Leslie Robinson Nicholas was born on June 21, 1902 in a place called Dales Mill in Georgia. His father was Alexander Stephen “Alex” Nicholas a naval store operator and his mother was Eva Melissa Nicholas. Eva’s maiden name was Robinson which is where Leslie gets his middle name from. Leslie was an only child of Alex and Eva which is unusual for this time period. It is not known if they may have had other children and they just simply died at birth but what is known is that Leslie was an only child. There are, as far as I know, no photographs of Leslie in his youth until he attends Georgia Tech. Alex actually has a surviving photograph in his youth which would have been in the 1870s. Although the photograph does not say who the youth is in the photograph it is clear it is from the 19th century and resembles Leslie to an extent. It is unclear what specifically Leslie did in his youth but at some point he learned how to play the piano. In Leslie’s youth one can also assume that he helped his father in the family business. In researching Alex’s business I could not find anything except what was in his obituary. Alex probably moved from Dales Mill to High Springs, Florida sometime in the 1910s where he had a business in what I can assume is turpentine. In a Georgia Tech yearbook a short bio on Leslie gives a former hometown as High Springs and his place of birth humorously as Dales Mill “wherever that is.” Wherever that is indeed because I cannot find anything on what Dales Mill is or who Dale is and what mill is part of Dales.
Anne Nichols, a cousin of Leslie and a famous playwright, was also born in Dales Mill. It is unclear if Leslie ever interacted with Anne or knew she existed. The story goes that George Nichols, the father of Anne, was the illegitimate son of James Nicholas the father of Alex. James had served in the Civil War with local William Westberry but unfortunately for William he died in the war. William’s wife Martha years later had an affair with James leading to the birth of George Nichols in 1868. It is unclear why the name Nichols was used instead of Nicholas or why Westberry was not used but either way Anne Nichols was born with the surname Nichols.
A newspaper published in the 1940s says that Leslie was a veteran of World War I but there is no evidence that he ever served in the war and he would have been around 15 years old in 1917. Leslie first attended the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1919 where he excelled in virtually everything. Leslie was part of the Alpha Kappa Psi and Phi Kappa fraternities. While at Georgia Tech he was captain of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, Glee Club Pianist, and an associate editor of the Georgia Tech yearbook. Nicholas graduated in 1922 with a bachelor of science in commerce.
On November 14, 1923 Leslie married Sybil Williams in Bulloch County, Georgia. Sometime after graduating from Georgia Tech and being married to Sybil he pursued a career in insurance. Leslie moved to Tampa, Florida where he was employed at some point with Guardian Life Insurance. While in Tampa he also had a real estate business called Nicholas Realty Company. The company owned and leased properties to customers in the Tampa area. Leslie was in business with a J.L. Nicholas but it is unclear who J.L. is and in relation to Leslie. In mid 1926 Leslie took a trip to New York and Washington on a business trip in relation to his business. Leslie was also part of the Tampa Junior Chamber of Commerce. In November 1935 Leslie gave a lecture at a meeting on enthusiasm.
While living in Tampa it appears that Leslie was in the active reserve in the Army. It would make sense considering he was part of the ROTC at Georgia Tech.
On July 29, 1927 Leslie and Sybil had their first child named Leslie Robinson Nicholas Jr. in Tampa. Leslie Jr. was given the nickname Les or Rob but unclear if he ever went by the name Leslie. Leslie and Sybil did have another child on November 19, 1937 in Jacksonville named Henry but he died one day later. Leslie and Sybil only had one child and because of that it changed the entire dynamics of Leslie Jr. years later when unforeseen circumstances.
At some point Leslie and Sybil moved to Jacksonville where he was employed with Guardian Life Insurance. Leslie worked at the Barnett building downtown in one of the management positions. On November 8, 1938 Alex died at 76 years old at the Riverside hospital in Jacksonville. Leslie at the time of his father’s death lived a few streets down from Alex.
