Upper Level: Thomas Nickerson 1744-1772 Ruth Hinckley 1743-1827

Friday, February 26, 2010

Thomas Nickerson 1744-1772 Ruth Hinckley 1743-1827

Thomas Nickerson
Born 19 Mar 1744 Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Parents Thomas Nickerson and Dorcas Sparrow
Married Ruth Hinckley 27 Oct 1765 Harwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Died Nov 1772 (Murdered at sea)
Note:
HISTORY OF CHATHAM - (pages 330-331, edited for clarity)

On Sunday the 15th of November 1772, Capt. Joseph Doane Jr. sailed from Chatham Harbor on the Back of Cape Cod. Soon after (about ten o'clock in the Forenoon) Captain Doane saw a schooner with a signal of distress.

Going on board, they found one survivor, who appeared to be in a great fright. He gave the following account: the day before the said schooner incident, Thomas Nickerson, Master, sailed from Boston Harbor bound to Chatham. He continued: at two o'clock the next morning they saw a topsail schooner. The survivor, fearing he should be impressed (impressment, colloquially, "the press" or the "press gang", refers to the act of taking men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. Navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means.) , slung himself with a rope and let himself over the stern and four boats with armed men came on board.

Further, that whilst he was there hanging over the stern, he judged by what he heard that the Master, Mate, and one man were murdered and a boy carried away alive. He heard talk of burning the vessel, but it was finally agreed to leave her to drive out to sea with her sails standing. After they left her, the survivor came up on deck, found none of the crew, but saw the marks of their being murdered.

Captain Doane says that when he came on board, the Decks were bloody, the chests all broke open and plundered and the head knocked out of a barrel of rum and two or three gallons only left in it.

Captain Doane brought the schooner to the harbor at Chatham and early the next day repaired to Barnstable and gave this account to Edward Bacon Esq., who forwarded it to the Governor and the same day went to Chatham to examine the person found on board. His name was Ansel Nickerson, a cousin of the captain. NOTE: ANSEL WAS ACCUSED BUT NEVER CONVICTED OF THE MURDERS

Sources
Family Search
Book: History of Chatham, page 330-331
Birth: IGI Film 0161969 V9 Batch C510401 dated 1727-1787
Memorial:  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/146948181/thomas-nickerson

Ruth Hinckley
Nickerson Crowell Phinney headstone

Ruth Hinckley
Parents Thomas Hinckley and Ruth Merrick
Born 27 Dec 1743 Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Married 2) Abner Crowell 03 Apr 1777 Harwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Children: Simeon
3) Gershom Phinney Jr, May 25,1785 Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Children: Gershom
Died 31 Aug 1827 Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Sources
Family Search
Headstone: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42493544/ruth-nickerson_crowell_phinney

CHILDREN

Myrick's headstone

Captain Myrick Nickerson
Born 27 Mar 1767 Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Married Esther Nickerson 5 Jul 1788 (License) Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Children: Esther, Elizabeth
Died 27 May 1847 Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA
Sources
1810 US Census Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA
1820 US Census Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA
1830 US Census Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA
1840 US Census Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA
Headstone: https://billiongraves.com/grave/person/1948107
*Isaiah Nickerson
Born 10 Apr 1769 Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Married Lydia Godfrey 12 Oct 1793 Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Children: Isaiah
Died 29 Oct 1805 (Drowned at sea, therefore, no headstone)
Sources
1800 US Census Orrington, Hancock, Maine, United States

David's headstone memorial

Captain David Nickerson
Born 18 Jul 1771 Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Married 1) Priscilla Snow 8 Oct 1797 Harwich, Massachusetts
Children: David, Joseph, Jonathan, Frederic, Thomas, Priscilla
2) Eunice Freeman 24 August 1815 Massachusetts
Children: Francis, Isaiah
Note: 5 Feb 1829, Eunice died of burns at the house of her brother-in-law Joseph Smith. According to family legend, she'd been reading in bed when her clothes caught fire, at which time she ran nearly a quarter-mile, burning, to her sister Polly's house, whereupon reaching the house, she dropped dead. Note: Not trying to be the family rain cloud, but a quarter mile of running while on fire seems more likely to be a tall tale.
THE FAMILY LEGEND ABOUT DAVID
David was supposedly in France during the "Reign of Terror" following the Revolution. One day while there, a woman confronted the young sea captain, thrust a baby in his arms, and exhorted him to take the child to America and to call him "Rene Rousseau". He obliged the woman, and, at age 23, the child was a sea captain himself. Rene, too, was lost at sea at age 25, and his name was placed on the same stone as Capt. David Nickerson. The boy was rumored to have been the "Lost Dauphin of France".
THE TRUTH REVEALED
An article in Winter 2014 edition (Vol 15, No 1) of American Ancestors Magazine (published by NEHGS) puts the myth and rumors to rest, explaining that Rene Rousseau was, in fact, born after the French Revolution and was, instead, an apprentice of Captain David Nickerson, evidenced by a legal document from Jun 20,1807 at Nantes.

