Robert Nish, Sr

Son of Thomas Nish and Elizabeth Penman

Married Agnes Wilson, 3 December 1854, Bothwell, Lanark, Scotland

Children - Elizabeth Nish, Agnes Nish, Robert Nish, Thomas John Nish, Isabella Nish, Malcolm William Nish, Mary Ellen Nish, David Nish, Margaret Nish, Euphmia Nish, Ida Martha Nish, Nephi Nish, Alma Wilson Nish, Joseph Smith Nish, Maud Ann Nish

History - From Scotland to America by Ray Nish, p. 18-20

“Robert Nish was 13 when he arrived in America with his older brother William at that time, and he was still 13 when he returned to Lanarkshire in Scotland with David Henderson in the spring of 1849.

While William went to work in the coal mines at Gravois near St. Louis or, possibly at Pittsburgh, perhaps Robert was too young for work in the American mines, or perhaps when Henderson decided to return to Scotland to bring back his family, William thought it best that Robert return with him and remain to assist their mother. We only know that Robert returned home with Henderson and returned to America six years later.

On January 17, 1855, the LDS-chartered Charles Buck, a 1,424-ton wooden sailing ship under the command of W. Smalley, sailed from Liverpool for New Orleans under the direction of Capt. Richard Ballantyne with 403 emigrants aboard, including newly wed Mr. and Mrs. Robert Nish, his mother and sisters from Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Robert, a native of Bothwell and now 20, and Agnes Wilson were married the previous day, January 16, 1855 and, in view of the LDS boarding procedures described for his previous sailing, this raises a question: If they had taken lodging on the Charles Buck prior to sailing date, were they married aboard the ship, possibly by Captain Ballantyne?

Aboard the ship with Robert, a miner, and Agnes were his mother, Elizabeth Penman Neish (original spelling), 50, and his sisters: Ellen Neish, 14; Mary Neish, 9; and Agnes Neish Hutchinson with her husband, David Hutchinson, who were married in Scotland on December 30, 1840, and their children, Elizabeth, Thomas, David and Agnes Hutchinson. The Charles Buck arrived at New Orleans on March 14, 1855 and arrived at St. Louis on March 27th.

The next record we have of Robert and Agnes, his mothers and sisters and the Hutchinson children is that of Capt. Ballantyne dated September 25, 1855, reporting that they had crossed the plains in his 4th Company. All of them settled in Cedar City shortly after their arrival in Utah.

The LDS records of those crossing the Plains do not list the names of Robert’s other sisters, Euphemia, Margaret and a second Mary. The second Mary was born 14 years after the first Mary.

Remembering now that William and Isabella Nish were living in Cedar City in 1854 and not knowing when they returned to San Bernardino, we can imagine that, since their son David was born in Cedar City in December 1854, they may have still been there when William’s mother, brother and sisters arrived nearly a year later in the fall of 1855.

My father, from what his father had known, said that William (Nish), who was killed in that mine accident in 1872, never saw Robert again after they parted in Utah, which must have occurred late in 1855 or sometime in 1856. My father knew only that William had been killed in a mine accident but not when or where. I learned of the details in the 1990’s.

The mother of William and Robert, Elizabeth Penman Neish, married William Hunter on February 2, 1856 in Cedar City, Iron County, Utah, and settled there. Her son Robert and daughter-in-law Agnes also settled in Cedar City and were members of the Mormon church.

Robert and Agnes, according to a 1998 obituary published in Logan, Utah, had a son they named Robert Jr., who married Charity R. Mason. Robert Jr. and Charity Nish had a son they named Jesse George. Jesse George Nish married Carrie Hess and they had a son named Newell A. Nish, who was born in Plymouth, Utah, on February 19, 1911 and died in Logan on December 24, 1998.

It is most likely that Robert and Agnes had other children, for there are a number of Nish families residing in Utah.”

Contributed by Chloé, Find A Grave Contributor #47159257

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 5 2018, 0:27:11 UTC