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Nicholson, Bertrum

Undertaker and merchant, owner of Nicholson's Funeral Parlor and Hardware Store in White Rock, Texas in 1872.[1] (August 13, 1837 – June 13, 1872)[2]

Known as Bert, a serious and somber man, and well-respected in White Rock.[1]

Nicholson took an interest in Mary Shane shortly after she moved to White Rock in 1871. He knew that Mary's husband had stolen $60,000 of Wells Fargo money from a train and that Mary had buried it in a small canyon outside of White Rock, waiting for her husband to join her. As long as she believed he would return to her, she remained loyal to him, even though she had fallen in love with Nicholson. Upon reading that her husband had escaped from prison with Felton and was presumed dead, she accepted Nicholson's proposal of marriage. They attempted to recover the buried money, but found a rock slide had covered it over.[1]

Fearing that Felton would come looking for Mary and the stolen money, she and Nicholson conspired to fake her death. As the undertaker, Nicholson arranged for a closed-casket service and buried an empty coffin with Mary's grave marker over it in the cemetery outside of town. If Felton then appeared, he would hear of Mary's death and would move on.[1]

On June 12, 1872, Bret Maverick came to White Rock, searching for the Kid, who had stolen $3,000 from him in Gunsight, Texas the week before. That night, believing Bret to be Felton, Nicholson had Mary lure Bret outside of town where he planned to kill him. But the Kid was shot and killed in a poker game in town and Nicholson, as undertaker, had to take custody of the body, preventing him from riding out to kill Bret as planned.[1]

Bret's ride with Mary immediately became a local joke, in that she was believed dead and Bret had been riding around with her ghost. The next day, Nicholson tried to shoot Bret as he rode through town, but missed. Bret confronted Nicholson at his funeral parlor, but got no answers to the whereabouts of Mary or if it was Nicholson who had tried to shoot him.[1]

Bret followed Nicholson to the canyon and saw him digging through the rock slide, but did not yet know what he was digging for. Later that night, looking for Mary Shane and the stolen money, Felton tracked Nicholson down and killed him. The town believed Bret had killed Nicholson, so the sheriff jailed for murder. Felton, believing Bret had information about the stolen money, posed as Bret's attorney, broke him out of jail and killed the deputy. Later that night, Bret uncovered Felton's plan, the mystery of Mary's ghost, and the stolen money. He captured Felton and turned him in to the sheriff with the recovered money.[1]

See: Ghost Rider