Samuel J. Nicholls Explained

Samuel Jones Nicholls
Birth Date:7 May 1885
Birth Place:Spartanburg, South Carolina
Death Place:Spartanburg, South Carolina
Resting Place:Spartanburg, South Carolina
State:South Carolina
District:4th
Term Start:September 14, 1915
Term End:March 3, 1921
Predecessor:Joseph T. Johnson
Successor:John J. McSwain
Office2:Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Spartanburg County
Term2:January 8, 1907  - February 12, 1909
Party:Democratic
Alma Mater:Wofford College
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
University of Chicago Law School
Branch:South Carolina National Guard
Rank:Captain
Commands:Company I, First Infantry Regiment

Samuel Jones Nicholls (May 7, 1885 – November 23, 1937) was a United States representative from South Carolina. He was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He attended Bingham Military Institute in Asheville, North Carolina; Wofford College, in Spartanburg, South Carolina; Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia; and the University of Chicago Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 1906 and commenced practice in Spartanburg.

Nicholls was the city attorney of Spartanburg and prosecuting attorney of Spartanburg County, South Carolina. He was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives 1907-1908. He served by special appointment as circuit judge and as associate justice of the Supreme Court of South Carolina. He also organized and was captain for three years of Company I, First Regiment, South Carolina National Guard Infantry.

Nicholls was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-fourth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Joseph T. Johnson. He was reelected to the Sixty-fifth and Sixty-sixth Congresses and served from September 14, 1915 to March 3, 1921 and declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1920. He resumed the practice of law in Spartanburg, South Carolina until his death there on November 23, 1937. He is buried in West Oakwood Cemetery.