Brian,

Just a quick report to let you know, among other things, that I have managed to eliminate with absolute certainty William Nichols of Norfolk County as an ancestor of yours. From abstracts of tithable lists I have enclosed, William Nichols, son of John Nichols, was still living in Norfolk County as late as 1767, long after your man was in North Carolina. Note first that a William Nickols appeared with a negro named Nead in 1750, the same year that the will of John Nichols was probated, in a district where others of the surnames mentioned in John Nichols’ will also appeared. A William Nichols and son John, again with a negro named Ned, appeared in 1761 in a district described in much the same way as the district in 1750, the presence of the slave Ned establishing that it was the same William from the 1750 list. Further, in that list is a John Savall (essentially the same name as Seavell from John Nichols’ will) with a John Nichols living with him along with negroes named Harry and Sam. The will of John Nichols stipulated that if his son John were to die without issue, the negro Harry left to him was to go to his sister Sarah Seavell, thus the 1761 tithables establish that John Savall was likely the husband of Sarah Nichols, and the John Nichols in that household was her brother. Finally, the same William Nichols (established by the ever present Ned) was in the tithables in 1767.

Furthermore, given William Nickols’ presence with his father in the 1734 tithables, he is established as being born no later than 1718 (whether an individual would actually appear in the rolls at age 16 is unclear, but a white male was subject to the taxes which the tithable rolls enumerated at that age). How much earlier is unclear because the surviving years for the tithables are so sporadic, thus it is not possible to establish if William was born still earlier either by finding him named in an earlier list or his appearing with children in a subsequent list, though by virtue of the fact that he does not have a tithable son in 1750 he was likely born after 1712 (presuming William married at age 21 and the first child of his marriage was both male and born within the first year or two of the marriage). The relevance of when the William, son of John of Norfolk County was born is that it establishes, given the various tithable lists that survive, that there was not, and could not have been, a second William in that family who was your ancestor.

I have done a search of the colonial land grant records and do not find any mention of a William Nichols under any variant of the spelling of the surname in the period where any listing could plausibly have been your man. At this point I hesitate to try to identify in what localities there were men with the surname Nichols then look in the records of each for any reference to a William, for it would surely require either any reference I find have more detail than is typical for the time period to be any chance of tying such an individual to your ancestor or greater expense of time and money to do so than I would be comfortable recommending you make.

I have found several references in the land grant abstracts to a John Windom in Isle of Wight but have yet to “follow up” on the same, i.e., see if I find any evidence that the man sold the land and if he did both when and whether his residence was given as North Carolina. My feeling was that at least initially my time, and your money, would be better spent seeing if I could find any references to William Nichols in Virginia records.

With that in mind, I have searched the index to both the Chancery Papers (lawsuits over, among other matters, property boundaries and rights of inheritance, so it is not unsual for these papers to go into considerable detail on how the various parties involved are related to each other) and Colonial Records Project (a survey commissioned by the state library of archives, libraries and other record repositories across Europe, though primarily in the United Kingdom for the obvious reasons, of any references to either the colony of Virginia or its residents in the colonial era), but found nothing in either early enough for any likely connection to your William Nichols.

I have also done a remote search of the index to the collections of the Virginia Historical Society. Using specifically William Nichols, 185 items were reported. The overwhelming majority were too late for any realistic chance that I would find pertinent material in the same upon visiting the VHS. Of those early enough to be of interest, the majority were actually references to the family of Governor NICHOLSon or persons of the surname Nichols other than William. I did, however, find reference to a Nichols family being mentioned in a genealogy of the Chiles compiled by a William Broaddus Cridlin who died in 1932. It appears to be unpublished and to consist of just 4 pages so is probably nothing more than an ahnentafel, but I have other reasons to visit the VHS before the end of this week.

There is also a book entitled Kith and Kin compiled by Willis Minor Dixon (born 1846) that was apparently published about 1922 in which Nichols is listed as a family covered. With 83 pages, it may have pertinent information, but given when it was published, I would be quite surprised if it contains any real documentation of the relationships and dates claimed and it may even contain no real dates whatsover. Still, one never knows until one looks.

