William Nickerson (1604-1689) Chatham, Cape Cod, MA

William Nickerson was born Oct. 16 1604 in Norwich, England, the son of William and Alice (nee?) Nickerson. About 1627 he married Anne Busby, born Feb 7 1607 in Norwich, England. She was the daughter of Nicholas and Bridget Cocke, both of Norwich, England. William was a weaver by trade.

In 1637, due to the persecutions of Bishop Wren, (Bishop of Norwich), whose zealous efforts against non-conformists (Puritans) drove over 3000 small craftsmen out of the country, William decided to go to the colonies with his family, and their examination just before their departure from England reads thus: "The examination of William Nickerson of Norwich, in Norfolk, weaver, aged 33, and Anne, his wife, aged 28, with four children, Nicho, Robart, Elizabeth, Anne are desirous to go to Boston in New England there to inhabit. April 8, 1637."  (Hottens History of Immigrants).

They sailed from Yarmouth, England, April 15, 1637, on the Ship John and Dorothy, Capt. William Andrews, Master, accompanied by the consort Rose, commanded by the Captain's son. With them sailed his wife's parents, and all the Nickerson children. In the same party was 18 year old Samuel Lincoln, the ancestor of Abraham Lincoln, and also of Joseph Lincoln, the famous author of Cape Cod stories. They arrived in Salem, MA, in New England on Jun 20 1637. 

The Nickerson’s stayed in the Boston area and Yarmouth for the next 20 years adding another five children to their family: Samuel, John, Sarah, William, and Joseph.  In 1656, Nickerson pulled a cart down an ancient Indian path onto land occupied by Mattaquason, the Mononmoyick Sachem. They struck a deal and Nickerson acquired 4 square miles of land. For this he paid: a shallop, 10 coats, 6 kettles, 12 axes, 12 hoes, 12 knives, 40 shillings in wampum, a hat, and 12 shillings in coin.  However, all this took place without the approval of the authorities in the Plymouth Colony.  It would be 16 years until his disputed purchase was settled by the courts with Nickerson paying a 90 pound fine and obtaining deeds from Mattaquason and his son John.

Chatham was known as Monomoit until 1712, when Rev. Adams became a resident minister. Its status was changed from a constablewick to a town and it’s name became Chatham, taken from an English seaport.

William and Anne had 10 children, 7 of whom lived to receive allotments of land when William died in 1689.  Other families had begun to move into the area and, for the most part, they were farmers. But it was William Nickerson who was considered the founder of Monomoit.

1ST GENERATION

Their children were:

Nicholas (1628 Norwich, Eng - 1683 Yarmouth, MA, m. Mary Darby – 1 child

i. Elizabeth (1629 Norwich, Eng – 1706 Monomoit, MA m. Robert Eldredge – 9                       children 

Robert (1631 Norwich, Eng – 1710) m. Rebecca Cole

Thomas (1633-1633 Norwich, Eng)

Anne (1631 Norwich, Eng – 1681) m. Tristram Hedges

Samuel (1638 Yarmouth, MA – c. 1719 Harwich, MA) m. Mary Bell

John (1640 Yarmouth, MA – 1714) m. Sarah Williams

ii. Sarah (1644 Yarmouth, MA – c. 1716 Yarmouth MA m. Nathaniel Covel – 6                        children

iii. William (1646 Yarmouth, MA – 1719 Chatham, MA) m. Mercy Williams -7                         children

Joseph (1647- Yarmouth, MA – c. 1730 Harwich, MA) m. Ruhumah Jones – 2                         children

The original settler, William Nickerson is my 9^th great grandfather in three different ways. The first one is Elizabeth, who married Robert Eldred/Eldredge in 1649, Yarmouth MA. The other two lines to William Nickerson, Senior, will be dealt with separately.

2^ND GENERATION

i. Elizabeth Nickerson married Robert Eldredge, although this name appears as Eldred at first. They had:

ia. Nicholas (1650-1702) m. Elizabeth Unknown in 1679 - 3 children

          Smith, William Christopher. A history of Chatham, Massachusetts: formerly the constablewick or village of Monomoit : with maps and illustrations and numerous genealogical notes. (Hyannis, Mass.: F.B. & F.P. Goss, 1989), 148-9.  “On April 30, 1702, he [Jonathan Vickery] went out in an open boat with a party of villages, probably on a fishing or whaling trip. The boat in some way was overturned, it is supposed, and all in the parter (sic.) were drowned. The names of his companions are nowhere given, but it is certain that Lieut. Nicholas Eldredge, William Cahoon and Edward Small  perished with him." [The footnote says that probate records state that they each died on April 30.]

Mary (1651-?) m. John Smith

Robert (1654-1732)

Hannah (1656-aft. 1706)

William (1656-1749)

Martha (1658-aft 1706)

Joseph (1662-1735) m. Elizabeth Jones

Bridget (1664-aft. 1706) m. William Long

Samuel (1666-?) m. Elizabeth Hedges

3^RD GENERATION

ia. Nicholas and Elizabeth Eldredge had 3 children:

          (Also to be noted at about this time the name has another spelling change and is seen as Eldridge.)

iia. Martha (c 1700-1740) m. (in 1723) Benjamin Snow (1701-1748) Mayflower descendant of Stephen Hopkins. All descendants of this couple can claim Mayflower descendancy. She was mentioned in her father’s will of 1702.

