The Lost Commandant

On January 16, 1968, John P. Tinnenney wrote a letter to Commandant Leonard F. Chapman, Jr., in Washington, D.C., recommending that the United States Marine Corps (U.S.M.C.) honors Samuel Nicholas with a memorial gravemarker and annual ceremony.

This inquiry sparked decades of correspondence and research by Marines, Quakers, and historians into the life and burial of the Continental Marines’ first and only Commandant.

Commandant Chapman responds to Tinneny’s request on February 5, 1969, sharing that they “…have been advised that it is against the policy of the Society of Friends to erect monuments on the grounds…where [Samuel Nicholas’] body is interred.”

Alice Allen, the Curator of Archives for Arch Street Meeting House, receives copies of these letters from Tinneny in January 1968 and begins to assist in his research. In her findings, Allen discovers Samuel Nicholas’ burial records for the very first time.

Later that year, on April 15, 1968, Allen was contacted by Edwin N. McClellan with additional research questions about Samuel Nicholas. They continue to write a series of letters sharing research findings and information until McClellan’s passing in 1971.

During the joint Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia and Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting on November 15, 1973:

“..the Clerk [Sarah Yarnall] reported on phone conversations with Philip English, of the University of Pennsylvania ROTC, and with Dilworth Pierson of the [Philadelphia] Yearly Meeting Office, on the following matter. The founder of the Marine Corps, Captain [Nicolas], was a member of 4th & Arch Street Meeting, later disowned, but buried in the Meeting House grounds.

Every year, on November 10th at 10:00 a.m. the Marine Corps holds a memorial service which lasts about 15 minutes and includes some 15-20 people. The nature of the service is an honor guard with no weapons and no firing, a hand salute and the playing of Taps. They would like to hold his service in the courtyard of the Meeting House. They are aware of our stand on military matters and do not wish to offend anyone. The request would include making this an annual occurence.

This request discussed at some length with some Friends expressing strong feelings for, and others equally strong feelings agains, allowing this service to take place, while the ultimate decision rests with the Yearly Meeting, the position of this Meeting had been asked. Friends felt that all we could do was to report to Dilworth Pierson that there was no consensus within our Meeting.”

By November 18, 1973, conversations about hosting the Marines at the meetinghouse for an annual ceremony had come to a close—members of the Quaker meeting had not reached a consensus (they did not all agree), so the request was denied.

However, Marines and local Quakers continued to conduct research and share correspondence. On August 2, 1997, a group of twenty-five former Marines traveled to ASMH’s burial ground to pay their respects to Nicholas and all Marines who lie in unmarked graves.

On April 12, 1998, Paul L. Cathell, Jr., and Catherine “Cassie” Cathell wrote to Helen J. File, then Director of Arch Street Meeting House. The Cathells explain that they shared information about Nicholas with the 1st Marine Division Association and its Liberty Bell Chapter. They also wrote a short article in the U.S.M.C.’s Leatherneck Magazine.

Presumably penned by Paul, the letter describes how his initial interest in Samuel Nicholas was sparked by former Commandant Tom Rispoli, whom he spoke with at a flag-raising at Independence Hall on November 10, 1996. Commandant Rispoli mentioned that Nicholas’ unmarked grave was just a few blocks away at Arch Street Meeting House.

According to Cathall, “none of the Upland Detachment were aware of Commandant Nicholas’ burial site when [he] brought it to their attention.” This eventually led to the 1997 planned bus trip to Arch Street Meeting House with Commandant Rispoli and Garry Greenstein. Cathall made a VHS tape of the ceremony at ASMH and distributed it to any interested Marines.

By November 15, 1998, the request for a memorial marker had yet again reached the Meeting House:

“After thoughtful discussion, the meeting declined the request by the Marine Corps to place a grave marker for Samuel Nicholas, the first Commandant, because it is inconsistent with Friends’ peace testimony. It was also noted that there was no marker at the time of burial and no reason to change the tradition.”

With the memorial grave marker denied, conversations cease, and the Marines continue to hold their annual ceremony on November 10th. However, the Marines are persistent, and in September 2012, they asked for permission yet again:

“The Marine Corps League wants permission to install a permanent marker for Samuel Nichols, first commandant of the US Marines who is buried on the grounds…there was very little support for the concept among committee members and little encouragement should be given that such a request will actually be approved…” (MMFP Minutes, 2012)

By April 20, 2013, the Arch Street Meeting House Standing Committee records that “the Samuel Nicholas marker had been installed near the pink magnolia in the northeast ‘lawn’.”

Paul and Cassie Catthall shared an early design of the Samuel Nicholas memorial gravestone in 1998. They used another simple, Quaker-style, ASMH gravestone as a reference.

The memorial was still not approved for another fifteen years, but this design (typos excluded!) was eventually used.