DAVIDSON COUNTY, TN - OBITUARIES - Mrs. W. L. Nichol (Miss Martha Johns)
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         Archives by: Margaret Nolen Nichol	MNNICHOL@aol.com
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		Mrs. W. L. Nichol Called By Death
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Prominent in Nashville Society And For Many Years Review Club President
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     The death of Mrs. William L. Nichol Thursday night came as a great shock 
to many friends.  She passed away at Ravenwood, the home of her son, Mr. J. D. 
B. DeBow, on the Lebanon road.  Only since Saturday had she developed a 
serious illness, which followed a severe cold contracted two days before.  
Pneumonia was the immediate cause of her death.  Her three surviving children, 
Mr. Debow, Mrs. John W. Thomas and W. L. Nichol, besides her grandchildren 
were with her when the end came.
     Mrs. Nichol had been all of her life a prominent member of Nashville’s 
social community.  She was Miss Martha Johns, the daughter of the late John 
Johns and Evalina A. B. Hopkins, a descendant of the Hopkins family of 
Kentucky and Maryland.  Her grandfather, Capt. John Johns, was a distinguished 
officer of the Continental army of Virginia.  She was born and lived in 
childhood on the Johns estate which is now a part of Belle Meade farm.  She 
was educated and graduated by the noted Southern educator, Dr. C. D. Elliot, 
at the old Nashville Female Academy, and as a young lady was remarkable for 
her beauty and grace.  She was married early to Mr. J. D. B. DeBow, the 
brilliant editor of DeBow’s Review, and a leader in the Confederate cause.  
There were four children born of this marriage, Messrs. B. F. , J. D. B., and 
William DeBow and Miss Evalina, who later became the wife of Maj. John W. 
Thomas, president of the N. C. & St. L. railway.  B. F. DeBow has been dead 
for about twenty years and William DeBow died in childhood.
     Mrs. Nichol’s marriage to Dr. W. L. Nichol, one of the South’s famous 
surgeons and physicians, who had also served with distinction in the United 
States navy, resulted in one child, W. L. Nichol of this city.  The home of 
Dr. and Mrs. Nichol, for many years occupying the corner of Sixth avenue and 
Cedar streets, was always a social center and the scene of many brilliant 
gatherings of friends and relatives, its entertainment’s being noted for their 
charm and beauty.  Soon after the death of Dr. Nichol, Mrs. Nichol gave up her 
home and has since made her residence with her daughter, Mrs. Thomas, and with
her son, Mr. DeBow, at his country estate.  Her brothers, Messrs. John and 
William Johns, preceded her to the grave by a number of years.  Mrs. Nichol 
had five grandchildren to unite with her children in mourning a great and 
irreparable loss.
     She was a woman of remarkable mental vigor, clear insight and bright 
intelligence.  Her strength of purpose and her interest in current history was 
unusual.  She kept pace with the life of the world, and of the development in 
a way that very few of her younger friends did.  Mrs. Nichol was always 
interested in literature, and had served with great ability for many years as 
president of the Nashville Review Club.  She often attended as delegate the 
sessions of the State Federation of Women’s Clubs, and was a leading worker
in the board of Woman’s hospital.  Her friendships were many.  She had the 
gift of expressing her sympathy and interest in her friends with peculiar 
charm and never forgot to render to them what service was possible under all 
circumstances.  She had been for many years a member of the First Baptist 
Church.
     The funeral services will be from the home, “Ravenwood,” Saturday 
afternoon at 2 o’clock, conducted by the Revs. Rufus W. Weaver and Allen Fort.  
The honorary pall-bearers will be: Judge W. K. McAlister, Judge Robt.. Ewing, 
Dr. M. C. McGannon, W. W. Berry, A. H. Robinson, Capt. Joe Phillips, W. S. 
Bransford, Jas. E. Caldwell, Jos. H. Thompson, Dr. J. M. Frost, and Maj. E. C. 
Lewis.
     The active ball-bearers will be: H. W. Evans, Geo. A. Washington, W. L. 
Granbery, E. L. Marr, Guilford Dudley, Charles Barham, Lucius E. Burch, Dan C. 
Buntin, Clark Kirkman, Walter Keith, J. M. Overton and Richard T. Wilson.

Submitted by:  Margaret Nolen Nichol
(Mrs. W. L. Nichol died in September, 1815.  This obituary is among a 
collection of clippings in my files)