John Nicholson (1762 - 1858)

Born 1 May 1762 in Bute County, North Carolina

Descendants

Died 19 Dec 1858 at age 96 in Blairsville, Union County, Georgia, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mariangeles Mas-Andreu [send private message]

Biography

Private John Nicholson served with Warren County Regiment, North Carolina Militia during the American Revolution.

John Nicholson is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A083685.

John J. Nicholson was born May 1, 1762 or 1763 in Granville county, North Carolina, in the part that would become Bute County in 1764. (1) His parents are unknown. Some have proposed parents without any evidence and others have mindlessly reprinted those claims doing a disservice to the memory of John and his wife Susan Brown and their legacy to their descendants.

John enlisted for service in the American Revolution. Entering as a substitute, he served twelve months altogether. His tours of duty, all in North Carolina and South Carolina are as follows: He served three months as a private under Gen. Caswell in Capt. John White's Company, Col. Eaton's N.C. Regiment and was at the defeat of Gen. Gates (Battle of Camden). He was discharged on the Adkin in North Carolina. He enlisted in 1781 and served three months un Gen. Greene and served as a private in Captains Norsworthy's and Flewallen's North Carolina Companies and was at the Battle of Guilford. He was discharged at Col. Ramsey's Mill in North Carolina. He enlisted again in 1781 and served three months as a private under Col. Linton in the North Carolina Troops. He was discharged near Tarborough in North Carolina. He enlisted in 1782 and served three months as a private in Capt. Cox's Company, Col. Sevier"s North Carolina Regiment. He was discharged on the Tennessee River in North Carolina. (1)

John's discharge on the Tennessee River would have been in the Nolachucky Overmountain colony near present day Tennessee. it's her he would have met his future, and his only wife, Susannah (aka Susan) Brown, as well as Ebenezer Fain who had just finished a tour of duty with Sevier as John Nicholson started his. In 1846, John and Susan would testify to Fain's marriage performed by Tidence Lane, founder of the first Baptist church in Tennessee, located near Jonesboro. In that testimony they gave details as to their own marriage circa 1783, which probably occurred in the same area and might have also been performed by Lane.

By the mid 1780's, John and Susan had moved to Pendleton District South Carolina where John had received land by warrant. There are multiple records for John In the Pendleton District in late 1799 or 1800. We can be precise in that estimate, because at the time if you had moved from an area in South Carolina within the year, you would still be enumerated in that South Carolina County where you'd previously residend. In the 1800 U.S. census, John was enumerated in both Pendleton District S.C. and neighboring Buncombe County N.C.

John would remain in Buncombe County for over twenty years and we have many land records for him there. We also know that while he was there he became involved, as a leader, in an unusual event in American history, the Walton War.

Essentially, John lived in an area of North Carolina that had been neglected by that state. In truth, no one was quite sure of which state it belonged to as it was nestled between North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina. The settlers in the area wanted services denied them by the state of North Carolina, so they petitioned to be made part of South Carolina and when that failed they petitioned Georgia.

The Georgia legislature accepted them as the new County of Walton, not to be confused with a later Walton County. John's friend Ebenezer Fain was elected as a representative to the Georgia legislature, but that election was apparently overturned due to "irregularties" (election fraud). Then, our John Nicholson was elected (there apparently were also "irregularties" in his election.

The North Carolina Governor finally discovered the news and became furious over land lost, which he previously hadn't felt worth bothering over. The North Carolina Militia was ordered to put down the "insurrection" and punish (i.e. hang) the leadership. Said leaders apparently feigned ignorance, not knowing who they belonged to, they could hardly be charged for leaving. Fortunately, our ancestor John escaped the noose, but details of how close he came are not known. North Carolina retained the land, the old county of Walton Georgia ceased to exist and John Nicholson's political career was extinguished.

