If These Walls Could Talk
By HEATHER MEE

The Nichols Keep Five Generations Of History Alive.

Scott and Laurie Nichols’ “Christmas Tree House” at 44 Fischler Street in Wellsboro has quite a story to tell, and it’s the home’s hidden secrets that keep the couple searching for the rest of the story. By doing so, they honor a family history that spans five generations.

Scott’s great-grandparents were the first Nichols to dwell here, and though a specific date can’t be located, we know that Enos Archibald (E.A.) and Edith Nichols, purchased the house in 1910. An 1863 Wellsboro map labels it “the Stickley house.” It’s perched upon the grassy foot of the hill at the end of Stickley Street, which used to be the property’s long, private driveway. Surveys show a pre-Civil War home was once located further back on the property. No one knows the whole story, but their son Ethan, age nine, enjoys digging up bits and pieces of pottery and kitchenware at the site.

Born in 1903 in Wellsboro, E.A. graduated from Mt. Alto forestry school and became the first of three generations of Nichols foresters, followed by his son, Lyle, and grandson, Scott, who manages the Nichols Land and Timber Company from home.

A few years ago, Laurie discovered—in the back of a closet and wrapped in butcher paper—an oil painting of local legend William Bache,  E.A.’s grandfather who founded Bache Auditorium in the 1800s. Scott uses Bache’s old desk, which was too large and cumbersome to be removed. Several years ago, Scott discovered letters in the desk—now at the Tioga County Historical Society—that Bache and his daughter Sarah had written to each other in the 1830s.

The desk recently revealed another morsel of family history. Scott found behind a drawer and tucked up in the framework a 1936 love letter written by Julia, his grandmother, to his grandfather, Franklin. In it, she enthusiastically describes their new engagement and her dreams for beginning a life together.

Franklin began planting Christmas trees behind the house around 1930. In 1936, he married Julia, a Tioga County Children’s Aid Society social worker. Shortly after, they departed Wellsboro as Franklin was appointed administrator for CCC work camp projects in Ohio and Michigan. As World War II hit, Franklin went to work for the War Production Board’s Lumber Division. But whenever the couple returned home, they would plant Christmas-tree seedlings.

Following the war, Franklin and Julia and their children, Caroline and Lyle, returned to 44 Fischler Street, where Franklin’s parents still lived. The couple began seriously planting seedlings, and cut the first Nichols’ Christmas trees in 1947. 

Franklin purchased land near Rattler Road in Stony Fork and Christmas trees were first cut from this pine plantation in 1954. The Christmas tree business took off, and at one point the couple sold 1,000 trees in a year, though they averaged 250.

Scott remembers his grandfather insisting the cut trees be stored in the chicken coop, quite a distance from the house, because they would draw moisture from the exposed ground and be sheltered from the wind. Tree after tree was lugged to the coop, then back out again because they sold so quickly.

Julia began selling her handmade candles and crafts on the covered porch. It was not unusual for her to invite customers inside to chat beside the fireplace. Maybe they chuckled over Franklin’s vivid childhood memory of the 1909 circus-elephant stampede down Wellsboro’s Main Street. Maybe they discussed World War II’s trials and implications. More likely, they had lighthearted conversations about the coming Christmas season and the joys of raising children in Wellsboro.

It’s no surprise that Lyle developed into a forester just as his father had. He became skilled at making wreaths of the pine cuttings, which became his niche. He can recall creating beautiful wreaths for the home, and his mother selling them right off the front door.

In the early 1970s, the borough asked if he would be interested in making Wellsboro’s gaslight wreaths, which had previously been made of laurel. He agreed and hand-crafted each and every wreath, which have been enjoyed by countless locals and visitors.

After Franklin and Julia died, Scott and Laurie moved into the home and carry on the Nichols’ traditions. Besides managing the timbering company and Christmas tree business, he recently began making fresh pine garlands, and uses a roping machine to make the process more time-effective. Laurie makes delectable handmade jellies, apple butter, and jams, and sells them on the porch just as Julia did.

Maple syrup looks like the next Nichols’ tradition. Scott has been diligently gravity-tubing the sugar bush behind the house, and just purchased a brand-new stainless-steel evaporator.

A love of nature, trees, and tradition runs deeply through this family, along with an enormous love of this home, so apparent to anyone entering it. This is an inspiring place…one that looks forward as much as it looks back. If history truly does repeat itself, then little Ethan Nichols is one blessed young man to be raised on this homestead and within the Nichols family.

This is the kind of place coming home for Christmas is all about. See for yourself, you may even be invited in to warm yourself by the fire.