NICEY JANE MCCOLLUM

This is my Great Great Great Grandmother, Nicey Jane McCollum. Mother of Norman Oscar McCollum, grandmother of Homer McCollum.




Nicey's maiden name is Cannon and she is a descendant of one of the founding family's of Virginia, the Woodson's. Dr John Woodson and his wife Sarah came from Devon Shire England in 1619 on "The George" and settled 30 miles north of Jamestown in Flowerdew Hundred. Dr. Woodson was murdered in 1644 in an Indian uprising just outside the family's cabin. Sarah hid their sons John in a potato pit and Robert in a washtub and along with a shoemaker inside the cabin, fought off the Indians. We are "Washtub Woodson's" descendants of Robert. Robert's daughter Judith married William Cannon and the rest is, as they say, history! It is through Robert Woodson that our family is related to Dolly Madison as well as Jesse Woodson James, the famous outlaw.

Nicey Jane Cannon was born in 1833 but was raised by her grandparents James & Mary Margaret Cannon after both of her parents (Russell & Margaret)died in 1839 as indicated by census records. It is through Nicey Jane that I have traced our family to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England as well as clear back to the 9th Century.

Nicey Jane married William Francis Acklin McCollum in 1852. He was a farmer with *80 acres of land at the time that he enlisted with the Alabama 3rd Confederate Calvary in 1861. At the time of his enlistment, they had 4 small children (the oldest was 7) and my Great Great Grandfather Norman Oscar was born in November 2, 1861.


(James McCollum, born 1854)


(Mary Elizabeth and Francis California McCollum, born 1856 & 1857)


I have a photo of Rebecca McCollum, born 1859, which I will hopefully post this weekend.


(Norman Oscar McCollum, born 1861)


(Luke McCollum, born 1864, is standing in the back, second from the right.)

Records show that William died from wounds he received in the Battle of Chickamauga, September 21, 1863. At the time of his death Nicey Jane was pregnant with another son, Luke McCollum who was born in 1864. She was left a widow to raise 6 children. I often wonder who her support system was because her parents had died when she was a little girl as had her grandparents by now, who had raised her.


Surprisingly she remarried in 1872 to a man named Peter Pryor. Given the carnage of the Civil War and the lack of men in its aftermath, I find it surprising that she was able to remarry at all. I don’t know his age or if he had served in the war or if he had children from a previous marriage. Certainly Nicey Jane was still young enough at the time of their marriage to bear him children which she did. Twin sons Tom and Hezekiah Pryor were born in 1872. (As you can see, twins run in my father's family as well as in my mother's family). Unfortunately, I do not have any photos of them amongst my Grandmother's belongings. By the 1880 Census, records indicated she was once again a single mother raising her family!

Norman Oscar & Iantha Evoline (Mullins) McCollum *1907. Standing left to right are Flora, Stella, June and Fred McCollum.

(I estimated the date for this photo by comparing it to the one taken in 1909 as well as the knowledge of my great grandparents (Homer & Lizzie's) Wedding date of 1906. Homer is absent in this photo as is the oldest sibling, Maryetta.)