William Nicolas (1862 - 1941)

Born Sep 1862 in Alfred, Ontario

Ancestors

Husband of Marie-Mederise (Bissonnet) Nicolas — married 14 Jan 1889 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts

Husband of Almanda (L'Esperance) Nicolas — married 7 Jan 1924 in Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Descendants

Died 1 Aug 1941 at age 78 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Norman Prince [send private message]

Biography

William (also known as Guillaume) was born in September, 1862 in Alfred, Ontario, a French-speaking community about an hour by car (much longer by horse) west of Montreal. He was the fourth of seven children born to Suplien (also known as Cyprien) and Sophie (Langlois) Nicolas. According to the 1871 Census of Canada, William’s father was a farmer and illiterate.

According to the 1881 Census of Canada, William’s father was no longer in the household, so we presume he died in the interim. At this time, William’s older brother Joseph, age 27 and Joseph’s wife, Mary Jane (Parker) Nicolas are listed as heads of the household. Mary Jane is described as “English”. William’s mother Sophie was 45 years old.

When William was 23 years old (1886) he left his hometown and moved to Fitchburg, Massachusetts. William was 26 years old when he married Mederise Bissonnet on January 14, 1889. They were married at Immaculate Conception Church by Father Clovis Baudouin. Mederise was eighteen years old. Mederise was a native of Upton, Quebec, about an hour by car (much longer by horse) east of Montreal. In their marriage certificate, William is described as a laborer and Mederise as a “spooler” in a textile mill.

William and Mederise made their home at 133 Lunenburg Street, Fitchburg. William worked at the W. A. Garno lumber and saw mill right across the street from their home.

William and Mederise welcomed their first child, Exilda, named after Mederise's mother, into the world on April 5, 1890. In 1892 their second child, Joseph was born. Sadly, in 1893, three year-old Exilda was killed while playing in the lumber yard across the street, when a pile of two-by-fours fell and crushed her.

When William and Mederise had their third child in 1895, they named her Exilda. Sadly, this Exilda died one year later of “consumption”.

Their fourth child, Alfred, was born in 1897. Their fifth child, Albina, was born in 1899.

In 1901, William suffered a terrible industrial accident, losing his left hand and forearm when his sleeve was caught in a planer at his job in the saw mill.

William and Mederise welcomed their sixth child, Arthur, in 1902.

In October, 1904, Alfred, then seven years old, died tragically of burns after he found some matches and set some leaves on fire.

In 1905, their seventh child, a boy, was born and they named him Alfred.

Their eighth child, Ardina, was born in 1909. That same year, William and Mederise accepted an invitation to move to Ohio and work on the farm of William’s brother, Suplien. Suplien was a successful farmer, and he and his wife, Jane, lived with their children in a big house on a significant piece of land in Center Township, Wood County, Ohio. William, Mederise, and their (then) five children were offered a servant’s cabin on the property. We wonder how helpful William, then an amputee, might have been on the farm.

Mederise gave birth to her ninth and final child, Marie, in 1912.

Legend has it that Mederise, who was religiously devout, insisted on travelling some distance to the Catholic church by horse and buggy every Sunday. Meanwhile, Suplien and his wife Jane, a Protestant, were not religious at all. Mederise was critical of her sister-in-law’s irreligiosity, and resented her family’s servile status and small, crowded home. For whatever reason or reasons, William and Mederise left Ohio and returned to Fitchburg by train in February, 1914 with five children. Their eldest, Joseph, then seventeen years old, remained in Ohio for the rest of his life.

Only two months after arriving in Fitchburg, Mederise died in April, 2014 of pneumonia, presumably weakened by the long, cold voyage on the train.

Albina assumed much responsibility for raising her younger siblings in the years that followed. William also appreciated the assistance of Mederise’s cousin, the spinster Ardina Bissonnet who would visit often. Ardina loved William and revealed many years later that she had secretly wished that William would marry her. William remained a widower for the following ten years, and in 1924 married Almanda (L’Esperance) Stanton, herself a widow. Almanda usually called herself “Martha” including in the United States census.

