Isaiah Ford Nickell (1846 - 1926)

Born 10 Dec 1846 in Jackson, Ohio, United States

Husband of Mary Elizabeth (Sayles) Nickell — married 1869 in Henry, Iowa, United States

Died 16 Apr 1926 at age 79 in Carthage, Jasper, Missouri, United States

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Biography

Isaiah was born in 1846 to Thomas Nickell and Isabella McDowell in Jackson County, Ohio. The family moved to Henry County, Iowa.

During the Civil War, Isaiah served with the Fourth Iowa Cavalry, known as the "Rough Riders of the West," from Mar 1864 to Aug 1865.

In 1869, Henry married Mary Sayles in Henry County. They had ten children.

In 1885, they moved to Beadle County, South Dakota, where they farmed. He served two 2-year terms as county superintendent of schools.

In 1897, they moved to Prosperity, Jasper County, Missouri, where Isaiah was principal of the school for a year.

In 1898, they moved to Carthage, Jasper County, where he bought property on Grand Avenue.

In 1926, Isaiah passed away in Carthage.

"A History of Jasper County, Missouri, and Its People" by Lewis Publishing Company, 1912, pages 892-893

I. F NICKELL.—Prominent among the pioneers in the rural mail delivery service is I. F. Nickell, of Carthage, Jasper county, who has been identified with this branch of the United States service since 1901, his route being Number One from Carthage. It extends twelve miles or more northeast of the city into Madison and Sheridan townships and has one hundred boxes on the route. He came to this county in 1897, and has since been a valued and highly respected citizen while as a mail carrier his prompt and careful attention to his duties has won for him the sincere regard, high esteem and confidence of the people along his route. A son of Thomas Nickell, he was born December 10, 1846, in Jackson county, Ohio, but was brought up and educated in Henry county, Iowa.

Thomas Nickell was a native of the Old Dominion, his parents, who were of Scotch-Irish descent, having been early settlers of Virginia. His birth occurred in 1800 and his death in 1885. He was a man of strict integrity and a consistent Presbyterian in religion. He married Isabel McDowell, who was of Scotch ancestry and later moved to Ohio and lived in Jackson county. Subsequently he moved with his family to Henry county, Iowa, going there when it was a frontier state, in 1848, before there were any railroads west of the Mississippi. Mrs. Nickell died at the age of seventy six years. Ten children were born of their union three sons and seven daughters.

In the rural schools of Henry county, Iowa, I. F. Nickell obtained a practical knowledge of the common branches of learning, completing his early studies at Mount Pleasant Academy. In March, 1864. he enlisted in Company K, Fourth Iowa Cavalry, and served under Colonel Winslow, who after the close of the conflict became widely known as a railway president. The Fourth Iowa Cavalry, known as the Rough Riders of the West, made a brilliant record in the early part of 1865, as a part of the band of horsemen commanded by General James H. Wilson raiding several Alabama cities and capturing Selma, Columbus and Macon, and in addition taking many prisoners, pieces of artillery and destroying two gunboats and property of all description. In August, 1865, Mr. Nickell was honorably discharged from the service in Henry county, Iowa, and there continued his residence several years, for four years of the time serving as county recorder, filling the office with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents.

Going to Beadle county, South Dakota, in 1883, Mr. Nickell took up a homestead claim and was for some time employed in the pioneer labor of clearing and improving a farm. A man of intelligence and public spirit, he inevitably became prominent in local affairs and for two terms of two years each rendered appreciated service as county superintendent of schools in Beadle county. Coming to Jasper county, Missouri, in 1897, Mr. Nickell embarked in educational work and for a year was principal of the schools in the town of Prosperity. Locating then in Carthage, he made wise investments of his money, buying six valuable lots on Grand avenue, and there erected the large and substantial residence which he has since occupied, his home being one of the most attractive and pleasant in the neighborhood. In 1901 he was appointed to his present position as rural carrier and has filled the office with characteristic ability and fidelity.

Mr. Nickell married, in 1869, Mary Sayles, who was born in Ohio, but was reared and educated in Henry county, Iowa, where her parents, Ahab and Isabelle Sayles, were for many years engaged in farming. Mrs. Sayles died in Henry county, when but fifty-eight years old. Mr. Sayles spent his last years, however, in Jasper county, Missouri, dying, at a good old age, in Carthage. Mr. and Mrs. Nickell are the parents of four children, namely:

• Walter S., of Joplin, Missouri, a conductor on the Kansas City & Southern Railway;
• Lina, a popular and successful educator, having taught in the Carthage public schools for the past nine years;
• Thomas A., a well known dairyman of Carthage; and
• Mary E., wife of Harry Jackson, bookkeeper in the Central National Bank of Carthage.

Politically Mr. Nickell zealously supports the principles of the Republican party by voice and vote. Socially he belongs to Stanton Post, No. 16, G. A. R.; and religiously Mr. and Mrs. Nickell are valued and trustworthy members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

1850 Federal Census in Jefferson Township, Iowa:

• Thomas Nickels 50 born Virginia
• [wife] Isabel 45 born Virginia
• [daughter] Civilla 20 born Ohio
• [daughter] Eliza J 15 born Ohio
• [daughter] Sally A 13 born Ohio
• [son] Anderson 8 born Ohio
• [son] Isaiah NF 4 born Ohio

Sources

• 1850 Federal Census
• Findagrave profile