Lavinia (Chastain) Nicholson (1796 - 1865)

There are several major problems with this page. First, your only sources are the 1850 and 1860 census. That's understandable, because those are the only sources in which Lavina (maiden name unknown) Nicholson is known to be named. But, since both censi name her Lavina, how do you conclude her name is Lavinia.

And neither of those censi give any clue to her paternity. They merely give an approximate age and birth place (South Carolina). So, how do you conclude her parents were Edward Brigand Chastain and his wife, Hannah Brown?

Edward Brigand Chastain et ux, have been well studied for over a half century. It was nearly that long ago that their genealogy was summarized in the book Chastain Kith and Kin. All those dedicated researchers named fifteen children for Edward Brigand Chastain and none were named Lavina, or Lavinia. While some concluded they may have had one more, unidentified, child, all concluded that child must have died as an infant, or minor child. If all those researchers couldn't find a child name Lavina, or Lavinia, what primary source do you have that they missed?

Another point missed is that Lavina (maiden name unknown) Nicholson could only fit as a child of Edward Brigand Chastain if she were a twin, because there isn't otherwise room to fit her in with seven other known children born between 1790 and 1799. But that is a mute point, because you have absolutely no proof that Lavina was Edward Brigand Chastain's daughter.

NO, inclusion in someone's family tree, or a posting on a webpage is not proof. You need a primary source, like her being named as a daughter in a will or deed. Or a pension application or some other document naming her as a daughter. Or a family Bible page naming her as such which can be traced to a contemporary relative like a parent or sibling. And you don't have that, because people have been looking for such a document for generations and if you had it you would have listed it as a source.

Edward Brigand Chastain did have a much younger half sister named Lavina, but established that she died after their father's (John "Ten Shilling Bell" Chastain) death in 1803. Furthermore, they have her marrying a Mr Bowling and moving to Tennessee, where she died in the late 1840's. So, she obviously could not be the Lavina (maiden name unknown) Nicholson that you have attempted to squeeze into this branch of Chastains.

So, there is absolutely no evidence at all that Lavina (maiden name unknown) Nicholson was born a Chastain, let alone a child of Edward Brigand Chastain, and she should be decoupled as a child immediately and her maiden name left as "unknown."

Unknown-197180 and Chastain-1182 appear to represent the same person because: .....