Yet another item of possible interest is a genealogy commissioned by the Bryan family (which not only owns the publishing conglomerate Media General and through it the Richmond Times Dispatch, but produced 2 presidents of my alma mater, the College of William & Mary) and compiled by John Frederick Dorman. It is unclear from the description whether there will be anything of obvious interest, particularly since the primary focus is Gloucester County, not just because that is a severely burned county, but it is also separated from Isle of Wight by both the James and York Rivers, so making any connection to your family would be comparable to the leap you made from Pitt to Tyrrell County–it CAN be done, but doing so is an exception rather than a norm. That said, I know Fred and have very high regard for his work.

I find Nichols is a featured family in George Norbury MacKenzie’s Colonial Families of the United States, but that work is now classified by a number of genealogical societies, primary among them being the DAR, as “pure fiction”. I should probably look at the book, but my expectations are not particularly high on either there being any pertinent material or that any pertinent information found can be substantiated by other sources that are held in higher regard.

Though it has no direct bearing on your research project and probably no remote connection either, the VHS has a theological manuscript written by one William Nichols (1664-1712)

A search on William Nicholls yielded an additional 24 citations. One that initially looked promising was the Beverly Family papers given the dates covered, 1654-1901, but the fuller description indicates the Nicholls references were in business records dating from the early 1800s. Another item which piqued my interest is a Bible record for the family of Humphrey Nicholls, 1729-1791, in part because the person identified as owning the Bible ca. 1960 resided at Windsor, NC–close enough to both Tyrrell and Pitt Counties for the possibility of a connection to the family of your William. Of course, from what you have already told me about the research you have done in North Carolina, you may well not just be familiar with the same, but have determined there is no connection to your family. If you are not familiar wth it, related families identified in the description are Webb and Williams. George Harrison Sanford King had a hand in the acquisition of this bible by the VHS and was regarded as the pre-eminent Virgina-based genealogist at the time of his death over most of his lengthy career (and from my familiarity with his work, the reputation was well-deserved), it would be my intention to look through the bibliography of his files to see if he did any work on the Nichols family although I did not find any specific reference to the same in the on-line catalog. That said, his papers were donated to the VHS before it began keeping its catalog on-line and thus it is possible there is material in his papers that have not yet been added to the on-line catalog.

A search on William Nickolls yielded 2 citation, one in the Carter Family Papers, 1651-1861, but a closer look at the description showed the reference was to a company owned by a Nickolls in the early 1800s.

A search on William Nickols and William Nucholls yielded no citations.

A search on WIlliam Nuckols yielded 14 citations, none early enough for a possible connection to your family

A search on William Nuckolls yield 4 citations, none within the period where your family might have been mentioned that had not appeared under one of the other spelling variants.

A search on William Nuchols yield 1 citation, to a folder on a Nuchols family in the personal papers of William Glover Stanard, a genealogist of some note prior to his death in 1933

A search on William Nuckles yielded 2 citations, neither early enough to be of any probable interest.

A search on William Nickles yield 3 hits, all in the personal papers of Joseph Bryan, and too recent to tie into your family.

I have gone into the detail I have with regard to the VHS over the state library because had I found anything of interest in the Colonial Records Project, I would have been able to access the actual reports on-line, and many of the Chancery suit papers are available on-line as well. I will need to visit the VHS to look at the items I have identified.

It is unclear to me how much time will be needed to do so, but it will certainly be enough to exhaust the time remaining on my original bid. Thus, for me to explore the unpublished records of Isle of Wight County in greater detail will require either that you post a second project and ask me to bid on the same or that we modify the terms of my bid before I have exhausted the time remaining (once I have exhausted the time and mark the project as completed, further time can be added ONLY through a new project), of course presuming that you are satisfied enough with my work to date to wish me to continue (modifying the terms of my bid will not allow other experts to access the project, much less make a bid on the same). How long it might take me to read through the Isle of Wight records is unclear as I have yet to do any survey of the number of record books or the number of pages in each to estimate the time needed. An additional 5 hours may not be enough time to complete the research, but it could be enough to calculate how much further time could be needed and whether the additional time would ultimately exceed the original amount of your “budget”–it is unclear to me when a budget is stipulated whether the same is specifically the client’s or chosen from a list of options provided by Ancestry as part of the project “menu”.

