c. 1867

Amanda moved her two daughters to Normal, Illinois, around 1867, after her mother died and her father moved west. According to Minerva's reminiscences late in life, Amanda was responsible for the design or alterations of the family's Normal house.

c. 1871

Amanda, Adelaide, and Minerva Parker moved to Chicago, Illinois around 1871. Their precise address in Chicago is unknown, but according to family papers, their home burned in the Great Chicago Fire that broke out in October 1871, soon after their arrival.

1875

The widowed Amanda Parker married Dr. Samuel Maxwell in 1875. The two were neighbors; according to family papers, he attended to her while sick and the two fell in love.

1875-1876

As Amanda and Samuel got married, 13-year-old Minerva and her sister Adelaide apparently clashed with their new stepfather. According to family papers, the sisters were sent to a convent boarding school in Dubuque, Iowa for a short time (perhaps a year) while Amanda and Samuel adjusted to life as newlyweds.

1876

Amanda and Samuel Maxwell moved to Philadelphia in 1876, drawn by the Centennial Exhibition held in the city that year. This was likely when Minerva and Adelaide reunited with their mother and stepfather. The family settled into 1612 Green Street.

1877

This was a tragic and transformative year for the Parker-Maxwell family. In April 1877, Dr. Samuel Maxwell died (of a laudanum overdose); three months later, Amanda gave birth to a son, also named Samuel. Now twice-widowed, Amanda was forced to raise three children alone in her new city.

1880

As of the 1880 federal census, Amanda and her children had moved across the city to 616 Spruce Street, Philadelphia. There, Amanda hosted boarders to earn money, while Minerva worked as a governess and housekeeper in the suburb of Cheltenham.

c. 1885

The family returned to their former neighborhood around 1885, settling into the house at 1614 Green Street (next door to 1612 Green Street, where they lived when they first moved to Philadelphia). Minerva lived here with her family until 1893, even after getting married in 1891.

For much of the 1880s, Minerva was enrolled in various technical programs to learn architectural drafting. In the mid-1880s, she began apprenticing for architect Edwin W. Thorne, who worked in downtown Philadelphia and helped to design many of the developing railroad suburbs outside the city.

1889

Minerva opened her own architectural practice in early 1889 (or possibly late 1888). Her office was located at 14 S. Broad Street, just across the street from City Hall. She maintained an office in this location until 1893, and she operated her Philadelphia practice until 1896.

(Note: The addresses and street pattern around City Hall have changed, so her office does not correspond to the address of 14 S. Broad Street today; her building was located on the southwest corner of what is now Dilworth Park.)

1891-1895

For four years, Minerva taught courses on architectural ornament at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, based at Broad and Master Streets.

1891

In December 1891, Minerva married Rev. William Ichabod Nichols. They were married at Spring Garden Unitarian Society (at Broad and Brandywine Streets), where William was the minister and Minerva was a member and Sunday School teacher. Their honeymoon was postponed as Minerva supervised the completion of one of her projects.

1892

While visiting family in Cambridge, Massachusetts in July 1892, Minerva miscarried twins.

1893

Minerva and William moved a block away from Amanda, settling into 1616 Mt. Vernon Street. Minerva established a home office here in lieu of the S. Broad Street office, saying it allowed her to get more work done. She gave birth to her first (surviving) child in 1894, daughter Adelaide.

1896

In 1896, William took a job with the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities and the family moved to 280 Prospect Place, Brooklyn. From this point on, Minerva no longer maintained or advertised a formal architectural practice, but she did continue to take on individual commissions for family, friends, and social causes.

Her second daughter, Caroline, was born in 1897. Her third child, John, was born in 1899, and her youngest child, William Jr., was born in 1905.

c. 1907

Around 1907, the family purchased a summer home in Wilton, Connecticut, and traveled there frequently on weekends and holidays. The house was originally constructed in 1753; over the course of their time there, Minerva oversaw alterations and improvements.

In 1912, William resigned from the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities and the family moved to the house full-time.

1913

In 1913, William was installed as minister at the First Congregational (Unitarian) Parish of Deerfield, Massachusetts.

c. 1916 - 1917

William accepted a preaching post in Hingham, Massachusetts around 1916, and the family moved to Cambridge nearby. The family lived at 10 Hilliard Street in Cambridge in 1916-17.

William died in Hingham in 1917.

c. 1920

As of the 1920 federal census, Minerva lived with her mother Amanda, and three of her four grown children in Hingham, Massachusetts. (Her oldest daughter, Adelaide, lived elsewhere.) They lived at 346 Main Street, a property that William purchased in 1916 and Minerva subsequently sold in 1922. (Note: the building was significantly altered c. 1930; only the southern block of the extant building dates to Minerva's tenure of ownership.)

Amanda Parker Maxwell died in 1921.

c. 1921

As of 1921, Minerva is living with her daughter Adelaide and mother Amanda (Maxwell) at 28 Walnut Street in Milton, MA. Adelaide is a teacher at Milton Academy at the time.

c. 1923

As of 1923, Minerva was living once again in Wilton, Connecticut.

1920s

In the mid-1920s, Minerva moved to Westport, Connecticut. There, she designed a house c. 1924/25 at 78 Clinton Avenue, where she lived with her daughter Adelaide and her son-in-law John Baker. She designed a second home next door at 82 Clinton Avenue, where she lived until her death.

1949

Minerva Parker Nichols died on November 17, 1949, while living at 82 Clinton Avenue in Westport, Connecticut.