William Nickels (1800 - 1884)

Born 2 Sep 1800 in Wiscasset, Wiscasset, Lincoln, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Catherine Ricks Lawrence — married 29 Jan 1829 in Scotland Neck, Halifax, North Carolina, United States

Descendants

Died 4 Sep 1884 at age 84 in Marianna, Jackson, Florida, United States

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Biography

William was born in 1800. He is the son of William Nickels and Jane McCobb.

Sources

<North Carolina, U. S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011/>

• Family records

William NICKELS, son of William Nickels (b 1766) and Jane McCobb (b 1775), was b. 2 Sep 1800, d. 24 Sep 1884, and m. Scotland Neck, Halifax County, NC 29 Jan 1829 Catherine Ricks LAWRENCE, b. 3 Mar 1810, d. Marianna, FL 9 Feb 1890. William attended Bowdoin College from 1815 to 1816 (class of 1819), but left Wiscasset in 1816 for Boston. About 1819 he went to Plymouth, NC, then in 1837 moved to Marianna, FL, where he farmed and ran a hotel. In May, 1837 he purchased the Florida Hotel in Marianna, where he ...”promised that his table ‘will have every delicacy the country affords,’ and his bar would be stocked with ‘choice Wines and Liquors.’ To make good on the latter claim, he also wanted ‘a good bar keeper.’ Nickels operated the hotel for many years, became a substantial citizen of Marianna, and earned a reputation for the excellence of his hotelry.” He was one of the original Trustees of the Marianna Male and Female Academy which was organized in 1851 by the Board of County Commissioners. He also owned a drug store in Marianna that he was paid $150.00 by the county commission for using it as a circuit court from Nov, 1870 until Nov, 1871. He bought a mansion house there in 1868, which stood until about 1960. “From this home Willie Ann NICKELS eloped with Edwin MOORING, founding one of the strangest families in the history of the county. William NICKEL’S name was terminated abruptly by the tragic death of his son, William NICKELS Jr., who was shot and killed by his brother-in-law, Edwin MOORING. A second son Woodbury “Woody” NICKELS, was killed in the Battle of Marianna.” The house occupied an entire city block and was described as having “stately white columns, heavy cornices, and broad steps running the full length of the veranda - which has been a Marianna landmark for over a century...” but was torn down to build City Hall. He appears on the 1850 and 1860 censuses for Marianna, Jackson Co., FL. His correspondence with Capt R. H. Tucker of Wiscasset, ME, from 1858 to 1860, reveals much about his family.

In a Quit Claim Deed dated 13 Mar 1832 he was of Scotland Neck, Halifax County, NC.

SOURCES: Tucker, Jane, six-page, unpublished genealogy of the Nickels family (ca 1990).

Tucker, Richard H. of Wiscasset, ME, Letter to William Nickels of Marianna, FL, 21 Jun 1858.

Cushman, Rev. David Quimby, The History of Ancient Sheepscot and Newcastle including Early Pemaquid, Damariscotta, and other contiguous places, from the Earliest Discovery to the Present Time, E. Upton & Son, Printers, Bath (1882), The Photoduplication Program of NEHGS, Boston

Nickels family record, found in Wiscasset, ME Public Library, p 144-4 in Nickels file.

Stanley, J. Randall, History of Jackson County [Florida], pp 59-60, 74, 108.

Pamphilon, Doris E., Cemeteries of Jackson County, Florida, v. 1, p 330.