Thomas Low Nichols (1815 – 1901) was an American physician, journalist, writer and advocate for a number of causes including

free love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues were the concern ...

hydrotherapy Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment. The term ...

, food and health reform,

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

and

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

Biography

Nichols was born in

Orford, New Hampshire Orford is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,237 at the 2020 census, unchanged from the 2010 census. The Appalachian Trail crosses in the east. History First called "Number Seven" in a line of Connect ...

, in 1815. He studied medicine at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

, until he dropped out and became a radical journalist. Nichols apprenticed on newspapers in Lowell and New York, before becoming an editor and partial proprietor of the ''Buffalonian'' in 1837. An article he published while editor of '' The New York Aurora'', led to him serving four months in prison for libel; Nichols later published ''Journal in Jail'', an account of his experience, in 1840. Thomas Nichols married Mary Gove in July 1848. Nichols completed his MD at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in 1850. Later, the couple founded a school for training water-cure therapists and published several books on health, food and other reforms. Nichols was secretary of the American Hygienic and Hydropathic Association and the Society of Public Health and vice-president of the American Vegetarian Society. Drawing of Thomas Low Nichols in jail

Between 1853 and 1857, Nichols published two journals, ''Nichols' Monthly'' and ''Nichols' Journal'', to advocate for his beliefs. In ''Nichols' Monthly'', he partially published an epistolary

utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...

story, which he infused with his beliefs about free love,

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...

and

libertarianism Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

; it was later published in novel form in 1860. For some time, the couple lived in Josiah Warren's Modern Times free love

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

community, based on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. In 1856, the couple left and founded a "school of life", called the Memnonia Institute, based in

Yellow Springs, Ohio Yellow Springs is a village in Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,697 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is home to Antioch College. History The area of the village had long b ...

. It collapsed in 1857 and the couple converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. The couple relocated to London to escape the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Nichols published two further novels ''Uncle Angus'' (1864) and ''Jerry'' (1872), as well as a best-selling autobiography ''Forty Years of American Life'' in 1864. Nichols started the Co-operative Sanitary Company in 1875 and the couple co-founded a health publication, the ''Herald of Health''. The couple campaigned for

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

and

dress reform Victorian dress reform was an objective of the Victorian dress reform movement (also known as the rational dress movement) of the middle and late Victorian era, led by various reformers who proposed, designed, and wore clothing considered more ...

and against military conscription,

vivisection Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for experiment ...

, vaccinations and capital punishment. They also helped create several vegetarian restaurants in London. Mary died in 1884; after her death, Nichols moved to Sutton, Surrey, where he continued to publish his pamphlets. Nichols later moved to

Chaumont-en-Vexin Chaumont-en-Vexin (, literally ''Chaumont in Vexin'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department in northern France. Rulers * Walo II of Chaumont-en-Vexin, Walo II (*1060; † 1098), viscount of Chaumont-en-V ...

, France, where he died in 1901, at the age of 85.

Legacy

Animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

and vegetarianism activist Ernest Bell, credited Nichols' pamphlet ''How to Live on Sixpence A-day'', as the initial inspiration for his vegetarianism.

Selected publications

*
Journal in Jail: Kept During a Four Months' Imprisonment for Libel, in the Jail of Erie County
' (1840) *
Esoteric Anthropology (The Mysteries of Man)
' (1853) *
Esperanza: My Journey Thither and What I Found There
' (1860) *
Forty Years of American Life
' (1864) * ''Uncle Angus'' (1864) * ''Jerry'' (1872) * ''How to Live on Sixpence A-day'' (1873)
''The Herald of Health''
(1877) * '' Dr. Nichols' Penny Vegetarian Cookery: The Science and the Art of Selecting and Preparing a Pure, Healthful, and Sufficient Diet Illustrated by Food Diagrams and Portraits of Distinguished Vegetarians'' (1888)

References

External links

Thomas Low Nichols
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Online books by Thomas Low Nichols
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, T. L. 1815 births 1901 deaths 19th-century American male writers Activists from New Hampshire Alternative cancer treatment advocates American autobiographers American health and wellness writers American pamphleteers American male non-fiction writers American prisoners and detainees American spiritualists American suffragists American temperance activists American vegetarianism activists American women's rights activists American anti-vaccination activists Anti-vivisectionists Converts to Roman Catholicism Hydrotherapists Journalists from New Hampshire Male feminists New York University Grossman School of Medicine alumni Organization founders People associated with physical culture People from Orford, New Hampshire Pseudoscientific diet advocates

Biography

Legacy

Selected publications

References

Further reading

External links