As I stated earlier in this report, I have other business that will take me to the VHS before the end of this week. Because the VHS does not open until 10am, later than any other facility I use and also is not particularly convenient to any other facility I use, I prefer to limit the frequency with which I visit it and to do so by having an expectation when I go that I may actually have more work to do than I am apt to have time to complete, thus if I do find I must make a return trip, I can try to schedule it in a manner that offers the least “inconvenience” to me or my clients, e.g., when I know that I have another commitment that would necessitate I cut short a trip to any other facility I use routinely. That all said, I have another client wishing research done on the Bland family on which I would not be surprised to need an entire day at the VHS, so I will be making a trip there either Friday or Saturday whether or not I hear back from you before I go, and having the time to spend on your case, I will do so. Thus, I will likely be marking your project no later than Saturday evening as completed short of your advising me beforehand you wish to add more time to the project.

All for now.

Michael

Norfolk County, Virginia, Wills and Deeds Book I, 1736-1753, pages 156-7
Will of John Nichols, Senior, dated 8 March 17– (17th year of the reign of George II)
daughter Mary was still a minor, or at least unmarried, for the will stipulates she was to be given AT HER MARRIAGE a feather bed, 2 pewter dishes and a side saddle.

Norfolk County, Virginia, Tithables, 1730-1750, Elizabeth B. and W. Bruce Wingo, 1979
page 127. List of Tithables Above Bridge, 10 June 1734
John Nickols, sons John & William, Jas. Belard, and negroes Harry & Inde.
page 212. List of Tithables from the Hollow Poplar down to Great Bridge & to Batchelder’s Mill & up Poaktey Road, 1 June 1750
Wm. Nickols & negro Nead (others appearing in same general area, Wm. Savaill and son Wm., John Gammon, Edward Creekur

Norfolk County, Virginia, Tithables, 1751-1765, Elizabeth B. Wingo, 1981
page 176 List of Tithables from Great Bridge to Edmonds Bridge to New Mill Creek in Saint Brides Parish, 1 June 1761
William Nichols, son John and negro Ned
John Savall, John Nichols and negroes Harry & Sam

Norfolk County, Virginia, Tithables, 1766-1780, Elizabeth B. and W. Bruce Wingo, 1985
page 24. List of Tithables… from Great bridge to Edmond’s Bridge and New Mill Creek, 10 June 1767
WM Nichols, son ThoS and negroes Lewis & Ned

NOTE: my use of capitalized letters where they do not seem to fit is to indicate the use of superscript lettering in either the original records or the transcriptions of the same, if not both. “Misspellings” and improper punctuation is also reflective of what appears in the original records.

My response was to follow along the Windom trail. At some point William met John Windom. Lets look in Isle of Wright County and go forward and see where along the line he runs into Nichols. I wanted him to go ahead and do the other Nichols follow ups just to tie those loose ends up. I have also agreed to additional hours to follow John Windom in Virginia to see if he had any dealing with the Nichols. If this doesn’t pan out I will shift gears to North Carolina. Will update later

I had most of William Life from 1765 to death abt 1789 (dont have actual death info) He was born abt 1725, I was guessing in VA. I had a lot of info which I provided. This is what I have here http://www.mynicholsfamily.com/?p=64. I think his father in law is a john Windom of Isle of Wright Co, VA. I found a Will in Norfolk County VA mentions a William Nichols son of John Nichols, I definately wanted this checked out to see if it was related to my Nichols in any way.

We agreed on 5 hours of initial Research for $175. I have been burned in the past by other reseachers so I wanted to see what this initial hiring would uncover and in what detail Michael would present his findings.

