THE NICHOLS FAMILY HISTORY

BY WILLIAM NICHOLS

1993

Footnotes added by Dr. Tom Nichols 20161

THIS REPORT IS BEING PREPARED BY WILLIAM T. NICHOLS, SON

OF SAMUEL A NICHOLS, WHO WAS A SON OF DANIEL W NICHOLS~ WHO

WAS A SON OF GEORGE M NICHOLS, IN TURN A SON OF HUBBARD

NICHOLS, A SON OF JAMES NICHOLS. IT IS MY HOPE THAT THIS

WILL LEAD TO FURTHER STUDY BY MY OWN SONS AND GRANDSONS; SUCH

THAT THEY MAY MAINTAIN A KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR·HERITAGE.

I AM FORTUNATE THAT OTHERS HAVE PRECEDED ME IN THIS

RESEARCH. BOOKS OF INFORMATION EXIST ON THE DONALDSONS,

GUIMONTS AND CHOUINARDS. AND SHIRLEY (NICHOLS) EBERTS OF

WOODLAND HILLS, CA HAS GATHERED CONSIDERABLE DATA ON THE

NICHOLS. THIS LEFT THE LANGESLAG, DONKERS AND SHANNON

HISTORY. ALL THREE OF THESE FAMILIES IMIGRATED TO THE UNITED

STATES IN THE LATE 1800'S SO THE HISTORY OF THESE FAMILIES IS

LIMITED TO TWO GENERATIONS.2

HISTORICAL RECORDS INDICATE THAT A NICHOLS CAME TO THE

UNITED STATES AS AN INDENTURED SERVANT ABOARD THE SHIP

MAYFLOWER3. UNFORTUNATELY~ THERE IS A MISSING GENERATION, SUCH

THAT I CANNOT TRACE OUR RELATIVES BACK TO THIS INDIVIDUAL. IT

IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE AND REASONABLE TO ASSUME A CONNECTION,

HOWEVER, SINCE OUR ANCESTORS WERE HERE DURING COLONIAL TIMES.4

OUR EARLIEST RECORDS SHOW THAT HUBBARD NICHOLS WAS BORN

JUNE 6, 1804 IN SOMERSET CO. CHANDLVILLE, MAINE.5 HE WAS THE

SON OF JAMES NICHOLS AND MARY ANN LORD6. THEY WERE BOTH ALSO

BORN IN MAINE.7 SO WE CAN ASSUME THAT JAMES AND MARY WERE BORN

DURING OR SHORTLY AFTER THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.8 HUBBARD WOULD

1 The footnotes were not meant to criticize the work of Uncle Bill, but to correct inaccuracies using documented sources. In defense of Uncle Bill, many of the items noted were based on RICE COUNTY FAMILIES, PUB. IN 1981, which contains many items that do not agree with factual records. 2 Using his genealogical research as a base, I have been able to go back several more generations for the Langeslags and the Donkers. 3 None of the lists of Mayflower passengers I have reviewed contain a Nichols, whether an indentured servant or not. Also, a general Google search on “Nichols” and “Mayflower” yielded no list that includes this. If my records are wrong I welcome any evidence that refutes my conclusions. I have been able to confirm that we do have a 10th-great- grandmother & grandfather who were on the Mayflower. (Her parents, and an uncle and aunt, were also on the Mayflower, but they died during the first winter.) 4 I have been able to link back 8 generations past George’s father James to Sir Robert Nichols of Ipswich, but I have since established doubts in the linkages made by many others (Lineage of Hubbard Nichols). Thomas Nichols is considered to be the original Nichols immigrant of our line, arriving in 1655 or possibly 1645 (Ancestry Family Trees, The Thomas Nichols Family of Amesbury, Massachusetts). Alternatively, Henry Cochrane in the History of Monmouth and Wales says that Hubbard’s grandfather James Sr. emigrated from Northern Ireland, but I could not find any sources to corroborate or even agree with this. None of the linkages past Hubbard’s father James could be confirmed. 5 He may have been born on 05 Dec 1803 at Monmouth, Kennebec, Maine (US Find-a-Grave Index, Ancestry Trees). 6 Mary Ann Lord was Hubbard’s wife, not his mother. His mother was Abigail Blake. (US Census, Ancestry Family Trees) 7 His parents were born and married in New Hampshire, then moved to Maine (New Hampshire Birth Records, History of Monmouth and Wales by Henry Cochrane). 8 James was born in 1773 and Abigail was born in 1772 (Ancestry Family Trees, New Hampshire Birth Records), just before the Revolutionary War.

