Nicoll Family

Biographical Note

The Nicoll family was a prominent family of New Haven Con., related, by marriage, to the families of Deall, Bishop, Lynde, Law and Palmers.

The founder of the Nicoll family was Matthias Nicolls (1626-1687), a noted jurist, who came to America in 1663 and became the provincial secretary of New York. The first generations of the Nicolls lived in New York.

In 1778, John Nicoll (1756-1831) married Jane Deall of Brunswick, Long Island. On April 30, 1784, the couple moved to New Haven, Conn. with their children Elizabeth Deall and Augustus. Their second son Charles was born in New Haven in 1797.

Elizabeth Deall married John Hart Lynde, and, after his death, became the third wife of Abraham Bishop (1763-1844), a noted politician and educator. Charles Nicoll married Caroline Bishop, daughter of Abraham Bishop and his second wife, Elizabeth (Betsy) Law. In 1828 Abraham Bishop built for the newlywed couple the house at 13 Elm St. New Haven, Con. Charles and Caroline Bishop Nicoll had five children - Elizabeth Law Nicoll (1829-1909), John (1831-1909), Charles Edward (1838-1916), Cornelia Bishop (1835-1904), and Caroline Bishop (1837-1866). Cornelia Bishop and Caroline Bishop attended the Young Ladies' Collegiate Institute in New Haven. Caroline died in 1866, reportedly of smallpox. Cornelia Bishop Nicoll and Elizabeth Law were not married.

Charles Edward Nicoll married Mary Ann Palmer (1842-1880). The Palmer family of New Haven Conn. was founded by Francis Richard Palmer (1777-1853), the only son of Lord Joseph Palmer of Lambert in Surrey, England. As he married "beneath" his social station, Francis Richard Palmer was disinherited, the money going back to the Crown. His friend, an aristocrat, came to his rescue and made him "Master of Hounds" of his estate in England. Following the death of Francis Richard Palmer, his widow, nJe Henrietta Sophia Smart, came to New York with her eight children. Her son Francis Richard Palmer (1809-1895) married Martha Louise Doolittle (1818-1880) of New Haven. The Palmers had three daughters - Mary Ann, Elizabeth, and Eleanore. Elizabeth Palmer became a teacher. Mary Ann's first marriage to Wesley J. Randall ended in divorce in March 1861; her son from this marriage, Francis Palmer Randall, later took the last name of his stepfather.

In the early 1870's Charles Edward and Mary Ann Nicoll moved to Minneapolis, Min. They had had five surviving children -- John Edward (1867-1908), Edward Bishop (1868-1962), Caroline Louisa (1781-1936), Charles Joseph (1876-1919), and Mary Elizabeth (b. 1878). After Mary Ann Palmer Nicoll, died in 1880, Mary Elizabeth (Mary) and Caroline Louisa (Carrie) were in care of their aunt, Elizabeth Law Nicoll. Caroline Louisa Nicoll married Francis Bland of Wobrun, Mass. in 1912. Charles Joseph and his wife Della Victoria Welchel lived in Napa and San Francisco, but in 1901 had to move north, due to lack of job and a "labor fight" in San Francisco. In 1909, Charles Edward Nicoll moved to California.

Edward Bishop Nicoll moved to California in the 1880's. In 1889-1923 he was Vice-President and treasurer of Carl Entenmann Jewelry Co. in Los Angeles, and in 1923 opened a sole retail jewelry business. In 1899 he married Emma Matilda Walter, "a native of Germany;" the couple had one daughter, Florence Edna (b. 1912). He was ex-sergeant of Signal Corps 1st Brigade of National Guards, an active member of the Turnverein Germania, and president of Pasadena Glen Improvement Association.

From the guide to the Nicoll Family Papers, 1801-1933, (The Huntington Library)