We don't know whether John was drawn by land or the desire to find a friendlier locale, but by the late 1820's he was in Georgia. He and his youngest son, John Jr, were successful drawers in the 1827 Georgia land lottery in Hall County and both were found, close together, in the 1830 Hall County Census along with John's son in law John Erwin. John was still in Hall County in the 1840's when he and his oldest son James, purchased land using two promissory notes totaling $95. And another deed shows John selling land in 1847.

We know that John would visit his other children in near by Union County Georgia, because he and his wife Susannah were there in June 1846 testifying on behalf of his friend John Fain eldest son of Ebenezer Fain. That testimony revealed the date of John and Susannah's marriage year and hinted at the place. By the 1850 census, Susannah was deceased and John age 88 was in his son John's house in Cherokee County, Georgia.

Sometime after that census, John moved to Union County Georgia where several of his children lived. After his move he was still quite active and applied for a bounty land warrant, although her was over 90 years of age. John died on 19 December 1858 in Union County and is buried in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery five miles west of the county seat of Blairsville.

After John's death his children applied for the residual of his pension, which provided a valuable bit of information for his descendants. The Southern Banner newspaper was apparently late to receive notice of John's death, because in their 1 September 1859 edition they published a "Roll of Honor" list for the "revolutionary soldiers on the rolls of the States of Georgia and Alabama who are regularly receiving their pensions...". John Nicholson's name appeared listed age 96.

Daughters of the American Revolution Data

(placed by the profile manager) For his military service, John is honored by the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, as Ancestor #A083685. DAR records give his service source as his Revolutionary Pension Number *S31882, BLWT #26113-160-55. Application for membership in the Society have been made by the descendants of his sons, John Nicholson, who married Elizabeth Allred; Wiliam Harrison Nicholson, who married Jane Duckworth; Alfred Nicholson, who married Mary Chastain; and of his daughters Sarah Nicholson, who married John Erwin; and Mary Nicholson, who married Rainey Chastain. ^[1]

Myths about John Nicholson

(placed by G. Pinson (Pinson-796)) Myth #1 That John was the son of John Nicholson and Elizabeth Andrews of Surry and Sussex Counties Virginia: This myth is perpetuated in numerous copy and paste pedigrees found on line and on a findagrave.com memorial for Elizabeth (Andrews) Nicholson. This myth is proved untrue by the following primary source records.:

1. Said John Nicholson and Elizabeth Andrews were married in Surry County Virginia on 7 May 1763, after our John Nicholson of this profiles birth in Granville (later Bute) County, North Carolina. This is proven by a record of their marriage and our John Nicholson's testimony for his Revolutionary War Pension. Therefore, it was impossible for them to be his parents.
2. The Surry Nicholsons did have a son John as proven by a baptismal record. However, their son was shown born in March 1772, nearly a decade after our John Nicholson stated he was born. Again, it was impossible for the Surry Nicholsons to be his parents.
3. The above information concerning the Surry County Nicholsons was published as early as 1932 in an article entitled "Nicholson Family of Virginia" by James D. Evans. The William and Mary Quarterly. Vol. 12, No. 1 (Jan., 1932), pp. 49-66 (18 pages). Published by: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. This proves how little research the original creators of this myth did. Others perpetuated it with mindless Copy and paste pedigrees and memorials.

Myth #2 That John of this profile married Nancy Freeman in 1794. Yes there is a record of a marriage between a John Nicholson and Freeman In Bute County where our John was born. But their were many John Nicholsons in the area at the time. I surveyed the 1790 and 1800 censi and found 13 family heads named John Nicholson within the area at the time. Our John was not one of them.

Our John acquired land in Pendleton District South Carolina in the mid 1780s and remained there until he moved to Buncombe County North Carolina in 1800. This is documented by numerous records. Furthermore, by 1794, he had children Mary and James whose later censi show them born in South Carolina.

When the myth was started by a DAR applicant she did not know John had children and Freeman was listed as a first wife, when the children were discovered Freeman was dropped to second wife behind a mystery wife, dropping the only proven wife, Susannah (aka Susan) Brown to number 3.