BE MY GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER.

HUBBARD NICHOLS HAD 10 CHILDREN, ONE OF THEM BEING GEORGE

MELVIN NICHOLS~ OUR DIRECT ANCESTOR (MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER).

GEORGE WAS BORN IN DETROIT, MAINE ON MAY 3, 1833. HE MARRIED

SARAH LOUISA LOW ON JUNE 8, 1856 IN ROXBURY, MASS. THE SAME

YEAR THEY WERE MARRIED, GEORGE AND SAHAH LEFT FOH MINNESOTA

BY WAY OF THE ERIE CANAL, THE OHIO RIVER AND THE MISSISSIPPI

RIVER, LANDING IN ST. PAUL.9 WHILE GEORGE WAITED IN ST. PAUL

FOR LAND GRANTS TO BE ASSIGNED IN SOUTHERN MINNESOTA10, THE

FIPST CENSUS OF THE NEW STATE OF MINNESOTA WAS TAKEN11. IF YUU

REVIEW THE RECORDS OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY YOU WILL FIND

THE NAME OF GEORGE NICHOLS AND HIS BROTHER CHARLES ON THE

FIRST PAGE OF THE FIRST CENSUS TAKEN IN MINNESOTA12. THEY WERE

TRULY PIONEERS.

GEORGE AND SARAH WENT BY OXCART FROM ST. PAUL TO GOODHUE

COUNTY NEAR WHAT IS NOW THE TOWN OF CANNON FALLS13. THEY

SETTLED ON FARMLAND THERE AND HAD TWO CHILDREN (FRANK AND

LENORA)14. MEANWHILE GEORGE'S BROTHER CHARLES HAD GONE TO

WARSAW TOWNSHIP (NEAR FARIBAULT) AND ARRANGED FOR GEORGE TO

PURCHASE A FARM NEAP HIM.15 THUS GEORGE, SARAH AND THE TWO

CHILDREN MOVED TO WARSAW TOWNSHIP NEAR FARIBAULT IN 186416, TO A FARM WHERE

GEORGE’S ANCESTORS CONTINUE TO LIVE TODAY17.

9 It is more likely that they landed in Hastings, where they had relatives – Charles reportedly stayed there in winter 1856 (RICE COUNTY FAMILIES. PUB. 1981 - Charles Nichols Family, History of Rice and Steele Counties Vol 1 ). This was also closer to Goodhue County where they settled. 10 I don’t think George waited in Saint Paul. The land office for the region that Goodhue County was in was located at Faribault, and the area was already available for land grants in 1855 (Holden Township History, BLM GLO Records). George, Charles, and Hubbard, although settled in Goodhue County by 1857, did not receive their Land Warrants until 1860. (They purchased their land through Bounty Land Warrants, so there was no waiting period such as needed with homesteading.) 11 The first census in Minnesota was conducted in 1849, and there were several more before 1856-57, when George arrived. The first census after 1858 when Minnesota became a state was 1860. 12 The family story of George and Charles being on the first page of the first census in Minnesota is the most commonly cited family history that is not accurate. In the 1857 Census (the first one conducted after their arrival), George and Sarah are listed on the third page for Township 114N R17W, south of Hastings in Dakota County, on the 73rd page of the census. Charles and Hubbard are listed on the fifth page for Holden Township, on the 53rd page of the census. (See Appendix) In the 1860 census, George was on page 607 for Minnesota, but he was on the first page for Holden Township - perhaps this is the base for this family history misconception. Charles was not listed in the 1860 census in Holden Township. 13 Holden Township is located 18 miles south of Cannon Falls, 18 miles east of Faribault, near Kenyon. 14 Alberta and George H. were also born in Holden Township (Ancestry family Trees, 1865 US Census). 15 Charles first moved back east with his family likely due to the tensions with Indians (RICE COUNTY FAMILIES. PUB. 1981 - Charles Nichols Family, and History of Rice and Steele Counties Vol 1 ). When he returned in 1864 he bought the farm in Warsaw Township. 16 George and Sarah were still in Goodhue County in the 1865 Census. 17 By the 1940s the George Nichols farm was owned by a Minnie Low, no relation to George (1940s Plat Map). The Daniel Webster Nichols and Isaac Donaldson farms were also no longer owned by Nichols relatives. A small area was still owned by Charles’ daughter-in-law.

