Revolutionary War Soldier John Nicholson
THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of Union
County, Georgia
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Revolutionary
War soldier John Nicholson
According
to the 1820 Buncombe County,
North Carolina census,
John
Nicholson was still a resident there. He and his wife were over
forty-five and
still at home were two children, a son and a daughter, both between ten
and
sixteen years of age.
Some time within the decade of the 1820s,
John Nicholson, Sr. had moved from Buncombe County, NC
to Hall County, Georgia where, in 1830, he
was
enumerated in the household of his son, John Nicholson, Jr.
The next authentic record of the old
soldier occurred on November 2, 1832. It was a pension application
based on his
service in the Revolution. As usual, the wheels of government moved
slowly, but
finally, on July
30, 1833,
the 72-year old received a pension of $40 per year.
The next paper trail on John Nicholson,
Sr. is from Habersham County,
Georgia.
There
he was transacting business about his property he had left in Buncombe County, NC.
Deed records in North
Carolina
show that a tract of land containing 568 acres, purchased by Benjamin
Wilson,
was sold by John Nicholson. A witness to the deed was John Erwin, a
son-in-law
to Nicholson, who had wed his daughter, Sarah.
Evidently, John Nicholson, Sr. spent
quite a few of his declining years in the household of his son, John
Nicholson,
Jr. In 1850, the Cherokee
County, Georgia
census
lists the old man, age 88, with John, Jr. But the elder paid taxes in Union County, Georgia that same year. The
tax
bill was cleared by his son-in-law, Lewis Akins, who was married to
John, Sr.'s
daughter Luvicia whom they called Vica. This family lived in Union County.
The U.S.
Congress approved an act
passed March 5, 1855
that made available "bounty" lands for veterans of the American
Revolution. John Nicholson moved quickly to secure some of these lands,
due him
because of his service to his country. On March 26, 1855, he made
application for a
portion of these bounty lands. At the time he was living in Union County, Georgia
with his son Alfred Nicholson who had a farm in the Harmony Grove
Community of
Arkaquah District.
When Revolutionary War soldier John
Nicholson died at age 96 on December 20, 1858, he was living in the household
of Lewis and Vica
Nicholson Akins in the Coosa District. He was interred in the Pleasant Grove Baptist
Church Cemetery which lies about
7.8 miles west of the Old
Courthouse Square just off Old Georgia
76
toward Blue Ridge. There are no dates
on the
Daughters of American Revolution tombstone that marks his grave.
Research since
the placement of his gravestone, and his age at death, seem to
authenticate
these dates for his birth and death: May 1, 1762 - December 20, 1858.
c2009 by
Ethelene Dyer Jones;
published March 19, 2009 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA.
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator, freelance wirter,
poet, and historian. She may be reached
at email [email protected]; phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708
Cedarwood
Road, Milledgeville, GA 31061-2411
Updated May 3,
2009
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