His father Alex was one of eight siblings born in 1862 during the American Civil War to farmer James Hamilton Nicholas (1832-1910) the son of Jonathan Nicholas Jr. Anne Nichols, also born in Dales Mill, is the granddaughter of James and cousin of Leslie.

His maternal grandfather James Robinson was a pioneer of Volusia County, Florida, working in real estate, mercantile and agriculture.

[4] Nicholas in his youth lived in Waycross, Screven, Jacksonville and White Springs because of his father's profession as a merchant.

[6][7] On November 14, 1923, Nicholas married Sybil Williams in Bulloch County, Georgia, and then relocated to Tampa, Florida.

[11] On May 10, 1936, Nicholas participated in Governor Sholtz's proclamation signing declaring May 11–16 life insurance week.

[12][13][14] Nicholas moved to Jacksonville, Florida, ten years later where he continued to work for Guardian Life Insurance at the Barnett National Bank Building.

[17] Nicholas enlisted in the United States Army Reserve beginning in the early 1920s while pursuing a career in real estate and then insurance.

artillery group and regularly gave speeches to fellow active duty reserve members.

Nicholas entered active duty on July 20, 1942, and was transferred to Camp Blanding where he became a major of the 117th AAA Group.

Artillery groups such as Nicholas' helped ensure an American victory at Guadalcanal where over 8,000 Japanese were killed during the campaign.

Nicholas directed Guardian Life's field training division to help select candidates for manager positions.