| Comments: | North Carolina Regional Early Nicholsons Currituck County. William Nicholson first is shown in Currituck County records in 1696. He received a land grant ca 1704, still in the hands of descendants. He died ca 1723, leaving Josiah, Anthony, Theopolis, Sophia, Naomy, and probably Sarah as heirs. No further record of Anthony or Theopolis has been found in Currituck County. William's son Josiah died in 1749, leaving widow Hannah and children Josiah, John, and Clare as heirs. It appears that Clare married someone named Jolley or Jolleff. John appears to have left Currituck County ca 1765. Josiah Sr.'s son Josiah died in 1807, leaving wife Penelope; sons James, Griffith, and Josias; daughters Hannah Twiford, Sarah Taylor, Sintey Capps, and Chloe Nicholson. This Josiah was married once and maybe twice prior, to Bathia and then possibly Hannah prior to marrying Penelope Thomasin ca 1800. Josiah's son Griffith (Griffin?) went to Halifax County, North Carolina in the 1790's and then on to Montgomery County, Tennessee before 1820. His son William appeared to leave Currituck, but is shown to have returned and died there ca 1803. His son Josiah died there ca 1818. James lived there until at least the 1830's. All the daughters appear to have remained in Currituck County. Perquimans County. These Nicholsons arrived in the 1670's, and were Quakers originally from the New England area. Christopher and Hannah Nicholson were the original settlers, she having died in Perquimans in 1678 and he in 1688. At least eight children were named in various records, including sons Benjamin, Samuel, Joseph, John, Christopher, and Nathaniel, and daughters Delimance (Deliverance?) and Hannah. The only name that seems to overlap between the two branches is John, indicating that there is not likely a connection between the two. Norfolk County (Virginia). William Nicholson died in 1728, and his will mentioned his loving wife, Alice, and children William Nicholson, Thomas Nicholson, George Nicholson, Lemuel Nicholson, John Nicholson, Elizabeth Nicholson, Anne Butte, Mary Langley, Abigail Nicholson, Sarah Nicholson, and grandson Joshua Nicholson. Alice Nicholson's will was proved in 1748. Her will mentions grandson William and grandson Wilson (appears to be John' son). William Nicholson, the son of the William who died in 1728, had a will proven in 1731, that mentioned his mother Alice, eldest son, William, his son Joshua and his wife Prudence. Joshua's will in 1768 mentioned his brother William, son James, son William, son Joshua, daughter Ann and wife, Patience Nicholson. Edgecomb County. According to a 1944 work "Historical Data of the Nicholson-Adams and Allied Families" by Mrs. J.L. Mims, on file at the Salt Lake City Family History Library, George and Lemuel Nicholson -- the sons of the first Norfolk County VA William Nicholson above -- perhaps moved to Edgecomb County (from which Halifax and Nash Counties were later taken). George Nicholson witnessed a will in Edgecomb County in 1750. George Nicholson of Edgecomb County sold land to Lemuel Nicholson of Halifax County in 1766. This same document lists George Nicholson as son of the Norfolk County William Nicholson, and that he died in Nash County in 1780. His will named nine children: Wright, David, George, Edward, Malachi, Josiah, Teresa (married a Lewis), Cloe (married a Petmond), and Elizabeth (married a Walker). The will also mentions his wife Lydia and his granddaughter Lydia. Halifax County. According to the Mims work above, Lemuel Nicholson died in Halifax County in 1775, leaving children: Thomas, John, Absalom, and Joseph Wright Nicholson; and Patience Wright, Phereby Nicholson, and Abigail Nicholson. His granddaughter Bathsheba Nicholson was mentioned, and witnesses included George and Edward Nicholson. John was the captain in the Revolution, married Penelope Mann and died in 1799. This John had ten children: Letitia (married a Crowell), Matilda, Timothy Mann, Penelope (married a