Died 26 Feb 1879 Boston, Massachusetts (At sea)
Note: David died aboard the schooner Hope on the Atlantic Ocean, dying of African Fever on the passage home from a trading voyage.
Buried: Old Burying Ground, Brewster, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States
Note: The headstone that existed until the 1970's does not mark his final resting place, but, rather, is a memorial to the sea captain lost at sea. The stone itself was said to be under repair in 1979, but has not been seen again Note: the picture of the headstone (I could not make out what was on the stone, but it does look as if it has been repaired) was offered on findagrave).
Sources
Family Search (lots of errors and four wife's)
Headstone and story: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42524086/david-nickerson

Thomas Nickerson headstone

Thomas Nickerson
Born 3 May 1773 Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Married:
Bethia Snow 13 July 1792 Brewster, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Children: Ephraim, Priscilla, Thomas, Benjamin, Hiram, Melinda, Sophia, Bethiah, Caroline, Charles, Sylvina
Died 23 Sep 1839 Readfield, Kennebuc, Maine
Buried: Faylene Hutton Cemetery, Unity, Waldo, Maine
Sources
Family Search
Headstone: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29854048/thomas-nickerson

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From a Funeral Program

When I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me

I want no rites in a gloom-filled room

Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little - but not for too long

And not with your head bowed low

Remember the love that we once shared

Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey that we all must take

And each must go alone

It's all part of the Master's plan

A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick at heart

Go to the hills we know

And bury your sorrow among the trees

Miss me, but let me go.

The Line

Every minute someone leaves this world behind.
We are all in “the line” without knowing it.
We never know how many people are before us.
We can not move to the back of the line.
We can not step out of the line.
We can not avoid the line.

So while we wait in line -

Make moments count.
Make priorities.
Make the time.
Make your gifts known.
Make a nobody feel like a somebody.
Make your voice heard.
Make the small things big.
Make someone smile.
Make the change.
Make love.
Make up.
Make peace.
Make sure to tell your people they are loved.
Make sure to have no regrets.
Make sure you are ready.

I'm My Own Grandpa

Many, many years ago when I was 23,
I got married to a widow
who was as pretty as could be.
She had a grown up daughter
who had a hair of red.
My father fell in love with her
and soon the two were wed.
This made my dad my son-in-law
And changed my very life.
My daughter was my mother,
for she was my father's wife.
To complicate the matters worse,
although it brought me joy,
I soon became the father
of a bouncing baby boy.
My little baby then became a brother -in-law to dad
and so became my uncle though it made me very sad.
For if he was my uncle,
then that also made him brother to the widow's grown-up- daughter,
who of course, was my stepmother.
Father's wife then had a son,
who kept them on the run.
And he became my grandson, for he was my daughter's son.
My wife is now my mother's mother
and it makes me blue.
Because, although she is my wife,
she's my grandma too.
If my wife is my grandmother,
then I am her grandchild.
and every time I think of it,
it simply makes me wild.
For now I have become the strangest case you ever saw.
As the husband of my grandmother,
I am my own grandpa!

Quotes from the Prophets

President Gordon B Hinckley: "It is good to look to the past to gain appreciation for the present and perspective for the future. It is good to look upon the virtues of those who have gone before, to gain strength for whatever lies ahead. It is good to reflect upon the work of those who labored so hard and gained so little in this world, but out of whose dreams and early plans so well nurtured, has come a great harvest of which we are the beneficiaries. Their tremendous example can become a compelling motivation for us all, for each of us is a pioneer in his own life."

President Spencer W Kimball: "I hope to see us dissolve the artificial boundary line we so often place between missionary work and temple and genealogical work, because it is the same great redemptive work!"

President Joseph Fielding Smith: " The responsibility on behalf of our kindred dead rests with equal force on all, according to our individual ability and opportunities...the greatest and grandest duty of all is to labor for the dead."

The Passing of the Pot (Chamber Pot)

As far back in childhood
As memory may go
One household vessel greets me
That wasn't made for show
Beneath the bed twas anchored
Where only few could see
But served the entire family
With equal privacy
Some called the critter Peggy
And some the thundermug
And others called it badger
A few called it jug
To bring it in at evening
Was bad enough no doubt
But heaven help the person
Who had to take it out
Our big one was enormous
And would accomodate
A watermelon party
Composed of six or eight
When nights were dark and rainy
It was a useful urn
On icy winter mornings
The cold rim seemed to burn
At times when things were rushing
And business extra good
Each took his turn a waiting
Or did the best he could
Sometimes when in a hurry
To our disgust and shame
We fumbled in the darkness
And slightly missed our aim
The special one for company
Was decorated well
But just the same it rendered
That old familiar smell
Today this modernism
Relieves me a lot
And only in my vision
I see that homely pot.
(author unknown)

Poem about ancestors

Though steep is the path I follow today,
The footprints of time will show me the way.
For many have traveled a smiliar road,
And carried an equal of heavier load.