SHORTLY AFTER GEORGE'S ARRIVAL IN 1864, GEORGE AND HIS

BROTHER CHARLES DONATED LAND TO THE TOWNSHIP18 AND (PER

HISTORICAL SOCIETY RECORDS) ESTABLISHED THE FIRST SCHOOL IN

WARSAW TOWNSHIP.19 GEORGE STARTED A LARGE DAIRY HERD AND

EMPLOYED FRIENDLY INDIANS TO HELP HIM. HOWEVER, WHEN THE

INDIAN UPRISING CAME, GEORGE SENT HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN BACK

EAST TO HER PARENTS UNTIL THINGS QUIETED DOWN20. MORE CHILDREN

WERE ADDED UNTIL THERE WERE NINE IN TOTAL BY 1879. THE

EIGHTH CHILD WAS DANIEL WEBSTER NICHOLS, MY GRANDFATHER.

DANIEL WEBSTER NICHOLS WAS BORN JUNE 19, 1875. HE

MARRIED MARTHA OSCA DONALDSON SEPTEMBER 26, 1899. DANIEL'S

BROTHER ARTHUR HAD MARRIED MARTHA'S SISTER JANE (JENNIE) IN 1892.

21 THEY HAD A SON GEORGE DONALDSON NICHOLS (DONALD). THE

PARENTS WERE KILLED IN AN ACCIDENT IN 189422, THE YEAR THAT

DONALD WAS BORN. WHEN DANIEL AND MARTHA MARRIED, DONALD

MOVED IN WITH THEM AS THEIR SON. HE WAS, THEREFORE, BOTH A

DOUBLE COUSIN AND A BROTHER TO SAMUEL NICHOLS, MY FATHER; AND TO

LUCILE NICHOLS SEVERSON, MY AUNT. WE CALLED HIM UNCLE

DON.

GRANDMA NICHOLS (MARTHA DONALDSON) WAS WELL EDUCATED.

SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF ISAAC NEWTON DONALDSON, THE PRESIDENT

OF THE MORRISTOWN BANK. SHE ATTENDED CARLETON ACADEMY IN

NORTHFIELD (AS IT WAS KNOWN IN THIOSE DAYS).23 EDUCATION WAS

CONSIDERED TO BE A TOP PRIORITY. THUS WHEN SAMUEL NICHOLS

(MY FATHER) REACHED HIGH SCHOOL AGE SHE INSISTED THAT THE

FAMILY MOVE INTO THE CITY SO THAT SAMUEL COULD FURTHER HIS

18 Actually, the land was donated by Charles alone. This land was given back to the farm in the 1970’s when the school was demolished (RICE COUNTY FAMILIES. PUB. 1981 - Charles Nichols Family). 19 The first school in the township was built in 1856, well before George and Charles arrived. School District No. 92 was organized in 1868, meeting at George’s house (History of Rice County, including explorers and pioneers of Minnesota). 20 The Indian Uprising was concluded on September 26, 1862, when George and Sarah were still living in Holden Township. Their daughter Alberta was born on June 21, 1861 in Minnesota (1870 – 1910 US Census). Their son George Henry was born on June 28, 1863 in Minnesota (1870 – 1910 US Census), one day short of 9 months from the end of the uprising. If Sarah did return to Maine during the uprising she was likely not gone very long, and she would have had to return very shortly after the uprising, and/or had a short pregnancy, or George visited her in Maine. 21 Daniel’s cousin Edwin also married Martha’s sister Dorcas “Annie”. 22 Jennie was killed in a buggy accident in 1894, while Arthur died from injuries resulting from a separate incident with horses seven months later (Faribault Republican newspaper, September 12, 1894, and Faribault Republican, April 3, 1895). 23 Martha did not attend college at Carleton College (Carleton College Archives), she only completed 3 years of high school (1940 US Census). However, Carleton Academy was a preparatory school housed within Carleton College. Perhaps she attended high school there?

