Tombstone Tuesday – John and Lydia (Lehman) Nicholls

Today’s tombstone is that of my 3rd Great Grandfather, John B. Nicholls and his 2nd wife, Lydia (Lehman) Nicholls.  I am featuring both John and Lydia because they share a tombstone.  When I found this marker in the old Evergreen Cemetery in Newville, Indiana, I found both John and Lydia on adjoining sides of the same stone.  On a third side of the stone was an inscription for one of their sons, Harvey.  Lydia, John’s second wife, is not actually in my blood lines.  My 2nd Great Grandfather, Simon, was the child of John and his first wife, Margaret.  (This relationship is unproven as of yet.  The only information that I have is from an undocumented compile genealogy, so needless to say, I have this on my research plans.)

John B. NICHOLLS
B: 14 Dec 1791 in Maryland
D: 05 Mar 1858 in DeKalb County, Indiana

 

 

Lydia (LEHMAN) NICHOLLS

B: 18 Apr 1808 in Virginia

D: 23 Mar 1881 in DeKalb County, Indiana

Blogging by the States – Indiana

Blogging by the States is a blog theme/challenge being run by Jim Sanders over at Hidden Genealogy Nuggets and is one of several blog challenges I have been looking at doing.  I’m coming in to Jim’s challenge a little late (Indiana is Week 19) so I am going to do some doubling up over the next few
weeks to catch up.  Jim’s running through the states by the order in which they became a state.

I love that I found this theme and joined the challenge on the week that features Indiana simply because it is by far the easiest for me to do since I am a born and raised Hoosier and most of my research started in Indiana.

The surnames that I am currently researching in Indiana are:

WASHLER – The family first came to Indiana with John Warshler/Warstler sometime between 1850 and 1860.  (I’m still researching to find conclusive information on when John and his family moved to Indiana.)  John and his family settled in Jackson Township in DeKalb County, Indiana.

FARVER – Isaac Farver was my first Farver ancestor to come to Indiana in 1855 and he settled in Jackson Township just a few miles from where the Washler family settled (quite possibly how my great grandparents met!).  Isaac served in the Union Army as part of the Indiana Infantry.

NICHOLLS – I have confirmed that the Nicholls family came to Indiana (or at least purchased land in Indiana) in 1850 when Simon Nicholls purchased public lands at the land office in Fort Wayne on 20 December 1850.

ROBERTSON/ROBINSON – This is the Indiana family that I probably know the least about.  My 2nd Great Grandmother’s maiden name was either Robertson or Robinson (so far the evidence is very inconclusive on this).  If the information that I have so far proves to be correct, I believe I have found the family living in Indiana as early as August of 1850.

HABLAWETZ – The Hablawetz family came to Indiana with my 2nd Great Grandfather, Anton who moved to Wilmington Township in DeKalb County in 1869.  As I discussed in a previous post, Anton built one of the one room school houses that served DeKalb County for many years.

As you can see, my Hoosier roots run very deep and even though I have done extensive research on the families that lived in Indiana, I know that I have only scratched the surface and have many, many years of research left to do!

I hope you enjoy some of the new content that I will be adding to my blog.  I have been looking around for ideas, and recently came across two blogging “challenges” that I plan to undertake.  One is the Blogging by the States that this post is part of and the other is Family History Through the Alphabet.  While the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge is actually long over, I like the idea of the challenge and will take it on separate from the original challenge.  (Check back later today or tomorrow for the start of that one!)

Surname Saturday – Nicholls (A path to royalty?)

This Saturday, I’m highlighting one of the family Surnames that I know the least about so far, yet it has the possibility to be one of my more interesting roots – if I ever get there.

Surname: Nicholls

Variations:  Really the only variation that I have found so far is Nichols, though I imagine that I am going to find more before this hunt is over.

Origins:  As I said earlier, this surname is the one in my family that I seem to know the least about.  I have traced it back as far as my 3rd great Grandfather, John B. Nicholls (1791-1858).  Having said that, I don’t have enough evidence to say I have a definitive connection to John Nicholls.  Assuming that connection proves to be solid, the family appears to have started out in Maryland in the United States.  From there, they migrated west through Virginia and Ohio and finally settling in Indiana (at least my branch of the family).  The family “legend” says that the family came possibly from Great Britain, but as I said, that is purely “legend” at this point.

Legend to be chased:  The most interesting family “legend” that I have found so far relates to the Nicholls family.  According to one of my Aunts, somewhere back in the line of my Great Grandmother, Nettie Nicholls, the family line can be traced back to royalty.  The story says that somewhere back through the roots of the Nicholls family, we are related to Mary Stewart, also known as Mary, Queen of Scots.  I have no doubt that once I begin following that line, it should be easy enough to prove or disprove a connection to such a prominent line.  Only time will tell!