Joseph Hopper Nicholson (May 15, 1770 – March 4, 1817) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Born in Chestertown,

Kent County, Maryland Kent County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 19,198, making it the least populous county in Maryland. Its county seat is Chestertown. The county was named for the county of Kent in E ...

, Nicholson graduated from

Washington College Washington College is a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, Maryland. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782. George Washington supported the founding of the college by consenting to have the "College at Chester" name ...

in 1787 and studied law. He was admitted to the bar and practiced, and also served as a member of the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

from 1796 to 1798. He was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the Sixth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1799 until his resignation on March 1, 1806. In Congress, Nicholson was one of the

impeachment manager An impeachment manager is a legislator appointed to serve as a prosecutor in an impeachment trial. They are also often called "House managers" or "House impeachment manager" when appointed from a legislative chamber that is called a "House of Rep ...

s appointed by the House of Representatives in January 1804 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against John Pickering, judge of the United States District Court for New Hampshire, and in December of the same year against

Samuel Chase Samuel Chase (April 17, 1741 – June 19, 1811) was a Founding Father of the United States, a signatory to the Continental Association and United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and an Associate Justice of t ...

, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Nicholson was significantly ill in February 1801 when the House decided the Election of 1800, yet was carried on a stretcher to the Capitol to vote for Jefferson. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, Nicholson participated in the defense of

Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack ...

. He served as chief justice of the sixth judicial district of Maryland and associate justice of the

Maryland Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Maryland is the highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. Its name was changed on December 14, 2022, from the Maryland Court of Appeals, after a voter-approved change to the state constitution. The court, which is compose ...

from March 26, 1806 until his death at his home in Baltimore County, Maryland. He is interred in the family cemetery on the Lloyd estate of "

Wye House Wye may refer to: Place names * Wye, Kent, a village in Kent, England **Wye College, agricultural college, part of University of London before closure in 2009 ** Wye School, serving the above village **Wye railway station, serving the above villa ...

" near Easton,

Talbot County, Maryland Talbot County is located in the heart of the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,526. Its county seat is Easton. The county was named for Lady Grace Talbot, the wife of Sir Rob ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Joseph Hopper 1770 births 1817 deaths Judges of the Maryland Court of Appeals Members of the Maryland House of Delegates People from Chestertown, Maryland American people of the War of 1812 18th-century American Episcopalians 19th-century American Episcopalians Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland People from Baltimore County, Maryland