Household #98: Nichols, John Wesley
Back to the 1900 Census & Household Index
In the 1900 Barney census, John Nichols headed a 2-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.
Household Snapshot
John Nichols headed a 2-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 1 spouse or marital partner.
John Nichols's listed occupation was Farmer.
All listed household members were reported as born in Georgia.
Newspaper and Public-Record Trail
This section flags public-record leads separate from the census table. The detailed discussion stays in the family narrative, research status, and source citations below.
1900 Census Household
| Name | Relation | Age | Birthplace | Occupation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Nichols | Head | 25 | Georgia | Farmer |
| Rebecca Nichols | Wife | 30 | Georgia | — |
Children and Later Trails
No child-tracking items are open for this page because the 1900 table lists no children in the household.
Family Narrative
The 1900 Barney census places John Wesley Nichols and Rebecca Nichols in household #98, where John is recorded as a farmer born in April 1875. The entry is clearer now than it was in the earlier draft. John does not vanish after 1900, and the family did not move to Birmingham as early as that earlier version claimed. In 1910 he was still in Barney, again listed as a farmer, with the census indicating that he owned his farm free of mortgage. By the time of his World War I draft registration on 12 September 1918, however, he was living in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, at 2510-29th Avenue, working as a grocery merchant, and naming Mrs. Rebecca W. Nichols as his nearest relative. The 1920 census then places John and Rebecca together in Birmingham, where they owned their home free of mortgage.
The marriage and sibling evidence are also stronger than the previous entry suggested. A Lowndes County marriage license issued 31 January 1898 and returned 2 February 1898 records the marriage of John W. Nichols and Rebecca Lundy. In 1880 John appears in Lowndes County in the household of Thomas Nichols and Mary A. Nichols, together with one-year-old James Nichols, giving direct support for the brother connection between HH#98 John Wesley Nichols and HH#97 James Oren Nichols. Rebecca likewise appears in 1880 in Jones County in the household of Robert Lundy and Ester Lundy. Her later Alabama death-index entry identifies her as Mrs. Rebecca Nichols, born 14 May 1869 in Jones County, Georgia, daughter of Robert Lundy and Esther Henderson, wife of J. W. Nichols, and deceased at Birmingham on 10 December 1927. That record fits well with the Lundy family already documented in HH#97.
The older draft also carried several points that no longer hold. The marriage did not occur in Brooks County in December 1899; the direct record places it in Lowndes County in February 1898. The 1910 census does not show John in Birmingham as a grocery merchant; it still places him in Barney as a farmer. The previous parentage line naming Henderson Nichols and Mary Ann Vickers Nichols does not match the 1880 household now tied directly to John. The later record chain instead supports Thomas Nichols and Mary A. Nichols as the parental household for John and James.
John's later life can be outlined with reasonable confidence, though one piece remains secondary. Rebecca was still living in Birmingham in 1920 and in John's 1918 draft registration, then died there in 1927. Jefferson County marriage indexes show that John W. Nichols, age fifty-three, married Ella Wright on 12 May 1928. A Find a Grave memorial for John W. Nichols at Shiloh Community Church Cemetery in Hahira gives the dates 11 April 1875 and 15 July 1944. That memorial fits the rest of the sequence far better than the earlier draft's unsupported 1925 Birmingham death claim, but the actual death certificate or obituary has not yet been added to the file.
Connections to Other Barney Families
HH#98 is directly linked to HH#97 through the 1880 Lowndes County household of Thomas Nichols and Mary A. Nichols, where John W. Nichols and James Nichols appear together as children. The household is also tied to the Lundy family through John's marriage to Rebecca Lundy. Rebecca's 1880 Jones County placement and her later death-index entry strongly support her as part of the same Robert Lundy and Esther Henderson family that also connects to Aurelia Lundy Nichols in HH#97.
Open Research Questions
- Parentage audit: Keep head-of-household and spouse parentage as unresolved unless a cited direct record names the parents or the entry explains the census chain supporting the identification.
- John's death date of 15 Jul 1944 and burial at Shiloh Community Church Cemetery presently rest on cemetery memorial evidence; a death certificate, obituary, or comparable direct death record would strengthen the close of the entry.
- The 1928 marriage to Ella Wright is well supported by Jefferson County marriage indexes, but the underlying marriage record image would still be worth adding if located.
- No child list has yet been rebuilt from direct household extracts for the later Alabama period.
Research Status
Well-researched, with important corrections to the earlier draft. The household is now supported by the 1880 parental household, the 1898 marriage record, the 1900 and 1910 Brooks County censuses, the 1918 World War I draft card, the 1920 Birmingham census, Rebecca's Alabama death-index entry, and the 1928 remarriage indexes. The main remaining gap is John's direct death record.
Sources
- 1880 U.S. census, Lowndes County, Georgia, Folsom district, household of Thomas Nichols and Mary A. Nichols, including John W. Nichols and James Nichols.
- 1900 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of John Nichols and Rebecca Nichols.
- 1910 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of John W. Nichols and Rebecca Nichols.
- 1920 U.S. census, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, household of John W. Nichols and Rebecca Nichols.
- Lowndes County, Georgia, marriage license and return for John W. Nichols and Rebecca Lundy, license dated 31 Jan 1898 and marriage dated 2 Feb 1898.
- World War I draft registration card for John Wesley Nichols, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, dated 12 Sept 1918.
- 1880 U.S. census, Jones County, Georgia, household of Robert Lundy and Ester Lundy, including Rebecca Lundy.
- Alabama death-index entry for Mrs. Rebecca Nichols, died 10 Dec 1927 at Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, naming parents Robert Lundy and Esther Henderson and spouse J. W. Nichols.
- Jefferson County, Alabama, marriage-index entries for John W. Nichols and Ella Wright, marriage dated 12 May 1928.
- Find a Grave memorial #48788901 for John W. Nichols, Shiloh Community Church Cemetery, Hahira, Lowndes County, Georgia.
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