Mary and Dr. Joseph Nichols, wearing kimonos at a lavish dinner party in the back yard of Highland Manor Born: November 10, 1870 in Cincinnati, son of George Ward Nichols and Maria Longworth Nichols
Died: June 17, 1918
Married: Mary Morgan ("Mae"), of Baltimore
Dr. Joseph Nichols was the president of the Saranac Lake General Hospital, and the owner of Highland Manor.
Joseph Nichols was graduated from Harvard University in 1893, and received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1897; he later studied in Berlin and Vienna. He contracted tuberculosis, and came to Saranac Lake in 1903 or 1904. He bought Highland Manor on September 14, 1906.
He served as secretary of the T.B. Society and as president of the General Hospital. Although he was unable to participate, he was largely responsible for the introduction of curling to Saranac Lake. In 1910, he married Mary Morgan. After his death, she continued the reputation he had established for hospitality for another 46 years.
His cousin, Nicholas Longworth married Theodore Roosevelt's daugher, Alice.
Philip L. Gallos, Cure Cottages of Saranac Lake, pp. 143-4
Mary and Joseph Nichols' tombstones in Pine Ridge Cemetery Dr. Nichols was born in Cincinnati on November 10, 1870. His father was George Ward Nichols, a writer. His mother, Maria Longworth Nichols, was a member of a wealthy and influential family with a tradition of supporting the arts. In 1880, she founded the Rookwood Pottery in Cincinnati. During that institution's golden years, the master potters at Rookwood produced some of the finest pieces of ceramic ware in the history of the craft in the United States. Rookwood was the first true "art pottery" in America, and by 1890 it was being closely watched and even copied by such venerable European potteries as Sevres and Meissen.
Joseph Nichols attended Harvard, from which he graduated in 1893; and, in 1897, he received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Then he engaged in further studies in Berlin and Vienna.
It was in Spain, while visiting his mother and her second husband, Ambassador Bellamy Storer, that Dr. Nichols contracted tuberculosis. He went to Colorado and a number of other places "in search of health," finally arriving in Saranac Lake in 1903 or 1904. Where he lived in the village before purchasing Highland Manor is not known. He soon became involved in civic affairs and served as secretary of the T.B. Society and as president of the General Hospital of Saranac Lake. He was largely responsible for the introduction of curling to the community, though he was physically unable to participate much in that sport himself. In 1910, he married Mary Morgan, a descendant of the Kirk silver family of Baltimore, who was very much younger than he. 1
Dr. Nichols died June 17, 1918. A story in the following day's Adirondack Daily Enterprise said, " He will long be remembered as one of the most delightful hosts that ever lived in Saranac Lake."
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Footnotes
1. She was eleven years his junior
