Santa Clarita Valley History In Pictures
> PEOPLE   > ACTON
Marriage License: Rudolph F. Nickel & Viola E. Percival
Formerly of Acton, California


Click image to enlarge

Marriage license for Rudy Nickel (son of Acton's R.E. Nickel) and Viola Percival, 1926.


R.E. Nickel was considered the Father of Acton. That much we know. He was Acton's first postmaster; he started the Acton Rooster newspaper in 1891; he founded the Acton Hotel; he photographed everything in sight for miles around (including Newhall); and he was the foremost community leader of his day.

But what was his name? He went by "R.E." Most of our history books for the past few decades (it's 2014 now) have said Rudolph Eugene.

But in her landmark 1988 book on Acton history, "Heritage Happenings," the late town historian Merle Adams gives a different name.

According to Adams, it was Richard E. Nickel who came out (even farther) West from Kansas in October 1887 with his bride, the former miss Anna Duehren — daughter of Acton's first permanent resident, John Duehren — along with their young children, Rudy and Lottie. Also in tow were Richard's brothers Eugene and Bruno.

So was it Richard E. or Rudolph Eugene?

This marriage license tends to corroborate Adams' identifications and refute others'; and it fits with her assertion that the newspaperman moved his family to Berkeley around 1900.

The license, filed in August 1926, authorizes the marriage of Rudolph Fred Nickel (middle name not Eugene — that was his uncle), then 40, of Berkeley, to Viola Elizabeth Percival, 32, of Oakland. Both were widowed; it was the second marriage for each.

It shows that Rudy was born in Kansas in about 1886 to German-born Richard E. Nickel and Minnesota-born Anna C. Dehren [sic].

Rudy's bride (whose maiden name is alternately spelled Percival and Perceval in this document) was born in California to William C. Hull and Kate Winslow, both also California-born.


Oakland Tribune 9-24-1915.

The couple wed July 16, 1926, in Berkeley.

Rudy's California death record shows he was born January 27, 1886, in Kansas, and died April 17, 1967, in Monterey. It spells his mother's maiden name "Durham."

A wedding notice in the Oakland Tribune of Friday, Sept. 24, 1915, indicates that Rudy's first marriage was to a Miss Ethel Hughes of Oakland on Sept. 22, 1915.


LW2590: 19200 dpi jpeg from original photograph purchased 2013 by Leon Worden.
NICKEL FAMILY OF ACTON

thumbnail

Envelope Postmarked 1894 by R.E. Nickel

thumbnail

Rudy Nickel Marriage License 1926

R.E. NICKEL HOME
31823 Crown Valley

thumbnail

Pre-1938

thumbnail

Flood of 1938

RETURN TO TOP ]   RETURN TO MAIN INDEX ]   PHOTO CREDITS ]   BIBLIOGRAPHY ]   BOOKS FOR SALE ]
SCVHistory.com is another service of SCVTV, a 501c3 Nonprofit • Site contents ©SCVTV
The site owner makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to digitized images. However, these images are intended for Personal or Research use only. Any other kind of use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the site owner. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.