John Nixon (soldier)

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John Nixon (1733–1808) was an American soldier. He was born in Philadelphia and was the son of a shipping merchant. Upon the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765, he signed the non-importation agreement against the Act, became active in opposing the encroachments of the English government upon American liberties, and was a member of the first committee of correspondence in Pennsylvania. In April 1775, he became lieutenant-colonel of the third battalion of the Associators, and he was also a member of the Committee of Safety. From May to July 1776, he was in command of the defenses of the Delaware at Fort Island, after which he was put in charge of the defenses of Philadelphia. On July 8 he made the first public proclamation of the Declaration of Independence from the steps of the Philadelphia Court House. The same year Nixon was promoted colonel, and later he served under Washington at the battle of Princeton. In 1776 he became a member of the Navy Board, and two years later was with Washington again at Valley Forge. He resigned from the army in 1780 and became a director of the so-called Bank of Pennsylvania. Afterward he assisted in organizing the Bank of North America, of which he was president from 1792 until his death.[1]