Lucy (Higgs) Nichols
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Lucy (Higgs) Nichols (1838 - 1915)

Lucy "Aunt Lucy" Nichols formerly Higgs
Born in Halifax, North Carolina, United Statesmap [uncertain]
Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of — married 13 Apr 1870 in New Albany, Floyd County, Indianamap
Mother of
Died at age 76 in New Albany, Indiana, United Statesmap
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Contents

Biography

Notables Project
Lucy (Higgs) Nichols is Notable.
Nurse Lucy (Higgs) Nichols served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: 1862
Mustered out: 1865
Side: USA
Regiment(s): 23rd Regiment Indiana Infantry

Summary

Lucy Higgs Nichols escaped slavery and was a nurse in the 23rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry for the Union Army during the American Civil War. Known affectionately as "Aunt Lucy", her sole photo shows her surrounded by veterans of the 23rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, of the Army of the Tennessee. She was as devoted to the soldiers as they were to her and her daughter, Mona. She lost her daughter and husband during the Civil War, and after the war ended, settled in New Albany, Indiana, where she worked as a housekeeper to several officers and eventually married her second husband, John Nichols. She lived in New Albany with her husband for more than forty years, until her death on 25 January 1915, at the Floyd County Poor House. The Grand Army of the Republic admitted her as their only honorary, female member, not only of Sanderson's Post, men's group but of the United States. "Aunt Lucy" was treated as family, and loved by all the soldiers that knew her. Due to their sustained efforts, she was granted her government pension for diligent nursing and other services with them, in 28 battles, from June 1862 through the end of the war. She marched in victory with the troops in Washington, D.C., on 23 May and 24 May 1865 for the Grand Review of the Armies. Although her accomplishments were buried in archives for more than 100 years, in 1898, newspaper articles about the special act of Congress that granted her pension, spread her fame across the country. These newspapers included The Janesville Gazette, The Salem Democrat, Atlanta Constitution, The Logansport Journal, The Denver Post, The Freeman, and The New York Times.

Research

Until recently little was known about Lucy Higgs as a child, but local historians from New Albany, Indiana—Pamela R. Peters, Curtis H. Peters, Victor C. Megenity, and others — discovered documents regarding her being owned as a slave in Hardeman County, Tennessee. Pamela Peters wrote an article about their findings, which appeared, for Black History Month, in the Indiana Historical Society's Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History Magazine (Winter 2010).

Family

Rueben Higgs' heirs were allotted a portion of slaves and land in July 1855. An additional, earlier family record lists Lucy's birth as 10 April 1838, after which she was sent south with other slave property to Mississippi and allotted to Wineford Amanda Higgs, the only child of Rueben and his first wife Elizabeth, who both died in 1845, according to the Higgs family cemetery archives from Hardeman County. The families went to court again when Wineford Higgs died, and the slave children were sent back up to Grays Creek, Tennessee to be allotted equally between his heirs. On Tuesday, 8 January 1861, court documents again list Lucy with four other slaves, and their value, to be divided between Willie and Prudence Higgs, after their second-eldest son Marcus Higgs died.

In late June 1862, Lucy, her daughter Mona and other slaves escaped from Grays Creek, Tennessee, crossed the Hatchie River and eventually arrived at the Union lines that were at the fairgrounds near Bolivar, Tennessee almost thirty miles away. Major Shadrack Hooper of the 23rd Indiana Infantry Regiment, who recorded all of their battles as Adjutant, reported her joining their regiment, and described her character as someone having integrity, honesty, intelligence, always smiling, cheerful and kind, a willing washerwoman, seamstress, nurse, cook, and singer, as well as a "rattling good forager." Other soldiers, and the regiment surgeon, Magnus Brucker, described her as a faithful nurse.

Civil War Service

Lucy Higgs Nichols foraged herbs and gave medicine to soldiers from Indiana's 23rd Infantry during the Civil War, 1862-1865. Lucy's first husband came into the Union lines as a laborer under General Grant, or may have possibly served in a colored regiment that was formed; but it is not known what happened to him. Mona, Lucy's young daughter, died at the Siege of Vicksburg. Although the details of her death are not known, the Indiana 23rd Infantry offered her a funeral with flowers. In the middle of the war, when the regiment went on furlough to New Albany, Indiana Lucy went with them and was employed as a servant by several officers, including General W. Q. Gresham[1]. When the Indiana 23rd Infantry were re-deployed to the war in Mississippi, she returned to her nursing duties in service of the Union and was present at every siege. Lucy followed the army east under General Sherman, in The March to the Sea, and then north, where the 23rd Infantry was present in the Grand Review of the Armies.

Post War

After the Emancipation Proclamation, Lucy was a free citizen of the New Albany, Indiana community and maintained herself with modest means. She still worked for officers, and nursed veterans back to health. So beloved was Lucy that five years after the war, when she contracted measles, she was cared for by the soldiers until she was well; and, again, years later when she had a stroke. When General Gresham's daughter was married, Lucy was an invited guest at Palmer House in Chicago and was considered a member of the family.