I had searched the net for William Nichols Sr of Pitt County, hoping to find some other researchers note or post on the family. No luck there. So I decided to look up the families the Nichols had a lot of land dealings with.

One family was John Windham (or Windom). John and William are first located in Tyrrell County in 1750. Both had a land Transaction in this County

9 May 1750 William Tomlinson of Johnston County to John Windom of same.  9 Mar 1750.  23 pounds, 10 shillings VA.  131 acres (messuage) on north side of Conneho Creek Swamp.  William Tomlinson, his wife Ann (x) Tomlinson.  Wit: John Windom, Wm. Nichols.   Tyrrell Co, NC,  Deed Book 2, Page 410

and

Pages 70-72: JOHN WINDHAM and ELIZABETH of Tyrrell County, North Carolina to JAMES LUNDY dated 8 Mar 1749/50; 82 acres on the north side of the Maherrin River adj. HARMAN REED and sd. JAMES (patent by EDMUND LUNDY for 165 acres on 28 Feb 1733), S: JOHN (M) WINDHAM and ELIZABETH (mark) WINDHAM, W: JOEL (signed) HARRIS, HENRY (signed) ADAMS, and BENJAMIN (signed) LEWIS [Note; John Windham son in law of Harmon Read; Elizabeth daughter of Harmon Read]

Next Both were in the 1755 tax list in Beaufort Co, NC. Pitt was formed in 1760 from Beaufort County. There are several land transactions showing that their lands bordered each other. John Windham even makes this Deed of Gift to his daughter and Grandson:

In May 1766   John Windhom. (from Pitt Co.) “in consideration of love, good will and affection which I have for my grandson John Nichols (of Pitt co.)”, have given 100 acres of land in Pitt Co., on Coneta Creek including the plantation that William Nichols formerly lived on.  Likewise my daughter Jean Nichols can stay on the land for her lifetime.  Signed (possibly just a mark) by John and Elizabeth Windom, Witnessed by James May, Nathan Mayo, and David Hathaway.  Pitt Co., NC Deed C321

As you can see Johns daughter married a Nichols. Also in doing a quick search on John Windham, I have found several sources whom claim he comes from Isle of Wright Co., VA. So now I do a search on Nichols in Isle of Wright Co., VA and all surrounding Counties. I find several Nichols/Nicholls/Nicholas Families in Nansemond County and  Norfolk County. These counties border NC and Bertie County where my of the first Nichols migrated to in the early 1700′s.

Notice the William Nichols here. Right after this date my William Nichols (abt 1755) shows up in NC. Norfolk County also borders NC and borders Isle of Wright co. John Windham was from Isle of Wright Co. John Windham’s daughter Jean married a Nichols and had a son John and had many dealings with William Nichols Sr.

Norfolk County, Virginia Will Abstracts, 1710-1753 – JOHN NICHOLLS, Senr, of Norfolk County Virginia …
Book I p. –(torn)–
(Abstracted from Original, See Box 1711-1755).
Dated 8 March 1743; Proved Apr. Court 1750
… appoint my Dearly Beloved Wife Alice Nicholls and my Beloved Son William Nicholls to be joynt Executrix and Executor …
… to my Beloved Son William Nicholls the Plantation whereon I now live and likewise the Plantation whereon he lives and all the Land that I am possessed off, to him, his Heirs or Assigns, after my Wifes Death, And if my Son John will live with my Son William, then to have my Negro Harry …
… my Daugr Sarah Seavell … But if my Son John will not live with my Son William, then William to build him a house on my Plantation where John likes …
… my Daugr Elizabeth Creekmur
… my Daugr Alice Seavell …
… my Daugr Mary Nicholls …
[p.258] … all my Children (Vizt) John Nicholls, William Nicholls, Alice Seavells, Elizabeth Creekmure, Sarah Seavells and Mary Nicholls …
Witnesses: Ralph Fenley.
John Gaman.
James Taylor.
his
James + Gamon.
mark.
his
John + Nicholls. Red Wax Seal.
mark.

I need some more info on this John and son William.

