Joseph Nichols, of Framingham

Not the same as Joseph Nichols, of Amesbury

Joseph (Nichols) Nickols

• Gender: Male
• Birth: November 09, 1702 - Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
• Death: April 27, 1752 (49) - Framingham, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
• Father: John Nichols b: 1652 in Ipswich, Essex, MA
• Mother: Abigail Kendall b: 30 NOV 1655 in Reading, Middlesex, MA
• Marriage 1 Martha Howe b: 1699 in Framingham, Middlesex, Ma - Married: 30 MAY 1730 in Framingham, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Children of Joseph Nichols and Martha Howe:

1. Joseph Nichols b: 8 OCT 1738 in Framingham, Middlesex, Massachusetts
2. John Nichols b: 7 APR 1731 in Framingham, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
3. Martha Nichols b: 30 APR 1733 in Framington, Middlesex, Massachusetts
4. Alpheu s Nichols b: 5 NOV 1742 in Framington, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
5. Martha Nichols b: 31 OCT 1746 in Framingham, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
6. Submit "Mitty" Nichols b: 24 AUG 1752 in Framingham, MA

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Disambiguation

Two Joseph Nichols:

Joseph Nichols 3 (John 2, Thomas 1)

Birth 02 Sep 1709 in Amesbury, Essex, Massachusetts, USA

Death 27 Apr 1752 in Framingham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA <= Wrong death date)

Married Rebecca Chase

Joseph Nichols (John 2, Richard 1)

Birth November 9, 1702 in Reading, Massachusetts

Death 27 Apr 1752 in Framingham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA

Married Martha Howe

**PLEASE STOP CONFLATING:**

1 Joseph Nichols of Reading, Middlesex, County, Massachusetts and Framingham born 6 Jun 1702 in Reading who married Martha Howe. His parents were John Nichols and Abigail Kendall of Reading.
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LKKM-ZGM

-with-

2 Joseph Nichols of Amesbury, Essex County, Massachusetts born 2 September 1709 in Amesbury who married Rebecca Chase (who by the way was never known as Martha!) His parents were John Nichols and Abigail Sargent of Amesbury, Essex, Massachusets.
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LRQT-4YR

If you find the record in Middlesex County it belongs for the first guy and if you find it in Essex County it belongs to the second guy.

Joseph Nichols
Born: 2 September 1709 Amesbury, Essex, Massachusetts, United States
Parents: John Nichols and Abgail Sargent
Married: Rebecca Chase

Biography

The birthplace and parents of this Joseph are not clear but the thereis strong circumstantial evidence as described below that he is theJoseph Nichols (Nickols) born in Reading in 1702. Joseph Nichols married Martha Howe (How) in Framingham in 1730 asfound in our family records. This marriage data however is not givenin any Town Vital Records for early Massachusetts and some people havesuggested without any source reference that they were married in 1732.This 1732 marriage date must be an error as Joseph and Martha werealready married at the time that Samuel How's Will, written in May,1730, in which he refers to his son-in-law Joseph Nichols, and becauseJoseph and Martha had their first child in 1731.

Our Joseph Nichols was not born in Framingham, but "arrived there" asdescribed in the "History of Framingham" book by Temple. The firstrecords of Joseph Nichols in Framingham are in a Town Petition writtenin 1730 and Samuel How's Will also in 1730. Temple also describes aDr. Joseph Nichols that lived in Framingham from about 1730 to 1752.It is unequivocal that the Joseph born in Framingham in 1738 is theson of the Joseph and Martha (How) Nichols living in Framingham asshown in Town Vital Records and clearly inferred from the 1730 Will ofMartha's father Samuel How and stated in Joseph Nichols Sr.'sAdministration. Our Joseph Nichols died by 27 April, 1752 as found inour family records and suggested from the date of the Administrationof his estate.

Much of the genealogical research places our Joseph in the Amesbury,Massachusetts line (Thomas, married to Mary Moulton; son John, marriedAbigail Sargent; son Joseph, born 2 Sept. 1709). However, it is almostcertain that this Joseph born in Amesbury is the same one who remainedin the Amesbury area his whole life as evidenced from the Town VitalRecords for his marriage and the birth of all his children. Hismarriage date and children's births all occur during the same timethat the Joseph Nichols living in Framingham marries Martha How andthe births of all their children in Framingham, which is virtuallyimpossible unless he was a polygamist, something strongly condemned byhis church (the First Congregational Church).

Another line of research identifies the Joseph who married Martha Howeas having come from the Reading, Mass. Nichols line (Richard; son Johnwho married Abigail Kendall; John and Abigail's son Joseph, born 1702)and we feel that this evidence is fairly strong. In the 1730Framingham Town Petition, Joseph's signature is found right next to aNathaniel Nichols. Nathaniel is clearly the one who married Isabel Hayin Reading in 1715 as the one found in Framingham Vital records wasalso married to an Isabel and their 3 children born in Reading alsolater show up in Framingham Vital records. The link between Joseph andNathaniel is strongly supported by Joseph's Administration in 1752,where he is owed money by the Widow Isabel Nichols. There is no otherIsabel Nichols found in MA town records that matches, but the widow ofNathan Nichols; although it's possible that this is Joseph's Aunt, itis much more likely that it is his sister-in-law. Furthermore, Josephowed money to a Benjamin and a Samuel Nichols, also children of Johnand Abigail Nichols of Reading. Finally, the signatures of Nathan andJoseph Nichols found in the 1730 Framingham document, and a 1739Framingham document signed by Joseph, closely match the signaturesfound on the 1721 Will for John Nickols of Reading. We were alsorecently informed by Herb Nichols (hubherby@rcn.com), an expert onMassachusetts Nichols genealogy, that the 1743 Estate processed forNathaniel shows debts to Joseph Nichols, Benjamin Nichols, ThomasNichols, and Mary Nichols -- all 4 men with same names as known sonsof John Nichols Sr.

Surname primarily spelled Nickols in Reading and then he and brotherNathaniel switched to Nichols in Framingham (although at least onevital record in Framingham has it spelled Nickols). There is one other line of research. Our family records (1901)indicate that the Joseph who married Martha Howe was born either Jan 6or June 6, 1707, and that this Joseph had three earlier generations inAmerica. This is the only reference I have seen to a Jan/June 6, 1707Joseph, and there is no information on who his father and mother were.This date could be in error, although the precise birthdate iscurious. It is possible that this 1707 date represents a baptism date.Any other information or clues that could indicate parents of thisJoseph who married Martha Howe would be appreciated.

References

• Joseph Nikols was born on November 9, 1702, in Reading, Massachusetts, the child of Abigall and John. < AncestrySharing >
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/vitals/LKKM-ZGM shows birth as 9 November 1706 without evidence
• http://interactive.ancestry.com/11748/dvm_GenMono001261-00015-0/?ba...
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=ryder10&id=I 43254 (dead link)
• https://gw.geneanet.org/alscott?n=nichols&oc=&p=joseph