As the Grand Army of the Republic was forming posts all over the nation, Lucy was made an honorary member of Sanderson's Post. She attended every meeting and reunion with the soldiers. At the last meeting of more than seventy veterans the officers escorted her with much respect. Many volunteer nurses during the war were denied pensions, and Lucy was no exception; but the GAR rallied to her defense again. She was eventually granted $12 a month in a special act reported by The Committee on Pensions on 1 July 1898, which subsequently made her famous through the many newspaper stories on the granting of the pension

Research

On the University of Kentucky Libraries' Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (NKAA), John Nichols, Lucy's second husband, is described as residing in Tennessee and Indiana with his mother and father as free community members, according to the 1850 census of Washington County, Tennessee. Indiana's 152nd Infantry listed John Nichols as a musician, but after the war he joined the colored regiment before returning to New Albany after three years. Floyd County, Indiana's Index to Marriage Records, from 1845 to 1920, shows that Lucy and John married on 13 April 1870. They did not have any children together. The 1910 census still shows them living quietly on Naghel Street in New Albany. Lucy Nichols is listed on the ledger of the Floyd County Poor House as being admitted on 1 January 1915. Even though her birthplace is listed on the register as Kentucky, she is listed clearly on Rueben Higgs' court and family inventories as having been born in Halifax County, North Carolina, before moving to Grays Creek, Tennessee. The register shows her death as 25 January 1915. She is reportedly buried in an unmarked grave at West Haven Cemetery, New Albany.

NOTE: Gravesite Details: "It is not proven, just assumed, that she was buried here 'beside her husband John.' If she was buried in Westhaven, the grave is unmarked and unrecorded."

Find A Grave: Memorial #196104814 Lucy Nichols

Legacy

In 2011 a marker in her honor was erected by the Indiana Historical Bureau and the Friends of Division Street School. As listed on Indiana Historical Bureau markers, Lucy Higgs Nichols' marker is located at 38°17.283′N 85°48.763′W, on East Market Street in New Albany, Indiana. A summary of her life and accomplishments appears on the front and back of the marker. NOTE: This statue was vandalized in July 2020

The Carnegie Center for Art & History in New Albany, Indiana houses an exhibit, Remembered: the Life of Lucy Higgs Nichols, Men & Women of the Underground Railroad.

The Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky reprises the life of Lucy Higgs Nichols each year, through programs and a local theatrical interpretation.

An historical novel based on the life of Lucy Higgs Nichols, Honorable (Purpose in Repose) and a companion book for younger readers, by Indiana author Kathryn Grant, were published in 2013

Sources

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Q._Gresham

See Also:





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The following newspaper items might be useful as sources or clippings. A free space page of these or similar items could be used to prevent cluttering of the profile and still allow access to the items by linking from the profile.

From: Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

"Minor Notes" in The Indianapolis Journal. Indianapolis, Indiana, 10 Nov. 1891. pp.3. Note: 2nd column <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015679/1891-11-10/ed-1/seq-3/> -"Among the guests that are expected at the reunion of the Twenty-third Indiana Infantry next Thursday and Friday, at New Albany, is old "Aunt Lucy," an old colored woman, who held the position of cook to one of the messes during the war time, nearly thirty-seven years ago, and who now lives in Washington county, near Hardinsburg."

"Negro Nurse Pensioned" in The Indianapolis Journal. Indianapolis, Indiana, 16 Dec. 1898. pp, 3. Note: 6th column <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015679/1898-12-16/ed-1/seq-3/> - "Jeffersonville News. Lucy Nichols ... received a letter from Congressman Zenor yesterday stating that the bill providing for a pension for her had been sent to the President for his signature.... "

""Mammy" Lucy Nichols Member of the G.A.R." in The Washington Times. Washington, D.C., 19 June 1904. pp.7. Note: 2nd column <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1904-06-19/ed-1/seq-7/> - critically ill from paralysis, 4 paragraphs.

"Will Claim the Honor" in The Lake County Times. Hammond, Indiana, 17 July 1907. pp. 3. Note: 5th column <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86058242/1907-07-17/ed-1/seq-3/> - New Albany, Ind., July 17 - Lucy Nichols ... has signified her desire to be buried in the national cemetery in this city under a recent order received by Captain James Albertson, superintendent of the cemetery..."

"Civil War Nurse Dead" in ""New Britain Herald. New Britain, Connecticut, 30 Jan. 1915. 3rd column. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014519/1915-01-30/ed-1/seq-12/> "New Albany, Ind., Jan. 30. - Lucy Nichols ... died here yesterday. She joined the Twenty-third Indiana Regiment in Tennessee, in 1861. Sanderson Post, G. A. R., composed chiefly of members of that regiment, elected her an honorary member several years ago and helped obtain by special act of congress a pension for her."

posted by Warren Kuntz