Research: Parents of Mary Elizabeth Nichols (1890-1954)

We have a group of Nichols cousins who are all descendants of Mary Elizabeth Nichols, but they don't know the identities of her parents. My goal is to narrow down the possible relationahips using DNA matches, and then follow up with traditional genealogical research.

My current thought is that she's a granddaughter of Thomas W Nichols and Adeline Lucille Coffman because her descendants match strongly to our Nichols cousins - and also to Coffman descendants who are not Nichols descendants. Here's how I think they fit into our family:

For a much larger tree, click on the image below - then click on the new image again to zoom in to a readable level:

DNA Matches

I have access to the list of the DNA matches to my father GI, his three sisters, and their Nichols first cousin, RB. As a result, I know exactly how much DNA they share with each of Mary's descendants. I then use their lists of shared matches to determine which of our known Nichols descendants match one of more of them at 20cM or more.

One of the supporting facts for Mary being the granddaughter of Thomas (as opposed to one of his siblings) is that her descendants closely match a number of Coffman descendants who are not Nichols descendants. Thomas W. Nichols and Adeline Lucinda Coffman are the only known links between the two families.

Click on the chart to zoom in.

A complication in this analysis is that Mary's husband, William Franklin Anderson, is a Galyean descendant - probably a distant cousin of some of us. Everyone in the Ireland, Bowers and Nic 1 columns, along with R...Galyean, are all Galyean descendants. However any common Galyean ancestor is back many generations. Mary is still closely related to all of the other Nichols lines shown that are not Galyean-linked.

How You Can Help

I think I'm close to determining the parents of Mary Elizabeth Nichols. However, I need access to lists of DNA matches from Nichols relatives outside of my immediate family. Here's how family members can share access to their AncestryDNA matches with me, along with the pros and cons of doing so.

Mary Elizabeth Nichols

To the best of our knowledge, Mary Elizabeth Nichols:

• born 20 Jul 1890 in Sallisaw, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma
• may have had a brother Raymond
• probably married three or four times
• died 23 Mar 1954 in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Her first husband was:

• Charles Ezekiel "Charley" Price, b 7 Nov 1893 in Oklahoma City, OK; d 1 Oct 1922, Carroll Co, AR.
• married sometime between 1910 and 1913
• child 1: Mary Magedeline Price, b 1913 in OK; d 1961. She married Herbert Norris, b 10 Oct 1910 in OK; d 31 Jul 1992 in OK.
• child 2: Grace Kathryn Price, b 24 Dec 1916, Marble City, Sequoyah Co, OK; d 15 Jan 2008, Tulsa OK. She married James Curtis Taber on 18 Jan 1935 in Woodruff, AR. Three sons and one daughter.

Her second husband was:

• John Newman; married about 1917. No other known information.
• One child: Dolores Mae "Dolly" Newman; b 24 Nov 1917 in Sequoyah Co, OK; d Aug 1992, OK. Perhaps two husbands: John Delbert and JB Temple.

Most of her children and all of our DNA matches come from her third marriage:

• William Franklin Anderson, b 22 Oct 1877 in MO; m2 to Mary on 22 Aug 1920, Benton Co AR; d 24 Aug 1953, McIntosh Co OK.
• Four sons, two daughters

Please email me if you have any clues to her parents' (or siblings') identities at . Thank you!