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Post by keweenawgreta on Sept 23, 2018 19:08:05 GMT -5
I am trying to locate parents and birth information for a man called Henry Nicholls. Henry married Elizabeth Richards in Lelant in 1830. Both were listed as sojourners. The had 7 children: Henry, Elizabeth, Mary, Andrew, Alice, Sarah and Susan. The family immigrated to Mineral Point, Wisconsin, where we find them in 1850. Henry then went to the Keweenaw of Michigan, supposedly landing in Eagle River and then taking a mining job at Central Mine, Michigan. His daughter Alice Broad's (married Emmanual Broad in Eagle River) obituary says Henry was the first miner to lose his life at Central as he was killed there in April of 1856. His family believes he was born in Cornwall about 1809. I know there were Henry Nicholls born in Gulval and Madron in 1804 and 1809 but other family trees show these men dying in Cornwall. I can find no death certificate for Henry, but that is not surprising as Central in the 1850s was a new place with little in the way of government. A church had not yet been built. If anyone has a suggestion as to who this Henry might be, I would appreciate any clues. I included his children as those names often provide clues.
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Sept 23, 2018 20:08:56 GMT -5
Greta - I never had this family in my database although I had done a lot of work on Nicholls/Nichols/Nicholas a few years back. However, based on the information provided I have had another look at my available records and have been able to come up with a partial family for you:-
Henry Nicholls and Elizabeth Richards, both sojourners, married at Lelant 26th June 1830
Henry son of Henry and Elizabeth Nicholls of Trink in Lelant, miner baptized 19th June 1831 at Towednack Elizabeth daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Nicholls of St Ives, miner baptized 7th December 1832 at St Ives Andrew son of Henry and Elizabeth Nicholls of Halsetown (St Ives), miner baptized 25th December 1834 at Towednack Mary Richards daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Nichols of St Ives, miner baptized 14th December 1837 at St Ives
I cannot find any record of Alice, Sarah or Susan in parish records or in the GRO Index so I would suspect they were born after arrival in the US. Certainly the first four children match your list and they logically fit as the children from the 1830 marriage. And I have checked to ensure they had not been entered into my database previously with other parents.
This doesn't help identify Henry Nicholls but if you can get an approximate age for Elizabeth then the fact a daughter was named Mary Richards Nicholls might be a clue.
CT
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Post by keweenawgreta on Sept 23, 2018 20:48:50 GMT -5
Thank you,CT. I am working with a descendant of this family and will pass along this information.
I am hoping DNA might eventually tie this Nicholls family to a Nicholls line. I have Nicholls in my family, but so far no luck making a connection.
Greta
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Sept 24, 2018 5:36:33 GMT -5
I have just found the 1850 Census entry for Henry Nicholls and family but when trying to follow up on the information provided there are a number of things that don't add up. The most glaring of these is the fact that Andrew is recorded as age 11 and born about 1839 indicating that, provided I have identified the right family from the parish records, the earlier Andrew of 1834 had died and another was named in his place. In addition to that the Census shows that Andrew and sisters Alice, Sarah and Susan were all born after 1837 and in England yet not one can be found in the GRO Index! There are certainly none of these names in the Index with Richards for a mother. After 1850 I can find what is probably Henry junior in Michigan in the 1860 Census but none of the rest of the family …………………. or perhaps I just have! There is a family at Houghton MI in 1860 consisting of Elizabeth Nichols age 60, ANTHONY age 24, Sally age 18 and Susan age 14 with all having been born in England. This could be them but again the inconsistencies firstly with age and then with names. Has any record been found for the family arriving in the US? CT
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Post by keweenawgreta on Sept 24, 2018 9:00:34 GMT -5
CT,
There are many questions and few answers regarding Henry. I am sending Henry's daughter Alice Broad's obituary to you via email. Hope it is the same address I used years ago. That is where I found whatever info I first had to go on.
His descendants would really like to know where Henry was born and to whom. I can understand as I have the same problem with my William Penrose.
Regarding the birth date for Andrew. There is a burial for a 14 month old Andrew Nichols in Jan of 1836. Could this be the same Andrew? Did the family then have another Andrew whose birth would fit with the census but whose birth appears to have gone unrecorded? Would the fact that the family wanted to name a child Andrew have any significance? There was a Henry Nichollls born to an Andrew Nicholls in Gulval in 1804, and while Henry is attached to this family in a few online and undocumented trees, the book by Duff says that Henry died in Madron.
Thanks again, Greta
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Sept 24, 2018 11:35:56 GMT -5
Hi Greta, Thankyou for the copy of the obituary which is most interesting AND, I think, most helpful!! The first thing it tells me is that none of the children born after Mary in 1837 seem to have been baptized or even registered at birth! The Obit provides a birth date and birthplace for Alice and even though it may or may not be completely accurate if coupled with the Census records it does give a reasonably accurate timeframe in which to find her. I have checked parish registers and the GRO Index and there is no sign of her or her siblings! The next thing we have of course is some information regarding the family arriving in America and once again when coupled with the Census it helps build a more accurate picture. But perhaps more importantly this prompted me to search again and try a few different things and I THINK I may have identified Henry Nicholls for you! I tried broadening my search terms and had another look at the 1841 Census and I now believe I have found them living at Halsetown. 😊 Halsetown, St Ives 1841 Henry NICHOLAS age 30 tin miner Elizabeth Nicholas age 35 Henry Nicholas age 10 Elizth Nicholas age 8 Mary Nicholas age 3 ANDREW NICHOLAS age 81 Note that the son Andrew is missing! After noticing that I checked the registers again and found that Andrew Nichols of St Ives age 14 months was buried at St Ives 6th January 1841. This means that another Andrew was born after Mary but the problem here is that the 1850 Census suggests he was born about 1839 yet he does not appear with the family in 1841. OH DEAR! – I really thought I had identified Henry but then the problem of the second son named Andrew began nagging at me. After another look at the 1841 Census I can now see that the last name in the household is definitely Andrew BUT his age is NOT 81!! In fact the last part of the name has carried into the age column with the ‘S’ joining the figure ‘1’ making the age look like 81. In fact the last name is Andrew Nicholas age 1. Back to the drawing board with the identity of Henry although I do have a sneaking suspicion I might still be right! I think he could be the son of Andrew Nicholls and Ann Brush even though there is a burial at Gulval in 1823 that would just about fit their son Henry. Somehow or other there is a connection to an Andrew Nicholls otherwise it is difficult to understand using the name twice. Of course the hurdle to overcome is that Henry stated in 1850 that he was age 31 yet the son of Andrew and Ann Nicholls was baptized at Gulval in 1804. I had completed this message before seeing your latest reply on this forum so we may have duplicated a couple of things between us. But in doing so I think I have answered your questions anyway. Don't be concerned about the name appearing as NICHOLAS in the 1841 Census. Nichols/Nicholls/Nickless/Nicholas and many others were constantly mixed around in Census and other records and it does take some time to sort them out. CT
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Post by keweenawgreta on Sept 24, 2018 17:54:24 GMT -5
Thanks, CT.
I will be back at this in a couple of weeks.
Greta
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