Leslie entered active duty on July 20, 1942 and was transferred to Camp Blanding where he became a major of the 117th AAA Group. After serving time at Camp Blanding Leslie was transferred to Camp Stoneman and then to the Pacific to take part in the Pacific War where he was in the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps. It is never known where specifically Leslie was at but is known to be somewhere in the South Pacific. A letter written to his son Leslie Jr., still in possession by Leslie Jr.’s daughter Peggy, was written at an undisclosed location in the South Pacific. Leslie’s war years are unknown in exactly what he did. It is unusual that his descendants do not know where he went or what he did. A newspaper published an article on Leslie a few years after the war saying that he had earned a Purple Heart among other medals. No one knows where his medals are but his second son Alex had some of his military ribbons at some point.
While Leslie was at an unknown location in the Pacific War his wife Sybil died on July 30, 1944 at 44 years old. It was said by her granddaughter that Sybil died of diabetes. Leslie Jr. was forced to live at the Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Georgia because his father was in the war and his mother had died. According to Leslie’s grandson Daniel Leslie Jr. hated the military academy. When Leslie returned from the war he went back to his career in insurance.
Around 1946 Leslie remarried to Louise Knight. Leslie Jr. was said to have not liked Louise. Considering that his mother died in 1944 it is understandable that he would not like having Louise around so soon. In 1948 Leslie Jr. attended Oxford College at Emory and then Emory University graduating in 1949. Leslie and Louise moved to New York City in 1947 where he was promoted as an executive at Guardian Life Insurance. In 1948 Leslie and Louise had a son named Alexander Stephen Nicholas. Leslie Jr. did not like the idea of having his father remarried so soon as well as having a brother. Leslie Jr. chose to not have a relationship with his brother. Leslie probably knew of Leslie Jr.’s reservations on the situation but he could not doing anything.
Leslie at an unknown date in the late 1940s was diagnosed with cancer. A theory of how the cancer began is that he was exposed to unknown chemicals while in the South Pacific. It is never known where he went so the theory has little evidence for this. Unfortunately for Leslie he did not survive the cancer. Leslie died in Port Chester, New York on December 17, 1948. His son Alex was only a few months old and never knew his father. Leslie Jr. married Margurite Queen in 1950 and moved to North Carolina pursuing a career with Southern Bell. Leslie Jr. virtually shut out his brother Alex and Louise. Leslie Jr.’s children never knew their uncle Alex and Leslie Jr. chose to keep it that way all the way up to his death in 2007. Leslie also chose to not have the Leslie Robinson Nicholas name continue with it ending with Leslie being Leslie Jr. and no Leslie III. Eva, Leslie’s wife, interacted with Alex and did visit him. Eva never mended the relationship of the two brothers and she died in 1976 at 98 years old. Leslie Jr. and Alex did attend Eva’s funeral but it was to be the last time they saw each other.
Leslie Jr. had seven children but never knew about Alex except that he existed. Alex had three children and they never knew about Leslie Jr. until 2018. The first daughter of Leslie Jr. is named Margurite Melissa Nicholas. The first son of Leslie Jr. is named James Robinson Nicholas. The second son of Leslie Jr. is named Thomas Leslie Nicholas. Leslie Jr.’s grandchildren, to name a few, are Jonathan Nicholas, Andrew Ryan Nicholas, Alex Nicholas. Alex’s first son is named Andrew and second son is named Jonathan Ryan Nicholas. There are more children and grandchildren to list here but the point is that they all have shared names due to familiar family names. Both Leslie Jr.’s children and Alex’s children did not know about each other’s lives and their children so it was only a coincidence that they all have similar names. After Leslie’s death his son Leslie Jr. received some of his father’s things while the rest went to his son Alex and wife Louise. Leslie’s war items went to Alex but overtime have been lost to time. Leslie Jr. had none of his father’s military items and his children also did not know hardly anything on their grandfather Leslie. Since there are great grandchildren of Leslie born and still being born it gives them the question of who their great grandfather was leading to such articles and post as this.
Leslie was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He was a highly intellectual individual, a great orator, a businessman, devoted to the military and served honorably in the Pacific War. He was a soldier of intellects and military prowess that knew how to balance a life of business, service to country and to family. Although no one knows where he went in the war or what he experienced one can assume he excelled above and beyond expectations of his duties in service.
Andrew R. Nicholas 