When William Nicholson was born on 14 July 1867, in Owen, Kentucky, United States, his father, Lewis H Nicholson, was 41 and his mother, Nancy Jane Osburn, was 25.
Mr. J. B. English performed the enumeration of the Lusby's Mill Precinct in eastern Owen County in August 1870. He visited with the Nicholson family on the 18th. William was a lad of 4 years at the time. His father, Lewis was supporting his family of 8 people by making chairs. There was an 18-year-old man named Louis living with them too. I don't know who he is. [1]
The family had moved to the Lytles Fork district of Scott county prior to the 1880 Census. Mr. Thomas Dalzell gathered the critically important data for us and the Census Bureau. He met with the Nicholsons on June 3rd. Mr. Nicholson is still earning his wages by making chairs. William has 8 siblings at home now. William is 14 and can read and write, or at least it leads us to believe that he can. [2]
He married Frances Bell Gaines on 7 October 1891, in Owen, Kentucky, United States. William was 25 at the time. Mr. R. E. Carlton performed the ceremony. The witnesses were J. R. Gaines and J. H. Glass. [3]
Fannie passed away before the Census was performed in 1900 on the 4th of June by Mr. William P Scruggs. William was living in the Willisburg District of Washington County, Kentucky with his parents, siblings and his two daughters and son. Mr. Scruggs recorded William as the head of the household though. The family consisted of ten people. William was listed as a widower. May is 6, Thurman is 4 and Emma is 2. Chances are excellent Fannie passed shortly after Emma was born in 1898. We don't know for sure as a death record hasn't been found. William is renting the farm they're living on. [4]
William secured a marriage bond between himself and George Holt on December 27th, 1900 in the city of Springfield of Washington County, Kentucky. The clerk who recorded this marriage bond ensuring William would marry Miss Bettie Hudson, was Mr. Booker. The marriage took place on the 30th of December, 1900. The clerk made a mistake recording and it says 1901 in the marriage book. They were the last marriage of the year in 1900. The next entry is 6 Jan 1901. That was a mistake and should be noted as such. It was 1900. They were married by F.W. Hill at the home of George Holts. The witnesses were William Hudson and Randal Nicholson. [5][6]
William and Bettie weren't married long. They had two sons during the short marriage, Homer and Arthur. Arthur was born in 1906. Both of these boys later changed their names from Nicholson. Homer became Nichols and Arthur was adopted by a Gibson family and changed his name to Gibson.
When Samuel Wells performed the Census on May 6th, 1910, William was back to living with his parents, Lewis and Nancy in Washington County, Kentucky. William had his baby girl, Emma with him. He is listed as divorced. He is working as a house painter on his own account. [7]
William's two oldest children married in 1913 and 1919.
He would marry Mary Crawford probably in late 1910 or early 1911. When the Census was performed in 1920 by Mrs. R.G. Tharp on January 19th, William and Mary were living on Lawrenceburg Rd in the Utterback District of Franklin County, Kentucky. They have 4 children now; Ruby, Lucy, James H. and William Jr. William is 52 and renting the house they're living in. He continues to work as a house painter. [8]
William and Mary are living on Lawrenceburg Pike in the Bridgeport area of Franklin County with their 3 youngest children when Mr. D. C. Estill conducted the Census on 7 April 1930. He was renting the house they were living in for $7.00 a month. William continues to work as a painter. [9]
He died on 18 September 1937, in Frankfort, Franklin, Kentucky, United States, from post operative pneumonia at the age of 70, [1] and was buried in New Columbus Cemetery, New Columbus, Owen, Kentucky, United States. Find A Grave: Memorial #140103352[10][11]
Research Notes
Excellent article/biography on R. E. Carlton who married Fannie Gaines and William Nicholson. [2]
↑ "Kentucky, Vital Record Indexes, 1911-1999," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKH1-6HNT : 6 December 2023), William Nicholson, 18 Sep 1937; citing Death, Franklin, Kentucky, United States, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort.
2002 "United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6K31-8NT5 : 10 February 2023), William Nicholson in entry for William Nicholson, Jr, .
2003 "United States, GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2011", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q53N-XDC4 : Fri Mar 08 14:56:25 UTC 2024), Entry for William T Nicholson and William Nicholson, January 2003.
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