Whitfield), Martha (married a Jenkins), Mary (married a Jelks), Peeby (married a Shelton), Elizabeth (married Phillips), Ann (married a Bellamy), and Sarah (married a Phillips). There appear (according to Mims) two early Nicholsons in Halifax County unrelated to these lines, Urbane Nicholson and Theopolis Nicholson. Griffin Nicholson, referred to above in the Currituck County paragraphs, lived in Halifax County from the 1790's to just before 1820. Stokes(now Forsythe)/Iredell County. The earliest known ancestor of the Stokes and Iredell County Nicholson family is John NICHOLSON, who was born May 9, 1757, at Princeton, NJ. John died on Aug. 2, 1838, in Stokes Co., NC. John NICHOLSON married Mary McCOMB first about 1781 in New Jersey. She died and he married second on Oct. 24, 1785, in Somerset Co., NJ, Catharine STEPHENSON, wh was born Sep. 15, 1766, in NJ and died Jun. 9, 1843 in Stokes (now Forsyth) Co., NC. Both John and Catharine are buried at the Muddy Creek Graveyard in marked graves. After the Rev. War was over, John, together with James, his son by his 1st wife, and Catherine, his 2nd wife, traveled south until they reached NC...." The 10 children of John NICHOLSON and Catharine STEPHENSON NICHOLSON are: 1) John NICHOLSON Jr b Mar 18, 1787 Stokes, d Aug 9, 1868 Iredell, m jul 7 1811 Mary FULTZ b Nov 27, 1788 Stokes, d Sep 12 1870 Iredell (John Jr. Family Bible); 2) Mary NICHOLSON b Sep 19, 1788, Stokes m John WALKER; 3) Elizabeth NICHOLSON, b Apr 19, 1790, Stokes, m Amaso BEESON; 4) Rebecca NICHOLSON b Apr 19 1793 Stokes, m Mathias CLAMPITT; 5) George NICHOLSON, b Aug 11, 1793 [this can't be right!] Stokes, d Jul 23, 1802 Stokes; 6) Moses NICHOLSON, b Nov 23, 1799 Stokes, m a BARNES; 7) Anderson NICHOLSON, b No 23, 1799 Stokes, m Grace do M.P. NICHOLSON, m 2nd Mary J. HUTCHENS who died at age 80 Aug 38, 1910; 8) Catherine NICHOLSON, b Jun 16, 1804, m a WALKER;9) Phoebe NICHOLSON, b Nov 13, 1806; 10) Hannah NICHOLSON, b Sep 10, 1811, Stokes, m John IDOL of Guilford Co., NC. James and Mary MACOMB NICHOLSON went to Iredell Co., NC in 1813. James was a millwright and he kept busy establishing mills. His brother Moses also lived in Iredell about 6 years before moving to MO. John Jr. moved to Iredell in 1828 and bought land with brother James on Hunting Creek. The land had a mill which they operated. Mecklenberg County. Culbert NICHOLSON, also listed as Cuthbert, bought land on what is now the NC/SC border ca 1766 and died in 1789 at age 77. He was buried in Steele Creek Pres. Church cemetery south of Charlotte along with his wife Jennet, d 1790, and Joseph NICHOLSON and John NICHOLSON, died 1818 in Oglethorpe Co., GA. All three names were on one court document concerning Culbert's will administration. This may mean that they were brothers -- or that Culbert was the father or uncle. Joseph and John and a George bought land in the heart of Charlottetown, where at least one had a tavern called Nick's and one was a joiner with apprentices (Joseph). John was called a "labourer" in one document. The family was connected by marriage (Lillie NICHOLSON) to the JACK family, who also moved to Wilkes Co., GA, and from GA to TX, as did the NICHOLSONs. Joseph sold his land in the center of Charlottetown in 1784 and moved to Wilkes Co., GA - was in GA in 1785 according to another Mecklenburg deed. John seems to have stayed in Charlotte longer, appearing on a 1792 census with children and a William and John Jr. listed separately. A George NICHOLSON continued to live in Charlotte through the 1800 census, some of my John Sr.'s children reputedly married in Charlotte ca 1800 and then moved to GA. The names Sterling NICHOLSON, John NICHOLSON, and William NICHOLSON appear in later marriages and in census records of Mecklenburg. There is great confusion, of course, because the names Joseph, John, George, and William are used in every generation and apparently by every son for his sons. The female names Jennet/Janet/Jeanette are also common, as is Lillie. |