In 1929, William’s daughter, Ardina became pregnant out of wedlock. Outraged, stepmother Almanda kicked her out of the home. Although Ardina hastily married Murray “Buster” Smith, Almanda insisted on having no further contact with Ardina. Nevertheless, William would secretly visit Ardina and Buster without Almanda’s knowledge. Almanda and Ardina were reconciled years later.

William lived at 73 Falulah Street from 1914 to 1930; and from 1931 on, at 63 Bemis Road, in the same building as his daughters Albina and Marie, and virtually across the street from his son Arthur.

William became a U.S. citizen on September 28, 1937.

William died tragically on August 1, 1941 of a cerebral hemorrhage after falling down a flight of stairs at home while carrying his young grandson William Cabana. Almanda died in 1948.

Of William’s nine children, six achieved adulthood: Joseph (1892 – 1976), Alfred (1905 –1955), Albina Sheerin (1899 – 1970), Arthur (1902 – 1964), Ardina Smith (1909 – 1990), and Marie Cabana (1912 – 1978).

Sources

• Newspaper clippings from the Fitchburg Sentinel (see in images)

• as remembered by great-grandchild Norman Raymond Prince [Prince-1148] and grandchild Irene (Nicolas) Prince.

Census of Canada 1871 and 1881 (see in images) United States Census 1910 and 1920 (see in images)

United States Census, 1910 Census shows:

William Nicolas Head 47 born in Canada Mederise Nicolas Wife 39 born in Canada Joseph A Nicolas Son 17 born in Massachusetts Albina Nicolas Daughter 10 born in Massachusetts Arthur Nicolas Son 7 born in Massachusetts Alfred Nicolas Son 4 born in Massachusetts Ardina Nicolas Daughter 0 born in Massachusetts --- US Census 1910 (19 April 1910) Center Township, Wood County, Ohio French Canada, father born French Canada, mother born French Canada, occupation: farm laborer Emma D. - , Wife, female, white, 39 years of age, married 21 years, 8 children, 5 living, born French Canada, father born French Canada, mother born French Canada Joseph A. - , Son, male, white, 17 years of age, single, born Massachusetts, father born French Canada, mother born French Canada, occupation: clerk grocery store Albena - , Daughter, female, white, 10 years of age, born Massachusetts, father born French Canada, mother born French Canada Arthur - , Son, male, white, 7 years of age, single, born Massachusetts, father born French Canada, mother born French Canada Alfred - , Son, male white, 4 years of age, single, born Massachusetts, father born French Canada, mother born French Canada Ardina - ., Son, female (?), white, 9 months of age, single, born Massachusetts, father born French Canada, mother born French Canada

United States Census, 1900 shows:

William Nicolas Head 37 born in Canada; Mederise Nicolas Wife 28 born in Canada; Joseph Nicolas Son 7 born in Massachusetts; Alfred Nicolas Son 2 born in Massachusetts; Albina Nicolas Daughter 1 born in Massachusetts; --- US Census 1900 (5 June 1900) 133 Lunnenburg Street (Ward 6), Fitchburg City, Worcester County, Massachusetts; William Nicols, Head, white, male, born July 1849, age at last birthday 37, married 11 years, born Canada, fther born Canada, mother born Canada, occupation: Planer Wood, immigrated 1889, in US 10 years; Mederise - , Wife, white, female, born July 1882, age at last birthday 27, married 11 years, 5 children, 3 children living, born Canada, father born Canada, mother born Canada, immigrated 1889, in US 10 years; Joseph - , Son, white male, born October 1893 (sic), age at last birthday 6 years, born Massachusetts, father born Canada, mother born Canada; Alfred - , Son, white, male, born September 1898, age at last birthday 2, born Massachusetts, father born Canada, mother born Canada; Elbine - , Daughter, white, female, born October 1899, age at last birthday 8 months, born Massachusetts, father born Canada, mother born Canada;