EDUCATIUN.24 GRANDPA DANIEL SOLD HIS FARM25 AND SET UP THE FIRST

FORD DEALERSHIP IN FARIBAULT26. MY FATHER (SAMUEL) JOINED HIM

IN THE BUSINESS AFTER GRADUATION, AND THEY HAD A SUCCESSFUL

VENTURE UNTIL THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF 192927.

I HAVE FOND MEMORIES OF MY GRANDFATHER AND GRANDMOTHER

NICHOLS. THEY LIVED VERY NEAR THE HIGH SCHOOL, AND IT WAS

EASY TO DROP IN FOR A VISIT AT SNACK TIME. MY GRANDFATHER

WOULD SHOW ME HIS LATEST INVENTIONS (HE EVEN MADE HIS OWN

MACHINE TOOLS). I REMEMBER ESPECIALLY SOME SPRING-LOADED

PADS ON WOODEN AUTOMOBILE WHEELS THAT HE HAD DEVELOPED.

(THESE WERE REPLACED BY TIRES AT A LATER DATE, OF COURSE.)

GRANDMA NICHOLS, ON THE OTHER HAND, WOULD DISCUSS THE LATEST

BOOK THAT SHE WAS READING AND ASK ME TO HELP HER SOLVE HER

CROSS WORD PUZZLES. (WHILE I WAS IN SERVICE DURING WW2, SHE

WOULD DO THE PUZZLES IN PENCIL -- THEN ERASE THEM AND SEND

THEM TO ME. WE KEPT THIS UP FOR OVER TWO YEARS!) THEY LIVED

UNTIL I WAS THIRTY, SO WE HAD A LONG RELATIONSHIP.

THE MARRIAGE OF SAMUEL A NICHOLS AND DORA M LANGESLAG WAS A

CHALLENGE INDEED. THE ECUMENICAL SPIRIT DID NOT PREVAIL IN

THOSE DAYS. HERE WAS THE YOUNG MAN, A PURITAN YANKEE RAISED

BY A MOTHER INFLUENCED BY MANY GENERATIONS OF DEDICATION TO

THE PRESBYTERIAN MINISTRY. ON THE OTHER HAND, DORA LANGEBLAG

WAS THE FIRST GENERATION DAUGHTER OF DUTCH IMIGRANTS. SHE

LEARNED TO SPEAK ENGLISH IN FIRST GRADE AND WAS RAISED AS A

VERY DEVOUT CATHOLIC. GRANDMA NICHOLS COMMENTED TO ME LATER

IN HER LIFE THAT SHE TOLD THEM THAT IF THEY MARRIED SHE WOULD

JUMP OUT OF THE SECOND FLOOR WINDOW. THEY DID ANYHOW AND SHE

WOULD SMILE AS SHE RELATED THE STORY -- SHE LIVED TO BE 81.

SHE LEARNED TO LOVE AND ADMIRE THEM 80TH.

I WAS ALWAYS VERY PROUD OF MY FATHER. HE WAS A HANDSOME MAN.

HE WALKED WITH HIS SHOULDERS BACK AND HAPPY WITH THE WORLD IN

SPITE OF BUSINESS PROBLEMS. BUT HE WOULD STRESS THAT THERE

WAS MORE TO LIFE THAN THAT AND HE PRACTICED WHAT HE PREACHED.

THE BEST WAY TO DESCRIBE HIM WOULD BE TO REPEAT AN EDITORIAL

IN THE FARIBAULT DAILY NEWS AFTER HIS DEATH AT THE YOUNG AGE

OF 56 YEARS. IT WAS TITLED “SAM NICHOLS, EVERYBODY’S FRIEND.

