Family History: Thomas Ahab Nickell & Cora May Iverson Nickell

The ancestors of Thomas Ahab Nickell came from the Scottish Highlands - from Clan Mac Nicol on the Island of Skye in the Hebrides, from which it is said they joined with bands of Vikings in their raids of the coast of England. Later, they were lured to Northern Ireland and then to the wilderness of the American frontier. But that is another story. Cora May Iverson's ancestors, on the other hand, came from the home of the Vikings - Norway, both the mountainous valleys of the east and the long, deep, inner fjords of the west. They, too, were drawn to leave their homeland by the appeal of the American frontier. Two children of these diverse family backgrounds -Thomas Ahab and Cora May -- were destined to meet in the frontier town of Huron, South Dakota, and to marry. Both of their families were homesteaders whose fathers had been given preference as Civil War veterans to stake a claim in the Dakota Territory. This book is an attempt to capture a bit of their history, to gather together facts and details about their life and times and of those who came before them, to try to preserve a bit of family history while it is still possible, before it disappears or is forgotten in the inevitable passing of time. Included also are brief articles about the historic Nickell Homestead and Mill and about two legendary family members: Roger Williams--founder of Rhode Island and of the Baptist Church in America, and Jedediah Smith- the great Western explorer and Mountain Man. Highlights from history include: --Life aboard ship traveling "steerage class" in the six-week ocean voyage to America --Mauled by a grizzly bear: scalp hanging by a thread is sewed on by a friend -- Escape from a Confederate Prisoner of War Camp by hiding between logs in a river and breathing through a hollow reed --The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 -- The Blizzard of 1888 and the Schoolhouse Blizzard