George Ward Nichols
George Ward Nichols, small in person but great in will, was born in Fremont, Mr. Desert, on the coast of Maine, in 1837, and died in Cincinnati in 1855. He traveled in Europe, making his headquarters in Paris. His tastes were for the fine arts, and he learned to draw and paint. In the war period he was aid both to Fremont and to Sherman, on his march to the sea. Then he came to Cincinnati, where he was for a time engaged in drawing and painting. His life there is a part of the history of the city. His father’s house had been a musical home, and love of music was his master passion. He became the originator and organizer of the May Musical Festivals, the Opera Festivals, and the College of Music, founded in 1879, and “was its president, and placed the college where envy could not reach it.” The important educational influences of such work and the honorable reputation it has given the city, it is not to be lightly measured. he was author of “The Story of the Great March to the Sea;”, “Art Education Applied to Industry,” and “Pottery: How it is Made.”
From Historical Collections of Ohio:by Henry Howe; Pub. 1888