“SINCERE FRIENDLINESS AND UNSELFISH CONSIDERATION OF OTHERS

IS A TRAIT AND CHARACTER ASSET FEW PEOPLE POSSESS BUT DEEPLY

24 The family did not move to Faribault until at least 1916 (Faribault City Directory). Regardless of their residence, Sam would have attended Faribault High School. By September 1918 the family had moved to Faribault (Daniel’s & Sam’s WWI Draft Cards). The farm was sold by 1921 (Rice County Plat Map 1921). 25 Daniel did not start the business until after Sam graduated. They were still farming in September 1918 (Daniel’s & Sam’s WWI Draft Cards). Daniel announced in July 1919 the start of his business (Implement & Tractor Trade Journal), and construction of a building for his business (Farm Implement News). 26 The business was a Dort, not Ford, dealership (Faribault City Directory). 27 The business failed within a few years, well before the Great Depression. By 1926 Daniel was working for H.C. Heine & Son, Sam was working as a driver, and Donald was a mailman (Faribault City Directory).

WISH THEY HAD. SUCH AN ASSET WAS THE ENVIED POSSESSION OF SAM

NICHOLS, LIFELONG FARIBAULT RESIDENT, WHOSE FUNERAL WAS

CONDUCTED AT THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHURCH THIS MORNING.

A FAITHFUL, KINDLY AND CHEERFUL MAILMAN FOR A QUARTER OF A

CENTURY, SAM NICHOLS PERFORMED HIS BREAD-WINNING JOB

EFFICIENTLY AND LOYALLY. BUT HE DID MORE THAN THAT.

POSSESSING A KNACK OF MAKING FRIENDS EASILY AND BOLSTERING

THAT FRIENDSHIP THROUGH DAILY ACTS OF KINDNESS AND

CONSIDERATION, HE MADE LIFE SEEM HAPPIER AND MORE WORTH

LIVING TO HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE IN THIS COMMUNITY. A DEVOUT

CHRISTIAN, A SINCERE, HELPFUL FAMILY MAN, A CONSIDERATE

NEIGHBOR AND A CONSTRUCTIVE CITIZEN, SAM NICHOLS INFLUIENCED

MANY BY THE TYPE DF EXEMPLARY LIFE HE LIVED. HIS DEATH

LEAVES A CITIZEN GAP THAT WILL BE HARD TO FILL.”

I WAS ALSO VERY PROUD OF MY MOTHER. DORA LANGESLAG REALLY

PERSONIFIED THE STUBBORN DUTCH TRAIT. SHE WAS DETERMINED TO

MAKE HER MARK IN LIFE AT A YOUNG AGE. WHILE STILL A TEENAGER

SHE MOVED FRDM THE FARM TO THE HOME OF HENRY VOEGEL, A

PROMINENT BUSINESS LEADER IN THE COMMUNITY. SHE INITIALLY

SERVED AS A NANNY, TAKING CARE OF THE VOEGEL CHILDREN. BUT

SHE LATER ATTENDED BUSINESS COLLEGE, AND ULTIMATELY BECAME

HEAD BOOKEEPER OF THE VOEGEL BUSINESS. LIVING IN THIS

ENVIRENMENT HELPED HER DEVELOP HER REMARKABLY GOOD TASTES AND

SOCIAL GRACES.

SANDY CORBETT ASBTS PUT IT WELL IN HER EULOGY. “… WE KNEW

HER AS THE ONE WHDSE SENSE OF STYLE AND COLOR REFLECTED THE

BEAUTY SHE SAW IN EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE ...HER CLOTHES, HER

HOME, HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS ...THE WHOLE WORLD ACCORDING TO

DORA. WE REMEMBR HER AS SHE WAS IN THE BEST OF TIMES. AND WE

THANK HER. SHE LEAVES US WITH MEMORIES AND LESSONS. TO BE

KIND AND PATIENT WITH EACH OTHER ...TO ENJOY THE BEAUTY OF THE

WORLD AROUND US ...TO LAUGH FREELY AND OFTEN ...AND TO TEACH

THESE LESSONS, BY EXAMPLE, TO OUR CHILDREN AND OUR CHILDREN'S

CHILDREN. IN THIS WAY, THE SPIRIT OF DORA LIVES ON.” IT IS NO

WONDER HEIR MARRIAGE WAS SUCCESSFUL! 1.1

DORA MARHIED HENRY VDEGEL IN 1964 AND THEY HAD A WONDERFUL

RELATIONSHIP UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1967. HER NAME THUS BECAME

VOEGEL AND TO HER YOUNGER GRANDCHILDREN SHE WAS KNOWN AS

“GRANDMA GO-GO”. SHE DIED AT THE AGE OF 91.

