Introduction

Biography

Niles was the son of Will­iam Win­ston Niles. He had a grand­father with the same name who wrote the Hymn of Bunk­er Hill (al­so known as The Am­eri­can He­ro).

He was edu­cat­ed at Phil­lips An­do­ver Aca­de­my, and ad­mit­ted to the New York Bar in 1857. He prac­ticed law in Pro­vi­dence, Rhode Is­land, and New York Ci­ty.

In the 1870s, he was liv­ing in Mor­ris­town, New Jer­sey. In 1872, he served as speak­er of the New Jer­sey state as­sem­bly.

Works

• Mr. Niles’ Plan for the Con­struct­ion of a Ship Ca­nal Be­tween the At­lan­tic and Pa­ci­fic Oceans, Cen­tral Am­eri­ca (New York: Me­tro­po­li­tan Job Print­ing and En­grav­ing Es­tab­lish­ment, 1868)