Nicholas enlisted in the Confederate States Army as a private on October 3, 1861, in the American Civil War along with his brothers Josiah and William.

[4] Nicholas married Sarah Hopps; they had nine children: Daniel, Francis, Alexander, William, Henry, Carrabella, Stephen, Mary and John.

In 1868 Nicholas had an affair with a local woman, Martha Bennett, that resulted in a son born in 1869 named George.

Nicholas had served in Company K with Martha's husband William Bennett but he was killed in Charleston, South Carolina.

In 1889 George had a daughter named Anne Nichols in Dales Mill whom became a famous playwright notable for her work Abie's Irish Rose.