THE NICKLESS FAMILY

"Dearly Beloved:

As it was in the beginning --- Every family has had a history -- of themselves, and it could be recorded to anchor its members in the past and interest them in the future. Any individual can become a historian of his or her own family.

A family record should set forth the life of a family in such a way that it may be an inspiration to youth, a comfort to old age, and a faithful record for the perusal of the generations yet unborn.

If this shall be called a treatise or history really matters not, but let it be understood that it is a chronicle of the Nickless family in America as it relates to the male descendants of Christopher Nicldess, emigrant from Mortimer, Berkshire, England in about the year 1854. A family historv should be more than names and dates and this we have attempted to project as Elizabeth and I have conjured the idea of getting the information which we have acquired through time and effort spent in researching the Nickless name and family. We have read that the name "Nickless" stands for "Victory People" and that the family motto is "To toil is pleasure." We feel these pronouncements are substantiated in all the descendants of Christopher Nickless.

Our research has led us to many interesting people and places. Letter writing has played a very big part, visiting libraries, other Nicklesses, record offices, etc.. in the United States, Canada, and England. Our reward has been in the great satisfaction we have derived from all these many contacts with the finest people anywhere. We have what we believe to be accurate records going back into the 1700's where Nicklesses resided in the Mortimer area. We have a copy of the will of Samuel Nickless. Father of Christopher. In it he states that for over fifty-five years he has been a respected wood turner, bowl maker, and timber merchant in his village.

Elizabeth has been prodding me for some time to get our findings down on paper. in a concise, readable manner, so that others could get the picture of our own family historv. It seemed like a big thing to do and I would put her off by say ng we had all the material in our files and that seemed to satisi~ me. at the time. However, of late. I have been giving much thought as to how we might best present this to other family members so that it would be an interesting account of our family, which indeed has many facets and should be made available to the descendants of Christopher.

For this time I intend to put down on paper those bits of information which, hopefully, will appeal to the male members of the Nickless clan who are the fourth generation of Nicklesses from Mortimer in America. Most of you of the third generation -- our generation -- are quite aware of your own father's -- second generation -- siblings, so I shall not include them, except as I relate a paragraph about the sons of Christopher and his daughter. Aunt Mary Moore, and their relation to each other. It is in the fourth generation that I wish to spark an interest and have the benefit of our labors as they relate to your own family history. Most of you are now at an age where "Roots," as projected by Alex Haley, has caught your attention as it has been presented by book and TV. Elizabeth and I are rather pleased with ourselves that we were ahead of Haley!

Before I go further may I say that our father always told us, as he was told by his father, that wherever he found the name Nicldess, they would be related However, during our research we have had contacts with many different Nicklesses. and found that most of them originated in the Birmingham, England area. But when we were growing up, it was an important thing we learned, which made us conscious of family as it extended beyond our own household.

To get back to Christopher, we learned from our father the reason Christopher came to the United States was that in England there were no opportunities for young men to become land owners Of course, the United States was a young country and Australia and New Zealand even younger. It is interesting to note that Christopher had two brothers who emigrated to Australia and two to New Zealand. All were older than Christopher and left England much earlier. We still are researching these four and have in just the past few weeks received records of those in New Zealand. This I will not elaborate on, but should any of you be interested in that part of your history I will be glad to supply it, but mainly I wish to concentrate on Christopher's family.

Christopher and his wife, Eliza Foster Nickless. came to the area of Okemos. Ingham County. Michigan, in about 1855. His sister, Christian Nicldess, was married to Eliza's brother, Charles Foster, and they had emigrated to that area in 1850. Christopher bought land there in March 1855. but later sold and went to Shiawassee County where my father was born in 1859. Just why we never pinpointed the exact location while our father was living I suppose was because we were too young and disinterested and distances so great. considering the times. Anyway, early on in our research we determined to find the cemetery in that area where Oscar, the oldest son, born in England. was buried in 1856. It took some letter writing and checking, etc., but before long we had the name of the cemetery, its location, and the exact location of the lot, and we were most pleased to find a small rural cemetery. well fenced and cared for, on a country road, with the grave marked by a well preserved headstone. This is not far from Shaftsburg.

