We then enjoyed a program of music and readings. A brief history of the Gridley branch of the family was prepared and read by C.E. Gridley, and the history of the H.J. Nichols family was given by Sadie Nichols.
The attendance was not as large as in former years; we missed many who had formerly been with us, but glad to welcome some members who attended for the first time: H.A. Hildebrandt and family, from Santa Monica, California, and a young man, Dale Miller, from Grove City, Minn. Anxious to attend the reunion and learn of the family, he left home Thursday morning, hitchhiking his way, owing to kindly lifts along the way he reached Crown Point Sunday morning. In looking up and tracing back his lineage, it was interesting to find that he was a great-grandson of Eunice (Nichols) Onion, a sister of Horatio R. Nichols.
Several visitors enjoyed the day with us, and other members attending were: Lloyd Gridley and family, C.E. Gridley and family, Aurora, Ill.; Jerry Dugan, St. Anne, Ill.; Jackson Smith and family, Ernest Smith and family, Crown Point; Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bunker, East Chicago; Miss Ruth Nichols, Chicago; Mrs. Alma Foster, W.J. Nichols and family, E.H. Ruge and family, Miss Sadie Nichols, George L. Foster and family, Byrl C. Grant and family, Mr. and Mrs. Carl N. Gragg, Thomas Grant and family, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Nichols, Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Schilling.
Three births and five marriages were reported:
The next reunion will be held in Lowell on the land originally owned by Horatio R. and Abram Nichols.
The two young men were the third family to make a home here. Born in New York, they migrated from Ohio territory and engaged in farming upon arriving in Lowell before the railroad came.
He built the Nichols Homestead on Commercial Avenue and was married to Sarah Elizabeth Wheeler, originally from Canada, in 1862. They had 10 children.
This past Sept., on the 150th anniversary of their great grandfather's arrival in Lowell, Bill, his sister, Jeanette, [and] her husband, Wesley decided to hold a family reunion.
Family members gathered at the Schilling farm northwest of Momence. Members came from Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and even Canada. Gathering were William A. Bruce with wife, Georgette, and his sister, Vera Bruce Saganovich, and her husband John. Grandchildren of Edna Nichols Bruce.
Those of the Albert Nichols family were: Lamar Tuttle and his wife, Ester; sister, Margorie Emory; Lewis Nichols and his wife, Margaret; sister, Flora Ann Schafer, and her husband, Kay; Benson Lamore and his wife, Mildred; sister, Bonnie Hammon and her husband, Robert.
From the Wheeler Nichols family clan were: Sylvia Nichols and her daughter, Barbara Reed, and Barbara's children, Claudia Postma and her husband, Stewart, and children, Kathy, Kari and Mark Peo; Jeanette Schilling and her husband, Wesley, and their daughter, Jane Subbert, and her husband, Marvin, of Momence; Mary Subbert Widick and her husband Al, and daughters, Jilian and Stacy. Also, Ann Schilling Yohnka and her husband, Bud, and their son, Kevin Yohnka and his wife, Kim, and their daughter, Rachel; Kim Ann Yohnka; Keith Yohnka and his wife, Lisa, all of Kankakee, Ill.; Bill Nichols and his wife, Eloise, and their daughter, Mary Bales of Canada; and son, Jim Nichols, daughter Miriam Randall, and her husband, Doug. They are of the Lowell area. Cathi LaCounte and her husband, Earl of Elkhart.
Of the Jesse Nichols-Hoshaw family were Carol Hoshaw and her husband, Art Bryant of Iowa.
Of the Pearl Ruge family were: Mary Alice Ruge, widow of Sheridan; Aimee Ruge, the widow of Vernon; Nick Ruge and his wife, Margie, and their son, Jeff Ruge, and his wife Paula; Michele and Randa Ruge, children of the late Randy Ruge.
From Fort Wayne came descendants of the Cal Nichols family: Zola Nichols and Carol Ann Working; Zetta Nichols and her son, Jerry; and Valmer Nichols and his wife, Ruth; Wayne Nichols and his wife, Irene, and their son, Jim Nichols, and his wife, Margaret.
Zola Nichols, 87, was the oldest member in attendance and Rachel Yohnka, 15 months, was the youngest. Mary Bales came the farthest.
From the young farmer who chose Lowell as his home, hundreds of relatives are still within the area, even though some went to neighboring states or Canada.
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