During a long period Judge Emmett W. Nicholson has practiced at the bar of Jack county, and during that time his rise has been gradual, but he today occupies a leading position among the representatives of the legal profession in Jacksboro. His reputation has been won through earnest, honest labor, and his high standing is a merited tribute to his ability. His birth occurred at Dallas, Texas, on the 24th of August, 1858, his parents being Colonel Edmund P. and Elizabeth (Griffin) Nicholson, the former of whom was born in Jackson, Mississippi, but came to Dallas in the early ’50s. Enlisting for service in the Confederate army during the Civil war, he became an officer in General Gano’s regiment, rendering distinguished service throughout the struggle between the north and south. He, too, was a lawyer by profession, and was a broad-minded, progressive man and public-spirited citizen, in all life’s relations having been found true to the duties of professional and social life. In 1865, with his family, he left Dallas and went to Kansas City, where the succeeding ten years were spent, going thence, in 1875, to St. Louis, and in 1877 took up their abode in Weatherford, Parker county, Texas. His life’s labors were ended in death on the 10th of January, 1903, and his wife, who was a native of New Orleans, has also passed away.
The educational training of Emmett W. Nicholson was received principally in Kansas City. He studied law in his father’s office, and was admitted to the bar at Weatherford July 24, 1879, at once beginning with the practice of his chosen profession with his father. On the 31st of December, 1880, he came to Jacksboro, the county seat of Jack county, which place has ever since continued as his home, and here he has won distinction as a practitioner at the bar. At the time of his arrival here the town was but a small settlement, and his interests have grown with the progress of the place and the surrounding country. In 1886 Mr. Nicholson was the choice of his fellow citizens for the office of county attorney, re-elected in 1888 and in 1892 was their choice for the high official position of county judge, again receiving a re-election in 1894. He is well informed on the subject of jurisprudence in its various departments, his arguments are forcible, his reasoning sound, his deductions logical, and he has won many notable forensic triumphs.
Mr. Nicholson was united in marriage at Gainesville to Miss Annie E. Aynes, whose father, D. S. Aynes, was a prominent merchant of Gainesville. They have three sons, Clarence William, Eugene H. and Frank. Mr. Nicholson is the owner of a large and valuable library, and his name is inscribed high on the roll of legal practitioners in Western Texas. His religious views are indicated by his membership in the Presbyterian church, while his fraternal relations are with the Knights of Pythias.
Source: B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), Vol. II, p. 180.