At the Flint library I found a record of Christopher in the 1860 census for the city of Flint, where he was listed as a laborer. A short stay there, then he bought property in Saginaw County and lived there many years -- first near Blackmar and later near the corner of the Town Line and Dixie Highway. with the post office called Cass Bridge. There Eliza. having borne a large family, died at an early age and is buried in the Birch Run cemetery. Later on, Christopher married Mary Jane Clements, who was a widow with two daughters. Both daughters are gone but we are in contact with their sons and daughters, who still live in the area, attend the Nickless reunion, and are indeed a part of the Nickless family.

Christopher and Mary Jane had several children and when the youngest, our Uncle John, now 87, was a small boy and the depression of 1893 at its worst, the fannlv moved to Gladwin County. Uncle John has told us that potatoes our grandfather had to sell would not bring 10 cents per bushel in Saginaw, so, to save his equity in the Saginaw County property, he traded for property in Gladwin County. In 1902 Grandfather died, leaving a large family for Grandmother to raise. Fortunately, their oldest daughter. Aunt Fannie, was newly married, and she helped to make a home for some of the others. As they grew up and married all became responsible, worthy citizens with fine families of their own, the same as the children of the first family. Mary Jane is buried in the Montrose cemetery with her first husband, and Christopher is buried in the Birch Run cemetery with Eliza and their children who died in infancy.

This information which I am furnishing to the fourth generation of Nicklesses is going to a very small group, because the Nickless name is fast dying out and so it is you and your children who will have to preserve the family's future. Perhaps I should include a bit here about why we feel family is so important, and it may be because my mother saved many letters from our relatives, and also because so many fo them came to visit when it was possible, as we visited them. Our Uncle Harvey lived in Tuscola but worked in Flint, and would often walk the twenty or more miles on weekends to see his family. We were fortunate to live on an electricintertutan line, so many times he would spend a week-end with us. bringing a small gift to my mother and beads or some trinket to us girls. His wife and children also would often visit us in summer, so we became well acquainted.

Uncle George did not live near us so it was after his children were grown that we got to know them. In late years we all live fairly close and enjoy each other a great deal. The one exception is Wylie. who has never lived close by.

Uncle Fred, like Uncle George and our father, was a farmer. He had the misfortune to lose his wife when "Jimmie was about two weeks old. leaving him with two other children. With the help of a housekeeper who stayed with the children until Jinunie was a teenager, they grew up to be responsible people. and it is regretable that Uncle Fred died when Jimmie was four years old. I well remember as a child that about twice a year my father would announce on an early Sunday morning that we should "hitch up and go see how Fred's children were getting along." This meant about a ten mile drive, always arriving unexpectedly for Sunday dinner and always receiving a warm welcome and a good meal provided by Mrs. Porteous. In late years. Harriett often mentions how good she was to them, and when we visited Jim in 1973 he spoke of her with great affection as a "wonderful woman. "

Then there was Aunt Mary Moore who lived nearby and was another "wonderful woman" with many talents which she shared with her family. She and our father were very fond of each other from their earliest years. My father, being older, realized the hard time Aunt Mary had growing up as the only daughter in a motherless home. It was Aunt Mary who went at once to Uncle Fred's when his wife died, and helped with the house and children and took Jimmie home with her for a time.

So with this much background I hope you will feel our research and interest in family history is meaningful to you, and we give it to each of you to do with as you will. This will be sent to Jim, grandson of Uncle Fred -- the first great grandchild - in California, who I am sure will share it with his brothers, Gary and Wayne; to Wylie in Florida, son of Uncle George, who has no children: to his brother Walter in Saginaw. who likewise has no children; to Charles, our nephew in Frankemnuth who we hope will have a son; to Duane in Bay City, grandson of Uncle Walter, and to Walter Gordon of Lowell, another grandson of Uncle Walter; also to Richard Nickless. son of Uncle John, in Saginaw. who has one son; and also to Wilbur Nickless of Gladwin, son of Uncle Will, who likewise has no son.

It is hoped that through the years you will be conscious of these other "lines" and do what you can to enhance this history as we have presented what we feel is of great importance to you -- a part of your heritage.

Katherine Nickless Jones and Elizabeth Nickless Cole -- April 1978