March 11, 1934; Meredith Nicholson to James A. Stuart, January 31, 1939 Folder 11, Box 1, Collection M268, Indiana Historical Society, copy in IHB marker file; Meredith Nicholson to James A. Stuart, February 16, 1939, Folder 11, Box 1, Collection M268, Indiana Historical Society, copy in IHB marker file; Ralph D. Gray, “Hoosier Author as Diplomat: Meredith Nicholson in Latin America, 1933-1941,” Indiana Magazine of History 102 (December 2006): 356-368; Gray, Meredith Nicholson: A Writing Life, 221;

“Good Neighbor Policy, 1933,” Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute, United States Department of State, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/good-neighbor; William E. Leuchtenburg, “Franklin D. Roosevelt: Foreign Affairs,” Miller Center, University of Virginia, https://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/foreign-affairs; Meredith Nicholson to James A. Stuart, January 9, 1935, Folder 11, Box 1, Collection M268, Indiana Historical Society, copy in IHB marker file; R. Walton Moore to Meredith Nicholson, November 5, 1936, Folder 6, Box 1, Collection M221, Indiana Historical Society, copy in IHB marker file;  Gray, Meredith Nicholson: A Writing Life, 205; Boaz Long to Meredith Nicholson, March 3, 1938, Folder 8, Box 1, Collection M221, Indiana Historical Society, copy in IHB marker file; M. N. [Meredith Nicholson] to Joseph W. Block, December 30, 1933, Folder 5, Box 1, Collection M666, Indiana Historical Society, copy in IHB marker file; Meredith Nicholson to James A. Stuart, January 9, 1935, Folder 11, Box, 1, Collection M268, Indiana Historical Society, copy in IHB marker file.

In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt appointed Nicholson as minister to Paraguay to further the president’s Good Neighbor Policy towards Latin America. In 1935, the president transferred him to Venezuela, and then Nicaragua in 1938. In all three positions Nicholson’s work consisted of writing reports to the U.S. State Department on events in the countries, entertaining local leaders and diplomats, and staying in friendly communication with each country’s leader