I (WILLIAM NICHOLS) WAS BORN SEPTEMBER 15, 1925 IN FARIBAULT,

PRECEDING MY BROTHER ROBERT (BOB) BY 15 MINUTES AND MY SISTER

MARILYN (DOLLY) BY 18 MONTHS. MY CHILDHOOD WAS LIKE A PAGE

FROM MARK TWAIN OR A PICTURE FROM NORMAN ROCKWELL. BOB AND I

KEPT THE GARDEN SPADED -- BUT WE SAVED THE WORMS! WE SKINNY

DIPPED UNDER THE RAILROAD TRESTLE CROSSING THE RIVER. WE

FISHED FUR BULLHEADS NEAR THE WOOLEN MILLS, USING HOME MADE

GEAR. WE PLAYED HOCKEY WITH RUNNERS CLAMPED ON OUR BODTS AND

HOME MADE STICKS. WE HAD OUR PAPER ROUTES, WHICH PROVIDED THE

FUNDS TO PUHCHASE OUR FIRST BIKES. THIS BROADENED OUR

HORIZONS SINCE WE COULD NOW BIKE THE THREE MILES OUT TO THE

ROBERTS LAKE RESORT FOR SWIMMING AT A REAL BEACH!

IN HIGH SCHOOL BOB AND I BOTH MADE THE FOOT8ALL TEAM AND

PLAYED SIDE BY SIDE. I WAS ALSO PRESIDENT OF THE CHOIR. THIS

LED ME INTO ANOTHER JOB AS ANNOUNCER OF BANK NIGHT AWARDS AT

THE LOCAL THEATRE ON THURSDAY NIGHT. THEY DIDN'T HAVE

MICROPHONES THEN SO THEY NEEDED A STRONG VOICE TO CARRY FROM

THE STAGE TO THE AUDIENCE. PICTURE ME AS A TEENAGER WITH A

MONKEY SUIT, BOW TIE AND STIFF SHIRT! I ENLISTED IN THE AIR

FORCE CADET PROGRAM WHILE STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL. NOT HAVING

HEARD FROM THEM BY SEPTEMBER I STARTED ST JOHN'S UNIVERSITY

FOR THE FALL SEMESTER. MY RECORDS WERE LOST AND I DIDNT HEAR

FROM THEM UNTIL I WROTE TO THEM AT'THE END OF THE SEMESTER.'

I SPENT THE NEXT TERM AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY IN THE AIR

FORCE COLLEGE TRAINING PROGRAM. THAT SUMMER THE WAR WAS OVEP.

IN EUROPE. OUR CLASS WAS THANSFERRED TO ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO

WHERE WE SAT FUR A YEAR UNTIL THE WAR WAS OVER IN JAPAN.

SUCH WAS MY SERVICE.

IN THE FALL OF 1945 I RETURNED TO ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY TO

FURTHER MY STUDIES AND FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS I WAS EITHER

AT ST JOHN'S OR THE UNIVEP.SITY OF MINNESOTA. WHILE AT ST

JOHN'S I MET MARY JANE (JARY) CHOUINARD FROM ANOKA~

MINNESOTA. THIS WAS THE SPRING OF 1946. I WAS SMITTEN! WE

WERE MARRIED JULY 17, 1948. THAT WOULD BE 45 YEARS FRUM THE

DATE OF THIS WRITING.

MARY JANE (JARY) CHOUINARD WAS BORN A GENERATION TOO SOON.

