As you well know my big genealogy brick wall was with my Henry Nichols (Family Page and PDF Lineage). The earliest I found him was in Effingham County Georgia in the 1805 Georgia land lottery. Effingham County is not a burn county and has most of its early records. Well there is nothing on my Henry even though he lived there, met his wife and fathered 3 children there. NO RECORDS! he did not purchase land, did not pay tax, did not get married there. The only way I can place him there was from 2 Georgia land lotteries from 1805 and 1807 and from the Georgia Passport he was granted to move through Indian land on his way to Mississippi in 1810.
I could only locate 2 of his children in 1880 and both said he was born in NC. Well I have covered most counties in North and South Carolina and have tracked down all the Henry Nichols and have discounted all but 1.
This Henry Nichols was born in Pitt County North Carolina. The patriarch of the Pitt County Nichols seems to be a William Nichols Sr. Williams son Joel Nichols seems the most likely fit for being the Father of this Henry Nichols. in 1790 census Joel had 2 males under the age of 16 which fits my Henrys birth range of 1771-1775. Also when Joel moved to next door to Johnston County in 1797 A Henry Nichols was granted 150 acres on Hannah Creek, the came Creek Joel Nichols moved to. After the land purchase this Henry disappears forever from North Carolina as far as I can tell. My Henry would have to Be in Effingham County by at least 1801 in order to marry thew daughter of James Cook and have his first (known) Child William by 1802. The problem in finding the family structure of William Nichols Sr. is that Pitt County is a burn County. All records except land records burned in 1858.
Now I ask myself, if this is my Henry then why would he leave someplace he knows and travel all the way to Effingham County. Well the answer may be in Sumter County South Carolina. Several of Williams Children left Pitt County North Carolina just before the 1790 census and went to Sumter County. Probably after the death of William Sr. So this gives someplace for Henry to go to then make the Jump to Effingham County which makes more sense. Problem is how do I prove this. Pitt county has no records but deeds, Johnston Co only has the 1 land record for Henry and Sumter County has no records on Henry.
So I decide to have a DNA test done by Family Tree Dna. I did this over a year ago. At first my results were by them self with no matches to other Nichols in the project. BUT I could discount other Nichols families around Pitt County through this.
Then a year ago I got my first close match. A Walter Nichols (kit #17761) matched me on 35 of 37 markers with a genetic distance of 3. This means In comparing 37 markers, the probability that Brian Nichols and Walter P. Nichols shared a common ancestor within the last…
- 2 generations is 9.8%
- 4 generations is 31.74%
- 6 generations is 54.47%
- 8 generations is 72.13%
- 10 generations is 83.95%
- 12 generations is 91.16%
My Henry is 6 Generations back so that meant that My Henry’s and William E Nichols ( William E Nichols Line) had a 72% chance of having the same grandfather. Unfortunately Walter is in the same boat I am. He can’t get past William Nichols although family history suggest it was a Conrad Nichols. No records exist saying a Conrad Nichols ever did exist. Although this is a great clue it doesn’t break my brick wall. So now I wait some more.
About six months ago I get an email from a supposed descendant of William Nichols Sr. of Pitt County, NC. She says her Cousin is a descendant of Reuben Nichols. He is one of the Nichols to go from Pitt County to Sumter County, SC. Then Reuben went from there to Lawrence Co, Mississippi where he died in the 1840’s. What makes this more interesting is the Reuben’s son, Reuben Bynum Nichols married in Copiah County MS to a Martha Touchstone, Henry’s Son, William Nichols also Married in Copiah County MS about the same time that Reuben B did and both went to Bradley County Arkansas in 1845. Reuben B Nichols died there in 1848. In 1850 my ancestor, Jeremiah Nichols, also a son of Henry, is living in Drew County Arkansas and guess who is living next door…. Martha Nichols, widow of Reuben B, these to families were close as they had several land transaction and always lived real close together.
So now I think I can finally get a definitive answer if the Henry of Pitt County is my Henry. Well the kit comes in and we are nowhere near a match (kit number 74981). We only matched 24 of 37 markers with a genetic distance of 17. This didn’t make sense and really crushed my hopes on the Pitt County connection. So I wait some more.
About a month ago I get a email from a Greg Nichols of Kentucky saying he was having a 37 marker test done and so far 25 had come in and we were a perfect match. Well I about wet myself over this news. We spoke by phone and he was a descendant of William Nichols Jr, son of William Nichols Sr. of Pitt County NC. Well I have compared my dna to a supposed decedent through the Reuben Nichols line and thought the last 12 markers would crush my dreams but I had to wait 2 weeks till they came in.
Well last week they did. Greg and I matched 36 of 37 markers with a genetic Distance of 1. That means In comparing 37 markers, the probability that Brian Nichols and Greg D. Nichols shared a common ancestor within the last…
- 2 generations is 29.25%
- 4 generations is 58.66%
- 6 generations is 77.93%
- 8 generations is 88.83%
- 10 generations is 94.54%
- 12 generations is 97.4%
This is a very close match. So how do I know that Greg is from the Pitt County Nichols? Well Greg’s Nichols have always been in Pitt County. He is the first Nichols in his line not to live there. So I now believe that my Henry and The Henry from Pitt County and Johston Counties are one in the same.
So how do I explain the huge difference in dna from the decedent of Reuben. Well there could have been a birth out of wedlock. There could have been a remarriage or adoption or he could have made the same mistake many genealogist make and assumed the wrong lineage.
So I encourage you if you are at an impasse and need help to seriously consider having a dna test done. I could not have broken a very difficult brick wall with out it. You can more Easily follow along by seeing how the county boundary changes occurred each year on my County Formations page
