The Story of Rachel Nickle (1842-1916)

Donald L. Smith

January 19, 2010

My name is Donald L. Smith and this is my account of the life of my great-grandmother, Rachel Nickle.

This second revision to this story was prompted by my learning of a family letter to Wilson Nickle (1811-1881), dated 2 July 1841.

When I first wrote this story in 2007, I had assumed that Rachel Nickle was born in Meigs County Ohio because that is the county where she was living when she was eight years old according to reference 3. However, I now believe that Rachel was born in Gallia County Ohio. I believe this because of the letter mentioned above which was written to Rachel’s father, Wilson Nickle, one year before Rachel was born. The letter was addressed to Gallia County, Ohio where Wilson and his wife, Esther, were living in 1841. The letter indicates that Wilson and family owned land in Gallia County in 1841. The letter also talks about a pending trip by Wilson in the fall season of 1841 for a visit to his parents in Pennsylvania. It seems unlikely that Wilson Nickle could have made a trip to Pennsylvania and returned, sold his farm in Gallia County, and moved to Meigs County all in one year. Those things would have had to be done in order for Rachel to have been born in Meigs County. Rachel was born only one year after the letter was written to Gallia County Ohio where Rachel’s parents were living. It is most probable that Rachel was born in Gallia County, and then her parents moved to Meigs County sometime before the Census in 1880.

This account of Rachel’s life is based partly on entries in a family bible originally owned by Rachel’s second husband, Thomas J. Pritchett, who was my great-grandfather. This account is also based on public records such as U.S. Census records, marriage licenses, tombstone, newspapers, and conversations with my grandfather, Edward Pritchett, and my mother, Lena Jane Pritchett Smith.

Rachel Nickle was born on 21 July 1842. The place of birth is not stated in reference 2, but I know that her parents were living in Gallia County Ohio in 1841 based on reference 1. I also know that Rachel was living in Meigs County Ohio in 1850 when she was 8 years old. Gallia and Meigs Counties are both located on the Ohio River in S-E Ohio. Subsequent census records during her life document that she was born in Ohio. Rachel was living in Meigs County Ohio in 1850 with her parents, Wilson and Esther Nickle and her siblings, William and Hannah Nickle.

It should be noted that in the referenced 1850 Census in Meigs County Ohio, there are several mistakes based on subsequent records. Three mistakes are the following: 1. the last name is recorded as Nicholl instead of Nickle, 2. Esther’s place of birth is recorded as PA instead of N.Y., and 3. Rachel’s place of birth is recorded as PA instead of Ohio.

Rachel moved to Randolph County Indiana between 1852 and 1854 when she was about 11 years old. I’m sure this was an exciting as well as somewhat frightening experience for a young girl. The trip was taken in a covered wagon over dirt trails and roads for a distance of approximately 200 miles and duration of about 10 days.

Rachel subsequently (about 1859) met and married Daniel Worrell, a shoemaker from Muncie, Indiana. Rachel is listed in reference 5 living with her husband, Daniel, and infant baby, Hannah. There were apparently two very sad events that took place in Rachel’s life between the date of that census, 17 July 1860, and 26 Sep 1865, the date of her second marriage. Those sad events were the deaths of her baby Hannah and her husband, Daniel Worrell.

I’m often reminded, especially when doing genealogy research, of the hardships endured by our ancestors settling and building this great nation. I am so impressed with their perseverance, endurance, strength, and love of family. They had such enormous physical, mental, emotional, and Spiritual strength. I thank God for them.

Prior to the death of Daniel Worrell, Rachel gave birth to her second child, Harmon Wilson Worrell. He was born in Indiana on 1 May 1861. (I never met Harmon Wilson Worrell, but my grandfather Edward Pritchett, my mother, and others referred to him as “Wis” in conversations with me.) My cousin, Irene Pritchett, has told me stories about him that took place in the early 1930’s. She said that Uncle Wis would travel from Barry County, MO to Delaware County OK where Irene lived as a child with her parents, Thomas Harmon and Kate Pritchett. Irene and Aunt Kate have told me that Uncle Wis traveled in a one-horse covered wagon extensively in that part of the country. When he would visit them, he would play his fiddle and have Irene dance for him while he played.

Rachel married her second husband, Thomas J. Pritchett, on 26 Sep 1865. Rachel was the second wife of Thomas J. Pritchett. Thomas had four living children when he married Rachel (A three year old son, George Harvey, had previously died.).  This marriage to Thomas J. Pritchett made Rachel the instant mother of five children, four stepchildren and her own son, Wilson Worrell.