UNFORTUNATELY (FORTUNATELY?) THEY DIDN'T HAVE ACTIVE MOVEMENTS IN THAT ERA. IN TODAY'S ENVIRENMENT SHE PROBABLY

WOULD HAVE RUN FOR CONGRESS ON A LIBERAL TICKET. SHE

EXPRESSED HER INDEPENDENCE AT A YOUNG AGE AND NEVER CEASED TO

PRACTICE IT. EVEN TODAY SHE WANTS HER VARIOUS ACCOUNTS AND

CREDIT CARDS UNDER HER NAME. SHE ATTENDED SCHOOL IN ANOKA

THROUGH 9TH GRADE. THE FAMILY THEN MOVED TO MINNEAPOLIS

DURING THE WAR AND SHE ATTENDED CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL FOR TWO

YEARS. WHILE A JUNIOR, SHE EXPRESSED A DESIRE TO GRADUATE

FROM A PRIVATE SCHOOL AND SELECTED BETHLEHEM ACADEMY IN

FARIBAULT, WHERE SHE BOARDED HER SENIOR YEAR. SHE ENROLLED

AT THE COLLEGE OF ST BENEDICT AND FATE TOOK OVER FROM THERE,

AS IT WAS LOCATED VERY CLOSE TO MY SCHOOL OF ST JOHN'S.

WE STARTED OUR MARRIED LIFE IN ANOKA IN 1948. I COMMUTED TO

WESTERN ELECTRIC CO IN ST PAUL, MY FIRST ASSIGNMENT AS AN

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER. JARY COMMUTED TO MINNEAPOLIS, WHERE SHE

WORKED AS AN ACCOUNTANT FOR BURROUGHS CO. IN 1949 WESTERN

ELECTRIC TRANSFERRED ME TO CHICAGO, BUT I ELECTED TO FIND

ANOTHER COMPANY. I WENT WITH THE TRANE CO IN LACROSSE AS A

MANUFACTURING ENGINEER. JARY QUICKLY FOUND A JOB AS CHIEF

BOOKEEPER FOR MOEN PHOTO CO WHICH LASTED UNTIL LARRY'S BIRTH

IN 1951. WE SPENT 10 GREAT YEARS IN LACROSSE, HAVING OUR

FIRST SON, BUYING OUR FIRST HOME, AND MEETING GOOD FRIENDS AS

A COUPLE. MANY ARE STILL CLOSE TO US TODAY. WE PURCHASED

PROPERTY OUT IN THE VALLEY AND WERE IN THE PROCESS OF

DESIGNING OUR DREAM HOME WHEN WE WERE TRANSFERRED.

THE MOVE TO CLARKS SUMMIT, PA WAS A PROMOTION, AS I WAS

ASSIGNED AS MANAGER OF ENGINEERING FOR AN 800 MAN PLANT.

OUR HOME WAS IN THE POCONO MOUNTAINS, WHICH WERE BEAUTIFUL

ALL YEAR LONG. IT WAS TWO HOURS OUT OF NEW YORK CITY OR

PHILADELPHIA FOR GREAT WEEKEND TRIPS. NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, THE

EASTERN MENTALITY BROADENED OUR HORIZONS. WE WERE ALSO

PRODUCTIVE. THREE CHILDREN WERE BORN IN SIX YEARS.

UNFORTUNATELY, OUR LITTLE DAUGHTER DIED AS AN INFANT, BUT

BOTH BRYAN AND CRAIG CAN CALL THEMSELVES COAL CRACKERS.

IN 1966, MCQUAY CO. OFFERED ME THE POSITION AS MANAGER OF

CORPORATE MANUFACTURING EINGEERING. WHILE IT MEANT A

PROMOTION FOR ME, IT ALSO PROVIDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO RETURN

TO MINNEAPOLIS, WHERE OUR RELATIVES RESIDED. SO AFTER 17

YEARS I LEFT THE TRANE CO AND JOINED MCQUAY. IT WAS AN

INTERESTING 19 YEAR PERIOD WITH MANY SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS,

BUILDING AND MANAGING PLANTS, HEAD OF SYSTEMS, HEAD OF

QUALITY CONTROL, ETC. AND THE FINAL ASSIGNMENT AS PRESIDENT

OF MCQUAY EUROPE, WHICH INVOLVED A TWO YEAR STAY IN ROME.

Appendix

Figure 1. 1857 US Census - George Nichols

Figure 2. 1857 Census for Charles Nichols.

Figure 3. 1857 Census for Hubbard Nichols.

Figure 4. First page of the 1857 census.