ALS, DLC:GW.

Francis Nichols (d. 1812), a resident of Pottsgrove (Pottstown), Pa., on Schuylkill River, ended his wartime service as major of the 9th Pennsylvania Regiment. He formed one of GW’s escorts into Philadelphia when GW was on his way to preside at the Constitutional Convention (Diaries description begins Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds. The Diaries of George Washington. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1976–79. description ends , 5:155–56). On 28 Jan. 1791 Nichols again approached GW about federal employment, this time unsuccessfully soliciting the post of inspector of excise for Philadelphia (DLC:GW). He later was considered for the post of supervisor of the revenue for Pennsylvania and the Treasury Department made use of his services in supplying the Pennsylvania militia during the Whiskey Insurrection (Hamilton to GW, 14 June 1794; Tench Coxe to Hamilton, 25 Nov. 1794, in Syrett, Hamilton Papers, description begins Harold C. Syrett et al., eds. The Papers of Alexander Hamilton. 27 vols. New York, 1961–87. description ends 17:392–93).