WI BIO - Dane Co - NICHOLS, George M.
Biographical Review of Dane County, WI. Chicago: Biographical Review Pub. Co. 
1893, Vol II, pp 605-607

George M. NICHOLS, a prominent resident of Blooming Grove Township [Dane 
County], Wisconsin, was born in Nassau, Renssalaer County, New York, 01 June 
1805, and his father, John, was born in Connecticut, and the grandfather, as 
far as known, was a native of the same State. He [the grandfather] was a 
farmer by occupation and spent his last days in [p 606] Renssalaer County, 
New York. When John NICHOLS went to New York he was a young man, having been 
reared on a farm, although he was a natural mechanic. When the first 
threshing machine was introduced into his neighborhood he examined it a few 
hours and then built one just like it. Buying a tract of land in Nassau he 
[John NICHOLS] remained upon it for a few years, but in 1806 moved into 
Cayuga County [NY] and bought land near Auburn, where he lived for many years.

John NICHOLS spent his last days with a daughter near Rochester [Monroe 
County, NY]. He was one of the few remaining Revolutionary soldiers, and as 
such was entitled to a pension, but never applied, saying he could live 
without it, dying in his ninety-ninth year. The maiden name of the mother of 
our subject [the wife of John NICHOLS] was Sarah CORBIN, born in New 
Hampshire, daughter of Asa CORBIN, who died near Rochester [Monroe County], 
New York, at the age of sixty years. She reared eight children, two of these 
now living.

Our subject [George M. NICHOLS] was an infant when his parents moved to 
western New York. For years after the family removed there were no 
railroads nor even canals, and Albany [Albany County, NY] was 170 miles 
distant, and that was the nearest market and depot for supplies. He was 
reared on the farm where he resided until he was twenty-one years of age. 
Previous to this he had worked in carding mills, but later bought a farm in 
Cayuga County [NY], but as his means were limited he was obliged to go into 
debt for the farm. An opportunity soon occurred to sell at an advanced 
price, and in 1832 he went to the Territory of Michigan [which at that time 
included the part that became, in 1836, the Territory of Wisconsin]. This 
was at the time of the Black Hawk war, and he was in Detroit [Wayne County, 
MI] at the time when General SCOTT, with his army, landed on the scene of 
strife.

Mr. [George M.] NICHOLS located half way between Marshall [then in the 
Territory of Michigan; now in Calhoun County, MI] and Kalamazoo [then in the 
Territory of Michigan; now in Kalamazoo County, MI]. At that time the 
country was sparsely settled and much of the land belonged to the Government, 
being sold for $1.25 per acre. Deer, bear, and wild turkey were plentiful, 
and here our subject built a log cabin and commenced to improve the place. 
There were no railroads then and Detroit furnished the pioneers a market for 
their produce. Our subject was one of those who voted for the Constitution 
of the State of Michigan [MI became a state in 1837] and lived there until 
1842, then emigrated to the Territory of Wisconsin. [The Territory of WI 
existed from 1836 to 1848; WI became a state on 29 May 1848.] He sent the 
hired man with two yoke of oxen and the household goods on to Chicago and 
himself and wife took the stage for St. Joseph [MO], thence to Chicago by 
lake, where they met the teams and went on to Dane County [WI], where they 
located in what is now the town of Burke.

At this place our subject [George S. NICHOLS] took up a section of Government 
land, where there was a log house, which had been built by a squatter, and 
into this [the] family moved, and lived there for two years, when he built a 
better house. For some years after settlement here, deer and all other kinds 
of game were yet abundant. He was obliged to draw all of his produce to 
Milwaukee and the round trip would take a week. At that time he sold his 
wheat for fifty cents a bushel, and the hotels on the way charged fifty cents 
for supper, lodging and breakfast for themselves and horses, and in Milwaukee 
the charge for the same accommodations was sixty cents. He usually arranged 
to draw back a load of merchandise, receiving from this $1 per hundred pounds.

Our subject improved the farm in Burke [Dane County, WI] and lived there for 
eleven years, when he sold it and bought in the town of Blooming Grove [Dane 
County, WI], the southeast quarter of section 17, and there resided some 
twenty five years, [p 607] then trading for the farm where he now resides, in 
section 20. In 1883 he became interested in Florida lands and now owns an 
orange grove in Lake County [FL], where he spends his winters.

In 1835 George S. NICHOLS was married to Miss Mary CRESSEY, born in Cayuga 
County, New York, but she died in 1836, leaving an infant son, William, who 
died in his eighteenth year. In 1837 George S. NICHOLS married Miss 
Philantha ROWLEY, living in Austerlitz, Columbia County, New York, born there 
on 12 June 1819. Her father, Alexander ROWLEY, was born in the same town, 
and his father, Daniel ROWLEY, was born in the same State. He [Daniel 
ROWLEY] was a farmer, who spent his last years in Austerlitz. The maiden 
name of the grandmother of Mrs. NICHOLS was Rachel MARGOWN of the same State, 
and she spent her entire life in that place. The father [Alexander ROWLEY] 
had learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, which he followed until 1841, 
when he emigrated to Michigan, accompanied by his wife and five children, via 
the Erie Canal to Buffalo, thence by lake to Detroit, and then by team to 
Kalamazoo County. Some fifteen miles from Kalamazoo he purchased a tract of 
land and superintended the improvement of it while he followed his trade, and 
he [Alexander ROWLEY] died in that place [Kalamazoo County, MI]. The maiden 
name of the mother of our subject [the wife of Alexander ROWLEY] was Miss Amy 
SPENCER, born in the same State, the daughter of David SPENCER, and she died 
on the farm in Kalamazoo County [MI].

Mr. and Mrs. [George S.] NICHOLS have one daughter living, Marian, who 
married Charles HOYT, a farmer of Blooming Grove Township. A son, Louis, 
born 10 November 1858, died 05 July 1892; another son, George E., the eldest 
of the family, born 05 September 1840, served in the late war, in Company J, 
23rd Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and died while in the service, 
in his twenty-second year. Formerly our subject was a Whig in politics, but 
during the late war was a Democrat, but latterly [lately] his views have 
changed, and he is now a Republican.

Submitted by Cathy Kubly