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Stephen Friel Nuckolls
From 1914's Pioneer Settlers of Grayson County, Virginia by Benjamin Floyd Nuckolls.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wyoming Territory's at-large district
In office December 6, 1869 – March 3, 1871 Delegate
Preceded by	none District created
Succeeded by	William Theopilus Jones
Personal details
Born	August 16, 1825 Grayson County, Virginia
Died	February 14, 1879(1879-02-14) (aged 53) Salt Lake City, Utah
Political party	Democratic

Stephen Friel Nuckolls (August 16, 1825 – February 14, 1879) was a Delegate from the Territory of Wyoming and co-founder of Nebraska City, Nebraska. Nuckolls County, Nebraska is named after him.

Nuckolls was born in Grayson County, Virginia, where he completed preparatory studies. He moved to Linden, Missouri in 1846. He engaged in mercantile pursuits from 1847 to 1853. After that he moved to the Territory of Nebraska in 1854 and founded Nebraska City. He held several local offices in Nebraska City. In 1855 he established the Platte Valley Bank. Nuckolls served in the Nebraska Territorial Legislature in 1859.

Nuckolls was known for bringing the first four slaves into Nebraska, two of whom escaped in 1858. Nuckolls offered a $200 reward for the return of the two women, known as "Eliza," 16 and "Celia," 14, and organized a posse that pursued the two all the way to Chicago. Although Eliza was initially caught in the city of Chicago, the young woman once again escaped and eventually settled in Canada.^[1] Meanwhile, after capturing Eliza, Nuckolls was hunted down by a mob of abolitionists, managing only to escape by sneaking out in a disguise furnished by city councilman Hiram Joy. The 500-mile journey of the two young women from Nebraska City to Chicago was recreated by a group of high school students in 2016.^[2]

Nuckolls moved to the Territory of Colorado in 1860 and engaged in banking and mining. In 1864 he moved to New York City. He moved to the Territory of Dakota in 1867 and settled in Cheyenne. In Cheyenne, he engaged in mercantile pursuits. Upon the organization of the Territory of Wyoming he was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-first Congress and served from December 6, 1869, to March 3, 1871. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1870 to the Forty-second Congress. He resumed his mercantile pursuits.

Nuckolls served as a member of the second legislative council of Wyoming in 1871 and served as presiding officer. He served as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1872 and 1876. He moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, in July 1872 and engaged in milling. In Salt Lake City he died on February 14, 1879. He is interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Salt Lake City.

From The First Virginia Nuckolls and Kindred page 70-1:^[3] "He was only 29 when he arrived in Table Creek, Nebr., 1854. He had come to Missouri from Grayson C. H. in 1848; returned to Grayson Co., Va.; married, then came back to Missouri. He, his brother Heath Nuckolls, and the men who laid out and founded Nebraska City, Nebr., were mostly youngsters - the leader was S. F. Nuckolls; he devoted the longest hours, game the most carefu lthought to the enterprise. Given an education much better than the average, Nuckolls wanted learning well established in Nebr. City. "Crowded Civiliation" began to tell on the nervous, restless Nuckolls. He fathered the idea of the first Cemetery, Wyuka, in 1835 - Indian name: high ground on high hill. When Nebr. was a Territory, he was prominent in securing the change to a State. Nuckolls County is named for him. With sympathy for the South, he thought it best to move his family to Jersey City, N. J., during the War. From 1864 to 1867 he was in New York selling mining claims, dealing in metal stocks and meeting the country's big financiers. In 1867 he moved to Wyoming - starting a store in Cheyenne and greeted the Union Pacific when it joined the town with the outside world. When Wyoming assumed Territorial dress, Nuckolls was one of the leaders, delegate to Congress, helped write the first constitution, and from this Legislative Assembly was elected a member of the Congress, Washington, D.C. The winter session was a busy one for the young town-builder - all sorts of bills were introduced to relieve the depression-touched territory - among them was an act to reduce the interest rate. "I believe money is worth all you can get for it," Nuckolls said, "but I realize that we are depressed and so I reluctantly vote for the measure. If you keep the rate high you will discourage speculators from wasting money on foolish ventures." "In 1875 Benj. Floyd Nuckolls wrote Stephen Friel Nuckolls for help in building a Methodist Church at what had been Grayson C. H., but at this time the Post Office was Nuckollsville, Va., the courts being moved to Independence. He promptly answered, if we would promise to raise $1,000, he would send $1,000 - he sent $1,000 in New York Exchange checks, stating he wanted us to put up a good building. Our church was dedicated by Dr. David Sullins in 1876. This Church has been a great blessing to us. My father, Stephen Nuckolls, when a young boy, drove an ox-team and hauled logs to the sawmill for lumber to build this Church." The founder died in Salt Lake City in 1879. There he had hoped to live peacefully for many years, but it was not to be. Work out from having burned the candle at both ends, he passed away at 54 a victim to the restlessness which had carried him into a half dozen pioneering communities and saw him in the forefront of every important exciting adventure. Nuckolls was symbolic of the youth that established Nebraska City; youth that sees through untroubled eyes, scoffing at precedent and experience. Fortunately for our pioneering juveniles, and fortunate for us, they builded well and, as the record shows, prophesied with uncanny accuracy. (Taken from Nebraska City News-Press, Nebraska City, Nebr., and Pioneer Settlers of Grayson County, Virginia, by B.F. Nuckolls)"

• United States Congress. "Stephen Friel Nuckolls (id: N000166)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Stephen Friel Nuckolls at Find a Grave

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress