Charles W. Nichols

Tag: Charles W. Nichols

Charles W. Nichols

George H. Hutchins

Posted on November 1, 2022December 2, 2022 by Amanda Rutha

George H. Hutchins was a resident of Mansfield on August 11, 1862 when he enlisted as a Private in Co. D of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. He was struck on the head with a piece of shell while lying in a rifle pit in front of Petersburg, Virginia on June 30, 1864; he died on July 1, 1864.

The descriptive muster roll of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry lists his age as 35 and his occupation as farmer. He is described as 5’ 7” tall with a fair complexion and blue eyes and brown hair. His marital status is married.

In the 1860 U.S. census in Mansfield, he is a 29 year old farm laborer and head of household. He was born about 1831 in Pomfret, and married 16 year old Harriet Elizabeth Parish of Brooklyn on August 17, 1847 in Brooklyn, Connecticut. They were enumerated in the 1850 U.S. census in Mansfield.

He left the following children when he died: Clyanna E. Hutchins, 15, born about 1849; Henry T. Hutchins, 9, born about 1855; Mary J. Hutchins, 6, born about by 1858 and John A. Hutchins, 4, born about 1860.

On October 20, 1864, his widow applied for a pension, No. 69,366 that was granted under certificate No. 47,012. Harriet (Parish) Hutchins married second, Charles W. Nichols, a comrade of her first husband from Co. D of the 21^st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. The two youngest Hutchins children, Mary J. and John A. were living in their household in 1870. H. Nichols applied for guardianship for the children on August 21, 1969. Harriet no longer qualified for a widow’s pension when she remarried, but the minor children were entitled to a pension.

Posted on October 25, 2022December 2, 2022 by Amanda Rutha

Charles Waterman Nichols was a resident of Mansfield on August 7, 1862 when he enlisted as a Private in Co. D of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. He was wounded June 3, 1864 at Cold Harbor, Virginia and his arm was amputated. Charles Nichols was discharged for disability May 8, 1865.

The descriptive muster roll of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry list his age as 22 and his occupation as farmer. He is described as 5’ 5” tall with a fair complexion and blue eyes and dark hair. His marital status is single.

He was born January 26, 1840 in Mansfield to Thomas and Laura (Colburn) Nichols. In the 1860 U.S. census in Mansfield, he is a 20 year old farm laborer in the household of Thomas Nichols. His brother, Melvin Lewis Nichols, a 15 year old farm laborer, who served in the Civil War from Mansfield is also living in the household. Charles Nichols married Elizabeth C. Topliff on March 23, 1862 in Mansfield. He married second, Harriet Elizabeth (Parish) Hutchins on November 22, 1868 in Mansfield. She was the widow of George Hutchins of Co. D and in the 1860 U.S. census, they were the next household to Charles Nichols’ family. Charles and Harriet had one son, Charles T. Nichols, born about 1869. After the Civil War, Charles W. Nichols was a farmer in Mansfield until after 1900.

On May 11, 1865, he applied for an invalid pension, No. 68,089 that was granted under certificate No. 44,661. According to the list of pensioners on the roll in 1883, he was receiving a monthly pension of $24 for the loss of his left arm.

Charles W. Nichols died on September 3, 1911 and is buried in the New Mansfield Center Cemetery in Mansfield.

Melvin L. Nichols

Posted on October 25, 2022October 25, 2022 by Amanda Rutha

Melvin Lewis Nichols was an 18 year old, single resident of Mansfield on November 15, 1861 when he enlisted as a Private in Co. G of the 12th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. He was transferred to Co. H on April 1, 1862 and reenlisted as a veteran on January 17, 1864. On November 26, 1864, he was transferred to Co. A of the 12^th Battalion Connecticut Volunteer Infantry and mustered out on August 12, 1865 in Hartford, Connecticut.

He was born about 1844 in Mansfield to Thomas and Laura (Colburn) Nichols. In the 1860 U.S. census in Mansfield, he is a 15 year old farm laborer in the household of Thomas Nichols. His brother, Charles Waterman Nichols, a 20 year old farm laborer, who served in the Civil War from Mansfield is also living in the household. After the Civil War, he returned to Mansfield and began working in a thread mill. He began as a thread finisher, was a boss spooler by 1910 and by the time of the 1920 U.S. census, he was an overseer in a silk mill.

Melvin Nichols married Adella A. Edmond about 1872. Children include: Frank M. Nichols, born about 1873; Clarence E. Nichols, born about November, 1880 and Leslie M. Nichols (son), born about December 1885. Adella (Edmond) Nichols died in 1903 and Melvin married second, Nellie Dorman about 1910.

On August 26, 1891 he applied for an invalid pension, No. 911,748 that was granted under certificate No. 983,366.

Melvin L. Nichols died on January 26, 1939 in Groton, Connecticut and is buried at the New Mansfield Center Cemetery in Mansfield. He is believed to be the Mansfield Civil War soldier to live the longest and was about 95 when he died.