Rachel and Thomas Pritchett lived in Bond County Illinois from the time they were married in 1865 until before 13 June 1870 when they were living in Madison County Illinois. Reference 8 shows T. J. “Pritchard” residing with Rachel and 3 of her 4 step children, her son Wilson and Eddy. I know that this is the Thomas J. Pritchett family (not Pritchard), because of the names, ages, and place of birth of everyone listed in the census. In this census, the person listed as Wilson Pritchett is really Wilson Worrell and Eddy is Edward Pritchett, my grandfather.

From Madison County Illinois they moved to Christian County Illinois where they had Mertie Ellen and Harry Eugene Pritchett. Sometime after 16 June 1875 ( birth date of Harry Eugene Pritchett), Rachel and her family moved to Barry County Missouri where she was a widow in 1880 living near her parents, Wilson and Esther Nickle. In 1879 she had become a widow for the second time.

Rachel and Thomas J. Pritchett had the following children:

Only two of these children lived to be adults. They were Edward and Eugene (Uncle Gene).

Esther May died at age 6 weeks in 1867.

Edward Atwood Pritchett was my grandfather, and I knew him personally and well. He lived with us several months when I was a teenager in the fall of 1948. He was a short man about 5-ft 7 inches tall. His frequent saying that I remember was “by gum”. Words that ended in the letter “a”, he would pronounce as ending in “e”. For example, Tulsa was pronounced as Tulsee. He called my mom Lenee instead of Lena. Politically, Grandpa Pritchett was a staunch Republican and a Thomas Dewey supporter in the 1948 presidential election. Religiously, he was a member of the Church of Christ, and sometimes he jokingly referred to himself as a “Campbellite”.

Rachel experienced another loss in her life on 11 May 1879, her husband, Thomas J. Pritchett, passed away. The date of his death is documented in reference 12, but the place where he died is not stated. However, I’m very certain that he died in Barry County, MO because he and Rachel most likely came to Missouri with Rachel’s parents, Wilson and Esther Nickle, and other members of the Nickle family in 1876. That trip by the Nickle family from Illinois to Barry County, MO is documented in “The Nickle Family” by Ira C. Nickle Jr.

After the death of Thomas J. Pritchett in 1879, Rachel was left with her children. The ones still living at that time were: Wilson Worrell, Edward Pritchett, Mertie Pritchett, Eugene Pritchett, and Albert Pritchett. Rachel was living near her parents and youngest brother, Daniel Merritt Nickle, in Barry County Missouri. However, in spite of her parents being nearby, I know she must have been a lonely lady in need of another husband to help her raise her children.  

If being a widow were not enough of a hardship, Rachel continued to suffer the loss of additional children:  Albert Meritt in 1880 at age 17 months, and Mertie Ellen in 1882 at age 9 years.

Alas, once again God answered her prayers, and the Ozark hills of Barry County Missouri supplied her needs, Abendago Pinkley. Rachel and Abendago Pinkley were married 8 August 1880 in Eagle Rock, Barry County, Missouri.

Rachel and Abendago Pinkley had the following children:

Rachel Nickle gave birth to nine children by three different husbands over the span of 25 years, lost four of her children, was widowed three times during her life, yet she continued to be a good daughter, mother, and wife.  I pay tribute to her and the pioneering spirit of others like her who built this great nation, the United States of America.

Rachel lived out the rest of her life in Barry County, Missouri. She died 13 Feb 1916 at the home of her son, Eugene Pritchett, in Cassville, Missouri.

Family Letter to Wilson Nickle (1811-1881) Posted 2 July 1841, www.nickle-dahlman.org.

Thomas J. Pritchett family bible published in 1850.

U.S. Census, 1850, Meigs County Ohio, Wilson “Nicholl”.

U.S. Census, 1860, Randolph County Indiana, Wilson Nickle.

U.S. Census, 1860, Delaware County Indiana, Daniel Worrell.

Thomas J. Pritchett family bible (births).

Thomas J. Pritchett family bible (marriages).

U.S. Census, 1870, Madison County Illinois, T.J. “Pritchard”.

U.S. Census, 1880, Barry County Missouri, Rachel Pritchett.

Thomas J. Pritchett family bible (births).

Thomas J. Pritchett family bible (deaths).

Thomas J. Pritchett family bible (deaths).

Thomas J. Pritchett family bible (deaths).

Marriage License, Barry County Missouri, 8 Aug 1880.

Thomas J. Pritchett family bible (births).

Newspaper, Cassville Republican, Feb 17, 1916, Barry County, Missouri.