James E. Nichols

James E Nichols (1845 - 1914) 

James Edwin Nichols was born on April 26, 1845, in Meredith, New Hampshire, to Robert and Huldah Nichols. In 1864, at the age of 19, he moved to Boston to work in the textile industry. His first job was as a clerk for Joran Marsh, then as a traveling salesman for F. A.& J. Sawyer and the Franklin Woolen Mills. He often had to travel to New York City. 

By 1879, James was able to purchase an interest in Fitts & Austin (formerly Fitts, Austin & Turner), resulting in the creation of a new company called Austin, Nichols & Co.. Austin, Nichols & Company was a wholesale grocery supplier founded in 1879, which was headquartered in a ten-story building on Hudson Street in the Tribeca, Manhattan area of New York. The company also operated eight smaller location hubs throughout the Northeast. Nichols became the managing partner of Austin-Nichols & Company, selling spirits and canned goods to small retail grocers across the Northeast and Midwest. In 1885, his partner Robert Austin died, and James became the Chief Executive Officer of the firm. Austin-Nichols was a major distributor of whiskey through its stores. 

At the end of the 19th century, this period became known as the “Golden Age of Austin Nichols”, the very beginning of the era of packaged goods. The Austin Nichols name was known from Maine to Florida and coast to coast. Austin Nichols became an integral part in getting whiskey to consumers across America under the direction of James Nichols. 

James Nichols was also an avid horseman, owning several thoroughbreds, as well as a big game hunter.  He was intrigued by polar exploration, and his firm also provided the food supplies to the Greely, Peary, Fiala, and Roosevelt arctic expeditions. In 1909, James Nichols donated the money for a library in Center Island, New Hampshire, where he was born, as a way of giving back to the community. That library, now known as The James E. Nichols Memorial Library, has now provided for the people of Center Island for the last 115 years.

After Nichols’ death in 1914, through the 1940s and for the next three decades, Austin Nichols remained a non-distiller producer, bottling bourbon purchased on the open market under the Wild Turkey brand. Much of this whiskey was purchased from the Ripy/Gould distillery in Tyrone, Kentucky. In 1971, Austin Nichols purchased that facility, then known as the Boulevard Distillery, and changed the name to the Wild Turkey Distillery.

Contributed by: Bill Sergio, Selden, New York (with assistance from the James E Nichols Memorial Library)

with support from Dustin Bowman, Bluegrass Region Section Editor, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky