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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