Hugh Llewellyn Nichols (March 25, 1865 – December 29, 1942)[1][2] was an American politician who served as the 32nd lieutenant governor of Ohio from 1911 to 1913 and Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Ohio 1913 to 1920.[3]
In 1911, Lieutenant Governor Atlee Pomerene was elected to the United States Senate and resigned. Governor Harmon appointed Nichols to fill the vacancy, and he was re-elected in 1912.[4]
Nichols was appointed on September 22, 1913, to the new position of Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court by GovernorJames Cox, and elected to a full six-year term in 1914, serving until the end of 1920. He lost re-election in 1920.[6]
After defeat in 1920, Nichols founded the Cincinnati firm Nichols, Wood, Marx and Ginter, where he was senior partner until his death.[6]
In 1922, Nichols was appointed chairman of the U. S. Grant Memorial Centenary Association, which directed the restoration of the Grant Birthplace in Point Pleasant, Ohio, and directed the state to acquire it.[6]
On October 19, 1942, Nichols was admitted to Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati with a fractured vertebra. He died there of a coronary thrombosis on December 29, 1942, and was buried in Batavia Union Cemetery. He had an adopted daughter, Amy House Nichols, who preceded him in death.