There were statements made by at least three grandchildren, who personally knew their grandparents, that their grandmother, John Nicholson's wife, was Susannah Brown. There were no statements mentioning any other wife.

But, the nail is driven into the coffin of this myth, when John Nicholson and wife Susannah mutually testify, on 21 June 1846, in Union County, Georgia, as to their knowledge of the 1781 marriage of Ebenezer Fain to Mary Mercer near Jonesboro Tennessee, which was then in North Carolina. This was where John Nicholson was released after his final tour of duty. John testified he knew Fain and his wife Mary (Mercer) from before the close of the Revolution, and that he was married after the close of the Revolution.

Susannah stated she knew Fain and Mercer before they were married by the Reverend Tidence Lane. Lane erected the first Baptist Church in Tennessee near present day Jonesboro. Susannah explained that she remembered the Fain marriage year, because her marriage occurred two years later when the Fain's first son, John, was old enough to walk. This proved that John Nicholson and his only wife, Susannah Brown, married in 1783.

For John to have married Freeman, he would have had to divorce his wife Susan Brown, left his small children and traveled hundreds of miles. Then, he would have had to dispose of Freeman and remarry Susan Brown. It didn't happen.

But there was another Nicholson family that moved from the Bute N.C. area to central Georgia and retained an intense connection with Freeman's there. The man that married Nancy Freeman was probably from that family. On 2 March 1791, Holman Freeman of Wilkes Co. Ga. sold John Nicholson of Mecklenburg County N.C. land in Greene County Ga. bordering John Freeman's land. I believe the Mecklenburg County Nicholsons of that time originated just across the border of Granville County in County. Bute was formed from that part of Granville county that had bordered Edgecombe.

Researcher's Notes

I have many land and other records that can be added to this profile and can add an extensive timeline of source supported events in John Nicholson's life. I plan to add this later. G. Pinson (Pinson-796) 9 June 2021.

Sources

1. ↑ DAR Ancestor # A083685

1. John Nicholson's Revolutionary War Pension File S-31882. File containing copies of selected pages my be purchased from the National Archives.
2. 1790 United States Census for Pendleton District, South Carolina.
3. 1800 United States Census for Pendleton District, South Carolina.
4. 1800 United States Census for Buncombe County, North Carolina.
5. 1810 United States Census for Buncombe County, North Carolina.
6. 1820 United States Census for Buncombe County, North Carolina.
7. 1827 Georgia State Land Lottery. LDS Microfiche #6019971.
8. 1830 United States Census for Hall County, Georgia.
9. 1840 United States Census for Hall County, Georgia.
10. Feb 1845 land purchase by John and James Nicholson in Hall County Georgia.
11. 1850 United States Census for the 15th Division, Cherokee County, Georgia. Enumerated 2 Oct. 1850.
12. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11325469
13. The Walton War. Web article located at https://headwatersoutfitters.com/river-history/
14. THE ORPHAN STRIP COMMUNITY: CRUCIBLE OF CULTURAL CHANGE Electronic Draft By Linda Hoxit Raxter. May be viewed at http://www.ncgenweb.us/transylvania/The_Orphan_Strip_Community-Crucible_of_Cultural_Change.pdf
15. The Marriage of John and Susannah Nicholson, Washington County, 1783:A Case Studyby Robert S. Davis, Director, Family & Regional History Program, Wallace State College. Published in Tennessee Ancestors A Publication of the East Tennessee Historical Society August 2010 Volume 26, No. 2.
16. Revolutionary War Pension File of Ebenezer Fain R3421R. Available in the National Archives.
17. Ebenezer Fain: Southern Appalachian Pioneer Paperback – September 14, 2020

by Travis H. McDaniel. Independently Published. 2020. Sections of this book mentioning John and Susannah Nicholson can be viewed at https://online.fliphtml5.com/nunqo/eygc/#p=1 and https://fliphtml5.com/nunqo/eygc/basic/51-100

1. United States Senate.The Pension Roll of 1835.4 vols. 1968 Reprint, with index. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1992.