More families that had a lot of land dealings and were neighbors of William Nichols, Sr were Amos Atkinson, Able Thomas, Godfrey Stancil, David Hathaway and James Mayo.

Also Kat has paid for a Jehu Nichols to submit a DNA sample as well. Jehu Nichols family has always lived in Washington in Beaufort Co. I think he is originally from the Humphrey Nicholls line of Bertie County NC. My family always thought we were from this line until I matched with Greg’s DNA. So we will see if we are kin to the Bertie County Nichols as well. I am excited about new possible matches.

The Battle of Chickamauga hold special significance with my ancestry. I had at least 4 direct and 10 brothers of the direct ancestors that fought in the battle. My wifes side had at least 6 and 1 Union soldier from New York that deserted sometime after the battle and later became her GGGrand Father.

The Union soldier on my wife’s side was William A Hamilton from Genesee Co., New York. On my side, my GGGrand Father Leroy Calvin Bedwell and 2 brothers fought with Company I of the 19th Alabama Infantry Regiment. Leroys brother Thomas was wounded 5 times in the battle and was an invalid the rest of his life.

But what is special about this 145th reenactment is that it is supposed to be the largest yet. You can also purchase a ride on a period train and follow some of the route the Army of Northern Virginia took to get there. I will be there with my brother and sons to get a glimpse into what my ancestors saw that day 145 years ago, albeit without the horror and fear that they might have experienced.The Reenactment will be on September 19th, 20th and 21st.

If you live in the southeast and want to attend their website is at http://www.battleofchickamauga.net/

I could only locate 2 of his children in 1880 and both said he was born in NC. Well I have covered most counties in North and South Carolina and have tracked down all the Henry Nichols and have discounted all but 1.

This Henry Nichols was born in Pitt County North Carolina. The patriarch of the Pitt County Nichols seems to be a William Nichols Sr. Williams son Joel Nichols seems the most likely fit for being the Father of this Henry Nichols. in 1790 census Joel had 2 males under the age of 16 which fits my Henrys birth range of 1771-1775. Also when Joel moved to next door to Johnston County in 1797 A Henry Nichols was granted 150 acres on Hannah Creek, the came Creek Joel Nichols moved to. After the land purchase this Henry disappears forever from North Carolina as far as I can tell. My Henry would have to Be in Effingham County by at least 1801 in order to marry thew daughter of James Cook and have his first (known) Child William by 1802. The problem in finding the family structure of William Nichols Sr. is that Pitt County is a burn County. All records except land records burned in 1858.

Now I ask myself, if this is my Henry then why would he leave someplace he knows and travel all the way to Effingham County. Well the answer may be in Sumter County South Carolina. Several of Williams Children left Pitt County North Carolina just before the 1790 census and went to Sumter County. Probably after the death of William Sr. So this gives someplace for Henry to go to then make the Jump to Effingham County which makes more sense. Problem is how do I prove this. Pitt county has no records but deeds, Johnston Co only has the 1 land record for Henry and Sumter County has no records on Henry.

So I decide to have a DNA test done by Family Tree Dna. I did this over a year ago. At first my results were by them self with no matches to other Nichols in the project. BUT I could discount other Nichols families around Pitt County through this.

Then a year ago I got my first close match. A Walter Nichols (kit #17761) matched me on 35 of 37 markers with a genetic distance of 3. This means In comparing 37 markers, the probability that Brian Nichols and Walter P. Nichols shared a common ancestor within the last…

• 2 generations is 9.8%
• 4 generations is 31.74%
• 6 generations is 54.47%
• 8 generations is 72.13%
• 10 generations is 83.95%
• 12 generations is 91.16%

My Henry is 6 Generations back so that meant that My Henry’s and William E Nichols ( William E Nichols Line) had a 72% chance of having the same grandfather. Unfortunately Walter is in the same boat I am. He can’t get past William Nichols although family history suggest it was a Conrad Nichols. No records exist saying a Conrad Nichols ever did exist. Although this is a great clue it doesn’t break my brick wall. So now I wait some more.

