Transcription of the Thomas Nichols Family History from Walpole As It Was and As It Is by George Aldrich, The Claremont Manufacturing Co., Claremont, N.H., 1880, page 341.
NICHOLS, THOMAS, was born in Shirley, Mass., in April, 1750. He married Elizabeth Boynton, of Lunenburg, Mass., and immediately after was called to serve his country in the Revolutionary War. After his discharge he moved with his family to Stoddard, N.H., in 1779, where he remained twenty years, previous to removing to Walpole in 1799. Here he purchased a farm previously owned by Col. Benjamin Bellows. He died May 22, 1839. He was the father of nine children, three of whom settled in town; the place of settlement of the other six is not given. Ch. I. Thomas, jr., b. May 10, 1780; m. Pruda Thompson, b. Aug 21, 1782. He d. June 1, 1865; she d. Jan. 1865. Ch. 1st, Louisa, b. May 13, 1807; m. a man by the name of Perry,—issue, one dau., Frances, who m. William A. Maynard. 2d, George, b. Aug. 6,1808; d. Feb. 8, 1842. 3d, Charles, b. June 19, 1810; went to Boston, and subsequently to New York, and has not been heard from since. 4th, Samuel, b. Oct. 25, 1812; studied medicine, and graduated at the Medical College at Harrisburg, Pa.; m. Saphira Smith, of Unity, N.H., and is now a practicing physician at Bellows Falls, Vt. 5th, Maria, b. June 20, 1815; m . Martin G. Hall, and lives in town. (See Ap.) 6th, Edward, b. June 28, 1816; m. —-, and lives in Alexandria, N. Y. 7th, Mary Ann b. Feb. 7, 1818; m. Sumner Gove, and lives in Acworth. 8th, Edna Augusta, b. Nov 20, 1819, and lives with her sister in Acworth, unm. 9th, Amy Ann, b. Dec. 5,1822; m. Armstrong S. Hall, and lives in California. 10th, Elmira, b. Aug. 1, 1823; went south. 11th, Sophia, b. Sept. 26,1826; not living. II. Sarah (See Watkins.) III. Samuel, b. in Stoddard, N.H., Dec. 10, 1787. When ten years of age he came with his parents on their removal to Walpole, and, with the exception of two or three years, resided in town during life. He obtained a good education, for those days, and early cultivated a taste for reading, which he always retained. He was brought up a farmer, but [page 342] was engaged in teaching, a portion of his time, for sixteen years. During the war of 1812 he enlisted in Col. Bellows’ company and went to Portsmouth, and was secretary to the colonel of the regiment to which he belonged during the campaign. In 1816 he m. Mary, dau. of John Rice, of Walpole. She possessed all the virtues belonging to womanly character, and was tenderly loved by husband and children. In 1821 they settled in Drewsville, where he engaged in mercantile and manufacturing business during active life; and, although his gains were moderate, he managed, by strict integrity and close attention to business, to bring up a family of six girls and give them advantages of such culture as to make them ornaments of the society in which they move. He took an active and prominent part in the political and civic interests of the town, and was many times elected to fill various town offices. He was twice elected a member of the State Legislature,—in 1847 and 1848, —receiving the full strength of the old Whig party, to which he was a staunch adherent. He was a man of positive views, but strictly honest, and a good neighbor. He was a Baptist in religious sentiment, and labored hard to establish a permanent society in Drewsville. (See narrative.) His first wife d. April 22,1834, after which he was twice married. He d. Sept. 20, 1858. Ch. 1st, Caroline E., m. William Storer; lives in Cambridge, Mass., and has had four ch.: William N., Ellen M., Walter, d.1856, and Henry J. 2d, Mary A., m. Edwd. Crosby; she d. April 3,1844. She had two ch., (1) Mary N., m. Alfred L. Barber, Nov., 1861; d. March 31, 1871. (2) Grace. 3d, Eliza A., m. Edward Crosby, second wife, and lives in Boston. Ch. (3) Samuel N. (4) Annie E., m. Geo. M. Jeffers, Sept. 9, 1876; d. Feb. 15, 1878. (5) Edward H. 4th, Ellen Martha, m. V. A. Turpin, and lives in Chicago, Ill. 5th, Maria, m. Henry Johnson, and resides in New York. 6th, Harriet Haynes, m. Edward Frye, who d. March, 1869; she lives in Chicago, Ill. IV. Rhoda, m. Joseph Haynes, March 9, 1822.