Individual Record 2378
| Name} Nickels, Hugh | Family History} Hancock | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title} | Race} White | Sex} Male | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth: Date} Fam 9 Apr 1838 | Place} Bishops Nympton, Devon, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marr1: Date} Exa Fall 1864 | Place} South Molton, Devon, England (Link) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marr2: Date} Exa 24 Dec 1885 | Place} Bride's residence, Forest, Lambton, Ontario (Link) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Death: Date} Exa 8 Nov 1917 | Place} Brigden, Lambton, Ontario, Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Burial: Date} Exa 11 Nov 1917 | Place} Lakeview Cemetery, Sarnia, Lambton, Ontario | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grave Marker} Yes |
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| Parents: } John Nickels & Jane ? Relationship No.} 833 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st Household No.} 249 = Bishops Nympton, Devon, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation 1} Farmer Occupation 2} Preacher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion/Church} Primitive Methodist | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouses: First}
Whiting, Elizabeth Second} Garrett, Sarah Total Number of} 2? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes: Hugh was a Primitive Methodist local preacher in England. He was one of many men who labored as a farm worker to make a living and received no salary for preaching — as their love of God required that they preach free of charge. In 1860 one of Hugh's church stations was South Molton, Devon. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| After having six children in England, Hugh at age 35 with his young family left Bristol, sailed to America on the S.S. Arragon, and arrived in New York on 9 May 1873. Among the items Hugh brought to America were apple tree grafts, books, and a copy of the Primitive Methodist Magazine published in London, England, in 1867. Hugh and his family soon made their way to Canada and settled on 32 acres, two miles from the town of Forest, in Lambton County, Ontario. Hugh briefly, for about two years, lived on the Hosegood farm in Michigan near Travers City which was cherry orchard country. (Mrs. Hosegood may have been one of Hugh's aunts.) Back in Lambton County in 1876 a daughter was born to Hugh and his wife Elizabeth. 
On 14 Jan 1877, the dedication service was held for the new Primitive Methodist
Church in Forest. The pastor, Rev. Thomas G. Scott, was assisted on the Forest
Station circuit by six circuit or lay preachers. The table at the left shows that
in the spring of 1878, Hugh Nickels was one of the six lay preachers, and that he was
assigned to work on the Circuit Committee for the Quarterly Conference of 20 Apr 1878.
The table also lists another lay preacher, Thomas Hancock,
a family friend and neighbor from their days together in Devon, England.A few years later the organized church became more refined, popular, and less spiritual. Smaller congregations were consolidated and the ministry was taken over by college trained men who were paid a salary. Hugh quit the system but remained a free servant of the Lord, preaching the gospel whenever doors were opened to him. By 1885 Hugh's wife Elizabeth had passed on. Hugh then married Sarah, a widow who lived in Forest. In their marriage registration, Hugh listed his Religious Denomination as no church, while his new bride, age 55, listed her's as Church of England. In about 1893 Hugh traded his land in Bosanquet Township near Forest for land on the shore of Lake Huron three miles west of Camlachie, Ontario — later known as Huron Heights. He lost an eye during a fence stretching accident. Always a dedicated servant of God, in failing health Hugh preached from his armchair. In 1911 Hugh was living with his son John, age 40, and John's family in Plympton. By 8 Nov 1917 Hugh was a retired farmer and again a widower. On that day he was at the Brigden home of Hiram Switzer and went upstairs to get a Blenheim Orange apple* to show a visitor the apple produced from the grafts Hugh brought from England. On his way downstairs Hugh's heart failed and he passed on at age 79. Hugh was buried in Lakeview Lot Section I and Plot Location 325. *Note: The Blenheim Orange apple was first discovered in 1740 growing against a wall of Blenheim Park, near Oxford in England. It was first given the name Kempster's Pippin after Mr. Kempster who found it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Time of Birth} | Time of Death} | Fraternal/Social} | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baptism Date} | Place} |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confirm. Date} | Photo} Hugh circa 1910 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Immigr'n Date} Exa 9 May 1873 | Port} New York | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education: Grade} or Top 2 Degrees} | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Military: Service} for the State of} | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Health Condition} Cause of Death} Heart failure |
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| Copyright © 2011 by Daniel W. Hancock. All Rights Reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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