What do you want to know about the ancestor.
I want to know his given name. My gg grandfather in Sevier County,
Tennessee was John H. Nichols. John H. Nichols was the son of Sarah F.
(Sally) Nichols and a Mr. Catlett.
Wyatt McKinley (Mac) Nichols was the grandson of John H. Nichols. My
grandmother, Ruby Priscilla Cox was the granddaughter of John H. Nichols.
So my grandmother and Mac Nichols were first cousins.
Mac Nichols was the author of a little book called "The Nichols Book". In
"The Nichols Book", Mac Nichols stated that Sarah F. (Sally) Nichols had
three children with a Mr. Catlett, two girls and a boy. Neither of the
girls ever married, and the boy was the aforementioned John H. Nichols who
is my connection to the Catlett family.
There was a Nichols-Catlett feud. As a result of the feud, there was a
lawsuit. As a result of the lawsuit, Sally Nichols and her children kept
(or assumed) the Nichols surname rather than the Catlett surname. The
Sevier County courthouse burned down in 1856, and there is no official
record of the lawsuit. The information about Mr. Catlett came down to Mac
Nichols from his grandfather John H. Nichols. "The Nichols Book" does not
provide Mr. Catlett's given name. It's not clear to me if Sally Nichols and
Mr. Catlett were married and forced to divorce, or if they never married.
What do you already know.
What have you already learned in your search.
Where did you search.
How confident are you in what you do know.
Sally Nichols and her three children appeared in the 1850 Sevier County
census, living with Sally's parents. The only Catletts who were enumerated
in the 1850 census anywhere in the state of Tennessee were living in Sevier
County. The only males in the 1850 Sevier County census who were the right
age to have been Sally Nichols consort and who were not otherwise married
were three brothers, William (Will) Catlett, James P. Catlett, and Henry S.
Catlett. They were the sons of Benjamin Catlett and Nancy Loveday, and
Benjamin was the son of Reuben Catlett. So it seems to me that I must be
descended from Benjamin Catlett and his father Reuben Catlett, even if I
cannot say with certainty which of Benjamin's sons is my line.
Actually, I believe in my bones, although I cannot prove it, that my line is
William (Will) Catlett. Will Catlett was the only one of the three brothers
who never married (unless he had in fact married Sally Nichols). In the
1870 census, Will Catlett and Sally Nichols were living only 5 house numbers
apart.
I have the death certificates of John H. Nichols and one of his sisters.
The other sister seems not to have a death certificate, although she died in
1928 when death certificates should have been well established in Tennessee.
John's sister Nancy Elizabeth Nichols died in 1911 and did have a death
certificate, but pre-1914 death certificates in Tennessee did not list
parents names. John H. Nichols' own death certificate says that his mother
was Sarah F. Nichols and that his father was James C. Nichols.
I have the obituaries of all three of Sally Nichols children. None of the
obituaries provides any clues as to the children's father.
I have wondered if this James C. Nichols might have been an uncle (or
something) of John H. Nichols whose name was listed to make the death
certificate look more legitimate, so to speak. But I cannot find any record
of any James C. Nichols (or just James Nichols) in Sevier Count or
surrounding counties in this time frame. I have also wondered if "James C.
Nichols" was really "James Catlett", and that this is telling us who Mr.
Catlett was. But I still think the father was Will Catlett.
Also mention a little about yourself and your own level experience.
I have been researching only since 1999, although I think I have learned a
lot about how to do research in that length of time. All of my lines have
been in East Tennessee since about 1850, and most of them have been in East
Tennessee since before 1800.
What resources do you have nearby?
I live in Knox County, Tennessee (next to Sevier County). I have access to
the McClung Genealogical Library at the Knoxville library, and also to the
Sevier County library. Both libraries have copies of the Joseph Sharp
Collection (Joseph Sharp was the Sevier County historian for many years).
The Sharp Collection has narratives on the Nichols and Catlett families,
including a brief discussion of the family feud (it was over religion,
politics, and slavery). Also, other researchers in Sevier County (including
the present Sevier County historian) know of the Nichols-Catlett feud, but
nobody seems to know which Catlett man was the consort of Sally Nichols.
All three Catlett brothers whom I suspect were fairly well-to-do
financially. I haven't yet checked for wills or settlements to see if any
of their estates went to Sally Nichols children. I have visited Sally
Nichols grave, and she is not buried near to any Catlett family members.
Jerry Bryan
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