Year: 2021

Reuben Abraham Nichols Family 1805 – 1888 he is my third great grandfather, and he was born August 14, 1805, in Cynthiana, Harrison, Kentucky. His parents are Simon P Nichols 1780-1888 and Margaret E (Peggy) Mitts 1783-1860.

Reuben Abraham Nichols married Mary Nancy Skirvan on April 19, 1827, in Gallatin County, Kentucky. She was seventeen years old, and Reuben was twenty-one. The 1830 Census shows that they were living in Grant County, Kentucky. In the 1840 Census, they had moved to Quincy, Adams, Illinois, and he was a farmer. By the 1850 Census, Reuben and Nancy had settled in Clark County, Missouri and once again he was a farmer. From 1850 until his death, he called Clark County his home.

They had six children; Simon Nichols (my second great-grandfather) 1827-1884, James Harvey 1829-1857, Mary Jane 1831-1871, John Clayton (Jackson) 1834-1906, William Henry 1836-1907, George Thomas 1839-1889, Francis Marion 1841-1894, Rebecca Margaret 1843-1894, Louisa Susan 1846-1870, Nancy Ann 1849-1940, and Sarah Elizabeth Nichols 1851-1924.

When the Civil War started Reuben was a middle-aged man but nonetheless, he signed up to do his part in Missouri. The U.S., Civil War Soldier Records, and Profiles, 1861-1865 states that he enlisted as a Private in Company E 1st Infantry for the Confederacy. I could not find the exact dates or city in which he enlisted in but it was in Missouri.

Simon Nichols was born on December 14, 1827, in Dry Ridge, Grant, Kentucky. He married Mary Frances Noel 1832-1871 on July 9, 1853, in Clark County, Missouri. They had six children, William Reuben 1854-1910, John J 1855-1898, Nancy Eleanor 1856-1938, Mary 1859-1942, Elvira Ellen (Ella) 1864-1906, and Emma Elizabeth Nichols 1864-1906. Mary Frances died on January 21, 1873, buried in the Nichols Family Cemetery in Clark County.

Simon married for a second time to Sarah (Sallie) Douglass my great-great-grandmother on January 21, 1873, in Clark County, Missouri. To this marriage, there were six more children born, Lorena R 1873-1912, Lilly F 1876-?, Gertrude W (my great grandmother) 1878-1919, Addie Nichols 1880-1881, Robert Lee 1882-1954, and Simon Leonard Nichols 1884-1973. Simon died May 26, 1884, in Williamstown, Lewis, Missouri, and is buried in the Nichols Family Cemetery in Clark County, Missouri. Sallie went on to marry Henrich E Miller and died sometime in 1901.

James Harvey Nichols was born on October 18, 1829, in Dry Ridge, Grant, Kentucky. He was engaged to Isabelle Webster but died of the Mumps on April 27, 1857, at the age of twenty-seven years old. He is buried in the Nichols Family Cemetery in Clark County, Missouri.

Mary Jane Nichols was born on December 3, 1831, in Dry Ridge, Grant, Kentucky. She married Samuel Lafayette Fretwell on May 29, 1870, in Clark County. Mary Jane died giving birth to their first child John Reuben Fretwell, who also died on April 18, 1871, in Franklin Township, Grundy, Missouri. She was thirty-nine years old and is buried at the Nichols Family Cemetery in Clark County.

John Clayton (Jackson) Nichols was born on April 14, 1834, in Dry Ridge, Grant, Kentucky. He married Mary Charlotte Danforth 1851-1927 in 1868 in Lewis County, Missouri. This union had nine children: Melissa Jane 1868-1851, Louisa Agnes 1871-1885, Jesse Clayton 1873-1926, Charlotte Sue 1876-1957, Charles Reuben 1878-1967, Joseph Clarence 1880-1949, Melia Lee (Monta) 1882-1947, Mary Nancy (Nannie) 1884-1933 and Earl David Nichols 1886-1962. Jackson died in 1906 in Canton, Lewis, Missouri, and Mary died on August 9, 1927, in Kahoka, Clark, Missouri. Both are buried in Providence Cemetery in Williamstown, Lewis, Missouri.

William Henry Nichols was born on October 12, 1836, in Quincy, Adams, Illinois. He married Amelia Price on March 15, 1866, in Clark County, Missouri. They had seven children: James Rice 1867-1910, Rosa Lee 1869-1951, Cynthia Ann 1874-1889, Mary Armita 1875-1914, Walter Irvin 1876-1937, William Elbert 1879-1954, and Reuben Clayton Nichols 1882-1973. William died on July 4, 1907, in Lewis County and Amelia Price died on June 2, 1889, and both are buried in Providence Cemetery in Williamstown, Lewis, Missouri.