No troubles I face are new to this earth,
That man has not faced from time of his birth.
The route has been charted and roads have been paved
By legions before me who were stalwart and brave.

Their steps never faltered nor courage grew dim,
For they trusted the Lord and let Him led them.
If my faith and my trust remain steadfast and true,
God will guide and protect me in all that I do.
- Dolores Karides

The Elusive Ancestor

I went searching for an ancestor.
I cannot find him still.
He moved around from place to place
and did not leave a will.
He married where a courthouse burned.
He mended all his fences.
He avoided any man who came to
take the US census

He always kept his luggage packed,
This man who had no fame,
and every 20 years or so,
This rascal changed his name.
No one else inthis world is
searching for this elusive man,
so I play "Gene-solitaire"
To find him, if I can!

I'm told he's buried in a plot,
with tombstone he was blessed;
but the weather took engravings,
and some vandals took the rest.
He died before the county clerks
were appointed to keep records
No family Bible has emerged -
In spite of all my efforts.

To top it off, this elusive ancestor
who has caused me many groans -
left me even one more challenge:
He brothed a lady,
by the name of "Jones"!
(Got this from a publication
put out by the DUP organization
that names the author: Merrell Kenworthy)

Poem: Heaven's Door

If I should go before you,

If life on earth were through;

I'll stop just inside Heaven's door,

and there I'll wait for you.

You've but to look 'cross star filled skies,

Past the moon and then beyond;

To know my leaving could never break,

This heart's undying bond.

And if you should go before me,

If your journey on earth were through;

You know I will be close behind,

I'll never be far from you.

Across the span of time and space,

This love will reach this far;

For you'll always carry a bit of my heart,

No matter where you are.

Allison Chambers Coxsey©1995 ~ All Rights Reserved

Which Shall It Be? by Adelaide Proctor

Which shall it be?

"Which shall it be? Which shall it be?
I looked at John and John looked at me,
And when I found that I must speak,
My voice seemed strangely low and weak:
˜Tell me again what Robert said,"
And then I, listening, bent my head.
This is his letter:˜I will give
A house and land while you shall live,
If, in return, from out your seven,
One child to me for aye is given."

I looked at John's old garments worn;
I thought of all that he had borne
Of poverty, and work, and care,
Which I, though willing, could not share;
I thought of seven young mouths to feed,
Of seven little children's need,
And then of this.

˜Come, John,said I,
We'll choose among them as they lie
Asleep. So, walking hand in hand,
Dear John and I surveyed our band:
First to the cradle lightly stepped,
Where Lilian, the baby, slept.
Softly the father stooped to lay
His rough hand down in a loving way,
When dream or whisper made her stir,
And huskily he said: ˜Not her!"

We stooped beside the trundle bed,
And one long ray of twilight shed
Athwart the boyish faces there,
In sleep so beautiful and fair;
I saw on James rough, red cheek
A tear undried. E'er John could speak,
He's but a baby, too," said I,
And kissed him as we hurried by.

Pale, patient, Robbie's angel face
Still in his sleep bore suffering's trace.
˜No, for a thousand crowns, not him!"
He whispered, while our eyes were dim.
Poor Dick! bad Dick! our wayward son”
Turbulent, restless, idle one”
Could he be spared?
Nay, He who gave
Bade us befriend him to the grave;
Only a mother's heart could be
Patient enough for such as he;
˜And so," said John, ˜I would not dare
To take him from her bedside prayer."

Then stole we softly up above,
And knelt by Mary, child of love;
˜Perhaps for her ˜twould better be,"
I said to John. Quite silently
He lifted up a curl that lay
Across her cheek in a wilful way,
And shook his head: ˜Nay, love, not thee,
The while my heart beat audibly.

Only one more, our eldest lad,
Trusty and truthful, good and glad,
So like his father. ˜No, John, no!
I cannot, will not, let him go."

And so we wrote, in courteous way,
We could not give one child away;
And afterward toil lighter seemed,
Thinking of that of which we dreamed,
Happy in truth that not one face
Was missed from its accustomed place;
Thankful to work for all the seven,
Trusting the rest to One in heaven."

Friday, February 26, 2010

Thomas Nickerson 1744-1772 Ruth Hinckley 1743-1827

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