Caleb Nichols Sr. (abt. 1625 - 1690)

Born about 1625 in England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 14 Apr 1690 at about age 65 in Woodbury, Litchfield, Connecticut

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Biography

Caleb Nichols Sr. immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

• May have been born in England. Probably son of Francis Nichols and Margaret Bruce. Evidence of his marriage to Anne Ward in the U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700. His will exists. They have a daughter named Mary.

CALEB NICHOLS, youngest son of Francis Nichols, was born in England around 1623. He is not included among the children of Francis Nichols in the Sedgeberrow parish records, suggesting that the family left that area after Isaac was born in 1617. He came to America as a teenager with his father and several older siblings, probably brothers John and Isaac and sister Sarah. He married, ca.1650, Anne Warde, daughter of Andrew and Hester (Sherman) Warde of Fairfield, Connecticut ^[1]. In Stratford, he was selected a “Townsman,” and in December 1661 Caleb Nichols and two other Townsmen represented the town of Stratford in the purchase of a large tract of land from the Paugussett Indians. Part of this land later became the site of the large “Nichols Farm” owned by his son Abraham, and today it is the village of Nichols just north of Stratford. Caleb Nichols was involved in the first major conflict between dissident factions in the Stratford church in 1665, siding with a group who favored the “half-way covenant" ^[2]. The half-way covenant, announced by the fourth Synod in Boston in 1662, would allow children whose parents had not converted to Puritanism to be baptized but not receive communion. The Stratford Congregational Church, however, held to the original rule that required both parents to convert to Puritanism before their child could be baptized or receive communion. Caleb’s group split off and formed a new church in 1670, originally called the Second Congregational Church of Stratford. In 1673, 17 families from the second church moved about 25 miles north and formed the town of Woodbury, but they were forced to return to Stratford two years later for protection during King Philip’s War against the colonists. By 1676, the Woodbury pioneers began to return with more members, including Caleb Nichols and his family. His youngest child John was baptized there in March 1675/6 ^[3]. Caleb died there in 1690, age about 66. His will was dated 14 August 1690. His widow Anne was nearly 90 when she died in Woodbury in 1718 [44]. ^[4]

Caleb, son of Francis, was made a freeman in 1699 and probably married Ann Ward, daughter of Andrew Ward. Their children were Sarah, Ann, Esther, Joseph, Samuel, Andrew, Abraham, Abigail, Hannah, Caleb, Phebe, and Moses ^[5].

Sources

1. ↑ Walter Nicholls (1909)
2. ↑ Hunt, Richard H. The Settlement and Early Development of Stratford, Connecticut. American Colonial History, Sec. 02, January 3, 1968.
3. ↑ Cothren, William. History of Ancient Woodbury, Connecticut, from The First Indian Deed in 1659 to 1854. Published by the author, Woodbury, CT, 1879. Reprinted in Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co, Inc., 1977
4. ↑ "The English Origin of Sergeant Francis Nichols of Stratford, CT" Author: Neil D. Thompson 2000 Page: p. 271
5. ↑ The History of Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, from the Settlement of the Town in 1639 to 1818, Elizabeth Hubbell Schenck, Vol 1, New York 1889 [1]

• Ward, George Kemp. Andrew Warde and His Descendants, 1597-1910 (New York : A.T. De La Mare Printing and Publishing Company, 1910) Pages 25-6, 29 (#10)
• Nicholls, Walter. Sergeant Francis Nicholls of Stratford (New York, The Grafton Press, 1909) Page 16.
• The Ancestry and Descendants of John Walker Information from this book are provided also at www.walkerfamily.org.
• Walker Family Organization http://www.walkerfamily.org/ancestors through Simeon Walker (1756-1834), Elizabeth Martin (1735-1823), Caleb Martin (1698-1776), Abigail Martin (1664-1734)
• Colonial Connecticut Records, 1636 - 1776 "[Stratford] A list of Freemen as they are reputed amongst us.." 7 Aug 1669.
• Lines Jacobus, History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield, CD-Local and Family Histories: CT, 1600's - 1800's, (Produced in collaboration with the Genealogical Publishing Company, 2000) Page 678. Vol. 1, Page 436. "... of Woodbury ...
• William Richard Cutter, A.M., New England Families, CD-Local and Family Histories: CT, 1600's - 1800's, (Produced in collaboration with the Genealogical Publishing Company, 2000), vol 4, p 1637. "Caleb married Anna, daughter of Andrew Ward, of Fairfield."
• William Richard Cutter, New England Families, vol 4, p 1637. "Caleb married Anna, daughter of Andrew Ward, of Fairfield."
• Find A Grave: Memorial #68651258
• Hoagland, Lloyd Walter. Descendants of John Clark of New Haven, Connecticut (California, 1990) Page 828.