Nichols and Clan MacLeod

[stlouissteve]

My surname is Nichols, and I live in St Louis, Missouri, USA. The name Nichols is often associated with Clan MacLeod of Lewis.

I've traced my 'patrilineage' back to my fifth great grandfather John Nichols, b. 1698 in Caroline County, Virginia, but myself and other cousins have not been able to get beyond John, his father and from whence they came. Oral family tradition says we are 'descended from Scots who arrived in the New World before the revolution and fought on the side of freedom.' John moved to Halifax County, Virginia where he died, and his son Jesse moved to Smith County, Tennessee, and his son William Noah eventually came to St Louis County, Missouri. To finish the lineage, William Noah - Thomas - George Washington Nichols - Eugene - and my father Willard.

I would appreciate it if anyone can help me understand the association of the Nichols with Clan MacLeod, and might have any information at all on John Nichols.

[Duthill]

Hallo

Check out NICOL on this MacLeod Research Notes page

[hiorta]

"""The Gaelic name MacNeacail or M'Nicail means son of Nicol """

There is a complication in this iine of thinking.

The starting point is the name: Coll (Colla)
This name spread in both Ireland and Scotland, the more familiar being MacColla (son of Coll), which was the accepted form with the son inheriting.

However there were times and circumstances when there was no son to inherit and in which case the line passed via the daughter becoming niColla (daughter of Coll) anglicising as Nicoll and its variations.

[stlouissteve]

Thanks for both of your speedy replies.

For 'hiorta': Is 'Coll(a)' a place name, or what might be its derivation? You don't list where you hail from, but I see that 'Duthill; is in New Zealand.

It looks like the cousins and I will have to keep plugging away with our old-fashioned genealogy research. Btw, 4th GGF Jesse sold beef to the Continental Army, and thereby we qualify to be a Son or Daughter of the American Revolution. He had a commission in the Virginia militia, and some of those units were attached to the Continental Army in the battle of Guilford Courthouse, but I have still to find an order of battle to prove Jesse was a soldier.

[n5rmj]

Keep in mind that the surname Nichols is also associated with Clan MacNicol in the highlands and Clan Nicholson in the lowlands and borders. All three groups: Clan MacLeod, Clan MacNicol and Clan Nicholson, are fairly open groups and welcome members quite readily. The only exception I have found is that for some of the online groups focused on Clan MacNicol there is a tendency to ask members what connection they have to the clan. Your paternal line is more than enough to satisfy any such questions.

If you are intent on finding a connection and breaking through the brick wall you have hit, I would suggest contacting a professional geneaologist. A good place to start for folks in the USA is Your Scottish Descent - Scottish family history research service as they offer some free preliminary research and have a lot of experience with connecting colonial families with their Scottish lines.

[hiorta]

Hi Stlouissteve
Colla is the original gaidhlig name not used as much in beurla speaking areas.
The origin place name is the Island of Coll in the Western Islands of Scotland.
Colla is a sept of Macdonald of the Isles and is very common in Donegal in Ireland.
BTW, I would suggest that you do not attempt an ancestraL search in Ireland unless you are very sure that those you seek were not Roman Catholic. The reason is that the majority of folk in Donegal and in Ireland generally were members of the Catholic Church, which was the official record keeper, but very often records were compiled by the local, overworked Priest and are notoriously inaccurate.
The ancestral search folk are well aware of this, but will take your money anyway and give you meaningless bumpf over a year later.

[Duthill]

Steve ,
you may find some answers to the puzzle on this page Nichols Family Genealogy Forum


Dut