George Thomas Nichols was born on January 28, 1839, in Kentucky. He married Louisa Danforth 1841-?, on May 16, 1861, in Clark County, Missouri. This couple had four children: George Richard 1860-1930, Ira F 1865-1932, James Charles 1866-1944, and Marshal W Nichols 1869-1883. George died September 3, 1889, in La Junta, Otero, Colorado. It is not known the death date of Louisa Danforth Nichols; she could have remarried after George’s death.

Francis Marion Nichols was born on January 9, 1841, in Quincy, Adams, Illinois. He married Mary Earl (1831-?) on December 27, 1861, in Clark County, Missouri. There is no information on Mary other than the marriage date.

Francis married again to Margaret A Bruner (1845-1903) on December 1, 1865, in Clark County, Missouri. They had one daughter Sarah Ann (Sallie) Nichols (1866-1950). Francis Nichols died on November 3, 1894, at the age of fifty-three years old. Margaret Bruner Nichols died on February 22, 1903, in Pettis County, Missouri. Both are buried in Providence Cemetery in Williamstown, Lewis, Missouri.

Rebecca Margaret Nichols was born on June 18, 1843, in Missouri. She married John Fretwell on March 20, 1864, in Clark County, Missouri. This union had nine children: Charles 1863-1939, Francis Marion 1865-1877, Robert Lee 1867-1889, Alfred Henry 1869-1885, Rosa B 1872-1888, Fanny Jett 1875-1954, Harvey Reuben 1881-1894, Mary Etta 1882-1955, and Edgar Ingman Fretwell 1886-1887. This was the second marriage for John, he was married the first time to Catherine E Ford 1832-1859, and they had three children: James Leonard 1851-1929, Jesse 1854-1931, and Sidney Green Fretwell 1858-1924. John Fretwell died on July 6, 1907, and is buried in Providence Cemetery in Williamstown, Lewis, Missouri. Rebecca Nichols died on March 15, 1894, in Lewis County and is also buried in Providence Cemetery.

Louisa Susan Nichols was born on February 28, 1846, in Williamstown, Missouri, She never married, she died on December 10, 1870, at the age of twenty-four years and is buried in the Nichols Family Cemetery in Clark County, Missouri.

Nancy Ann Nichols was born on March 4, 1849, in Clark County, Missouri. She married Absalom Walter Mitts 1846-1915 on February 7, 1869. in Clark County. This couple had eight children: John Walter 1870-1935, Olla M 1873-1949, Frances Belle 1876-1916, Ezra Robert 1879-1958, Lucy Jane 1882-1901, George Cleveland 1885-1965, Willie Lee 1888-1949, and Eddie Pearl Mitts 1890-1936. Absalom died on April 21, 1915, at the age of sixty-eight and Nancy Ann died on March 16, 1940, at the age of ninety-one years old. Nancy never remarried, They are both buried in the Providence Cemetery in Williamstown, Lewis, Missouri.

Sarah Elizabeth Nichols was born on May 17, 1851, in Clark County, Missouri. She married James Faulkner  Lay 1842-1915 on December 31, 1868, in Clark County. This union had nine children: Eliza Ann 1870-1982, John Reuben 1874-1959, William Emery 1875-1943, James Joseph 1876-1951, Lutie Elizabeth 1879-1954, Benjamin Addison 1882-1959, Washington Lane 1885-1971, Homer George 1888-1957, and Julien Calian Lay 1891-1986. Sarah died on November 21, 1924, James died on October 16, 1933, and are both buried in the Benjamin Cemetery in Lewis County, Missouri.

Various Nichols family members had land in Clark County, Missouri as of 1878. Below is the map of land owned by people in Clark County including the Nichols’.

Reuben Abraham Nichols died on December 7, 1888, in Williamstown, Lewis, Missouri. Mary Nancy Skirvin Nichols died on December 10, 1888, also in Williamstown. Located at the Old Nichols Homestead, 5 miles NE of Williamstown, Lewis Co., MO. The old homestead is just over the County line, so the graveyard is actually in Clark County. This graveyard is located in the middle of a crop field on private land, not owned by the Nichols family any longer. Please request permission from the landowner to visit the site.