About six months ago I get an email from a supposed descendant of William Nichols Sr. of Pitt County, NC. She says her Cousin is a descendant of Reuben Nichols. He is one of the Nichols to go from Pitt County to Sumter County, SC. Then Reuben went from there to Lawrence Co, Mississippi where he died in the 1840′s. What makes this more interesting is the Reuben’s son, Reuben Bynum Nichols married in Copiah County MS to a Martha Touchstone, Henry’s Son, William Nichols also Married in Copiah County MS about the same time that Reuben B did and both went to Bradley County Arkansas in 1845. Reuben B Nichols died there in 1848. In 1850 my ancestor, Jeremiah Nichols, also a son of Henry, is living in Drew County Arkansas and guess who is living next door…. Martha Nichols, widow of Reuben B, these to families were close as they had several land transaction and always lived real close together.

So now I think I can finally get a definitive answer if the Henry of Pitt County is my Henry. Well the kit comes in and we are nowhere near a match (kit number 74981). We only matched 24 of 37 markers with a genetic distance of 17. This didn’t make sense and really crushed my hopes on the Pitt County connection. So I wait some more.

About a month ago I get a email from a Greg Nichols of Kentucky saying he was having a 37 marker test done and so far 25 had come in and we were a perfect match. Well I about wet myself over this news. We spoke by phone and he was a descendant of William Nichols Jr, son of William Nichols Sr. of Pitt County NC. Well I have compared my dna to a supposed decedent through the Reuben Nichols line and thought the last 12 markers would crush my dreams but I had to wait 2 weeks till they came in.

Well last week they did. Greg and I matched 36 of 37 markers with a genetic Distance of 1. That means In comparing 37 markers, the probability that Brian Nichols and Greg D. Nichols shared a common ancestor within the last…

• 2 generations is 29.25%
• 4 generations is 58.66%
• 6 generations is 77.93%
• 8 generations is 88.83%
• 10 generations is 94.54%
• 12 generations is 97.4%

This is a very close match. So how do I know that Greg is from the Pitt County Nichols? Well Greg’s Nichols have always been in Pitt County. He is the first Nichols in his line not to live there. So I now believe that my Henry and The Henry from Pitt County and Johston Counties are one in the same.

So how do I explain the huge difference in dna from the decedent of Reuben. Well there could have been a birth out of wedlock. There could have been a remarriage or adoption or he could have made the same mistake many genealogist make and assumed the wrong lineage.

So I encourage you if you are at an impasse and need help to seriously consider having a dna test done. I could not have broken a very difficult brick wall with out it. You can more Easily follow along by seeing how the county boundary changes occurred each year on my County Formations page

See the Union Co., Georgia post for why Nichols in this county is of interest.

Rabun Co., Georgia Nichols(son) Marriages
Dicey Nechalson Dred Masingill 22 Mar 1825
Wiley Nichols Nelly Goslin 18 Feb 1836
Wily Nichols Elizabeth Burch 5 Sep 1826

See the Union Co., Georgia post for why Nichols in this county is of interest.

Habersham Co., Georgia Nichols(son) Marriages
Andrew Nichols Elizabeth Clarke 3 Dec 1833
Polly Nichols Charles Goslin 6 May 1838
William P. Nichols Sarah V. Anderson 24 Jan 1847
Martha Nicholson Frederick Weaver 8 Feb 1835
Polly Nicholson Absolom Stephens 25 Dec 1834

See the Union Co., Georgia post for why Nichols in this county is of interest.

Lumpkin Co., Georgia Nichols(son) Marriages
David Nichols Catherine E. Tolbert 31 Jan 1837
James A. Nichols Sarah Carnes 28 Jul 1844
Lucinda Nichols Alfred Perry 9 Apr 1837
Ransom M. Nichols Quincy Moss 7 Feb 1848
Sarah Nichols George W. Woods 18 Oct 1846
Malinda Nicholson John Dillard 19 Feb 1846
Martha Ann Nicholson William W. Williams 20 Sep 1849