Pike Township Family Stories
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN NICHOLS
Nichols, Iowa Centennial Book 1884-1984, pages 195-196
By Charlene Nichols HixonBenjamin Franklin Nichols was born 26 November 1898 in Nichols, the son of Townsend Burt Nichols and Lutetia MeDora Sutton Nichols. He attended the school in Nichols and graduated from West Liberty High school. He was a graduate of Iowa State college at Ames with the Class of 1921 with a major in farm management.
He was a member of the Student Army Training Corps (SATC) during World War I while a student at Ames.
He was married on 25 November 1922 in Winfield, Henry county, Iowa, to Ora Elizabeth Eckey. They are parents of four children; Lorna Margaret Nichols, Keith Benjamin Nichols, Dorothy Ora Nichols and Charlene Ann Nichols.
He spent his adult life in farm management. One of the joys of each summer for about 25 years was the time spent with one or more of his grandsons at a lakeside cabin in Minnesota.
He was a member of the Nichols Christian church, the American Legion, the 40 & 8 of Muscatine, the Masonic Blue lodge of Nichols, Kaaba Shrine, the Consistory of Clinton, Eastern Star, I.O.O.F. lodge and the Modern Woodmen. He held local, district and state offices in the American Legion and 40 & 8 organizations.
Ben Nichols died 1 January 1975 after suffering a massive heart attack and is buried in the Nichols cemetery beside his parents, grandparents, great grandfather and three of his children.
Ora Elizabeth Eckey was born 15 April 1902 near Winfield, Iowa, a daughter of Charles Christopher Eckey and Mattie Nora Smith Eckey. She graduated from Winfield High school and attended Iowa Wesleyan and Iowa State colleges. She is a member of the Nichols Christian church, Order of the Eastern Star and Rebekah lodge. She has contributed many hours of volunteer work to the Veterans Administration hospital in Iowa City over a period of years. She died 5 December 1984 and is buried in the Nichols cemetery beside her husband and children.
Charles Christopher Eckey was born 24 January 1875 at Mt. Union, Henry county, Iowa, and died 30 September 1966 at Nichols. He was a son of Henry C. W. Eckey and Elisabeth Korbschulte Eckey. His father came to this country from Hemmerde, Westphalia, Germany, with his parents in 1855, and his mother followed a few years later.
Charlie was a member of the Winfield Methodist church. He retired from farming in 1943 and was an antique dealer until he moved to Nichols three and a half years before his death. He married Mattie Nora Smith 20 April 1898 at Burlington, Iowa. They had three children: Harold B. Eckey, Ora Elizabeth Eckey and Donald Eckey (1908-1909).
Mattie Nora Smith was born 30 January 1875 at Kossuth, Des Moines county, Iowa, a daughter of James Buckley Smith and Elizabeth Coleman Smith. She died in Nichols on 14 April 1949.
Harold Buckley Eckey was born 25 June 1900 in Mt. Union, Iowa; he died 22 June 1974 in Des Moines, Polk county, Iowa. He married Mary Margaret Mather in Des Moines on 17 September 1924. Margaret died 3 January 1996.
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Page created December 31, 2010 by Lynn McCleary