Jesse T. Nicolay
Jesse T. Nicolay, secretary and general manager of the Rice-Johntz-Nicolay Lumber Company of Abilene, and secretary
of the Abilene Manufacturing Company, was born at Zanesville, Ohio, July 18, 1859. He is the eldest and only surviving
son of Mathias and Louise (Pifer) Nicolay. The father was born in Germany, Feb. 18, 1834, and migrated to Canada
at the age of fourteen years. There he worked on a farm for twenty-five cents per day for a few years, and then
removed to Ohio, where he was engaged for several years as a railroad bridge builder. In 1866 he removed his family
to Kansas, making the journey in a covered wagon, and here he settled on a claim which he was later forced to abandon
on account of the depredations of the Indians. To him and his good wife there were born two sons, the younger of
which died in infancy.
Jesse T. Nicolay was educated in Abilene, attending the first school opened in a log cabin there, in 1866. In 1867
his father built the first substantial school building erected in that place. The son attended the high school
and then became a pharmacist, but gave up this occupation to engage in the lumber business, in which he has achieved
flattering success. Starting at the bottom, by industry and attention to his duties, he has won his way to the
top and for a number of years has been the acting managing partner in the Rice-Johntz-Nicolay Lumber Company. This
firm is notable in the history of the lumber industry because of the volume of its business, its long and uniform
success, and the high character which it has always maintained. The Abilene Manufacturing Company, under Mr. Nicolay's
management, has likewise had a career of which he is justly proud. He has been president of the Abilene Commercial
Club three years, and in 1906 he organized the Abilene Wholesale Grocery Company, but later disposed of his interest
in that concern. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Abilene, and any efforts looking to the upbuilding
of his own church or other branches of Christian enterprise are sure of his cooperation and aid. Mr. Nicolay has
never taken any further interest in politics than to vote in elections, and hence has held no office in the gift
of any political organization, his various business enterprises serving to fully satisfy his ambition. Fraternally,
he is a member of the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Nicolay was married, Oct. 2, 1890, to Miss Jennie L. Jacoby, daughter of John J. Jacoby, a native of Pennsylvania,
and a contractor residing at Solomon. Of this union have been born four children-Jesse Wilbur, Carl Lewis, Lucy
Madaline and Donald Mathias.
Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912
Page: 970
Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry. |