Elizabeth (c. 1685-1735)  m. Samuel Harding (c. 1686-c. 1735). Samuel was a Mayflower descendant through his mother Bethia Cooke. Francis Cooke was a Separatist and arrived in the new world on the Mayflower.

James – no further info

4^TH GENERATION

iia.  Martha and Benjamin Snow had 4 children all born in Eastham, MA.

Kezia (1724-?) She and Ruth were likely twins.

Ruth (1724-?)

Martha (1726-beg. 1776) m. Simeon Higgins and is also a descendant of Mayflower passenger Stephen Hopkins, through his mother Elizabeth Ring.

iiia.  Nathan (1732-1814 Nova Scotia) m. (in 1758) Mary “Polly” Horn (?-1814)

Next is iiia. Nathan Snow who married Mary “Polly” Horn in 1758. In some places I have seen her listed as Mary Polly, Polly being the last name. There was a name ‘Polle’ at the time that could have been her name. However, Find a Grave has her listed as Mary Horn with Polly as a middle, or perhaps, nickname. It is also entirely possible that she was a widow when she married Nathan and her maiden name was Mary Polle (Polly) and she had been married to a man named Horn. Unless further information comes to light, it’s unlikely that we will ever know the true identity of Nathan Snow’s wife.  Nathan and Mary were married in Eastham and at some time after that, departed New England for Barrington, Nova Scotia.

5^TH GENERATION

iiia. Nathan and Mary Snow had 12 children:

iva. Susannah (c 1757-1814) m. (in 1776) John Spinney (1755-1842)                                     – 8 children

Nathan (1761-1821) m. Mercy Smith

Benjamin (1763-1814) m. Sarah Smith

James (1763-?)

William (1765-1843)

Stephen (1767-?) m. Elizabeth Smith

Seth (1769-?) m. Rebecca Smith

John (1771-1824) m. (in 1794) Hannah Smith -1 child

Elizabeth (1773-?) m. (in 1794) Jonathan Smith

Hezekiah (1774 – 1818) m. Lydia Covell

Josiah (1778-?) m. Nancy Hipson

Howes Stewart (1783-1868) m. (in 1802) Sophia Smith

In the next generation, iva. Susannah Snow married John Spinney. There is some question about his birth. He was born aboard ship but it isn’t known if his parents were coming from England to settle in New England or if they had settled in Canada and were returning to New England for some purpose. Whatever the case may be, John Spinney was born on a ship headed for Marblehead MA and that is where his birth seems to have been recorded. Susannah and John were married in Barrington, Nova Scotia and had 8 children:

6^TH GENERATION

iva. Susannah and John Spinney had 8 children:

Thomas (1776-?) m. (in 1803) Sarah Dexter

Sarah (1779-?) m1. (in 1805) John Lyle; m2. (in 1794) Isaac Huskins

John (1784-1879) m. Mercy Atwood  - 5 children

Mary (1786-?) m. (in 1807) Theophilus Crowell

Susannah (1787-?) m. (in 1807) Nathaniel Smith

va. Elizabeth (1789-1874) m. (in 1809) Stephen Smith - 9 children

Deborah (1793-?) m. Joseph Atwood – 6 children

William Doherty (1799-?) m. (in 1822) Mary Unknown

va. Elizabeth Spinney married Stephen Smith in 1809 and had 9 children. From this point on the descendancy has already been described in my blog on the Ralph Smith Family.

The rest of the descent from va. Elizabeth and Stephen is:

Rachel Smith m. Samuel Scarr

Mary Ellen Scarr m. Henry Gordon Carmichael

Nora Carmichael m. Jesse Pye  -  my grandparents

This is the descent from ia. Elizabeth Nickerson and Robert Eldered/Eldredge/Eldridge.

Mayflower Families #6 Hopkins, by John D. Austin

http://www.mychatham.com/

http://mccurdyfamilylineage.com/ancestry/p1651.htm

The de la Mares in England

Using the premise that Robert de la Mare, The Norman, held lands in England during the reign of Edward the Confessor, it is easy to see how the family took up residence there after the Battle of Hastings. There is nothing to support the claim that William and Hugh FitzNorman de la Mare, brothers, were with William the Conqueror on Oct 12 1066. There are lists that say they were, but those lists were produced centuries after the fact. That’s not to say they didn’t fight in that war, it’s just not something that we can prove. They were given lands for some sort of service to the King, but we’ll probably never know what that service was. It would stand to reason that the eldest son, possibly named Robert de la Mare after his father, remained in Normandy to assume the duties of the land holder there. Younger sons would have been more adventurous and would likely want lands of their own that would not be available to them if they stayed in Normandy.

So in the years following the Battle of Hastings, the de la Mare men established themselves in several different counties in the south west of England.  Around the year 1070, several notations in various records make mention of the family. They are referred to as de la Mare, de Mara, Delemere, de Kilpec and FitzNorman. William FitzNorman seemed be centered in Herefordshire, with additional holdings in Shropshire (which was then known as Salopshire) and Gloucestershire. Hugh FitzNorman was one of five knights who held prominence in Cheshire, under the Earl of Cheshire, Hugh d’Avranches, and is listed as a grantee in the Palatinate of Cheshire. He is listed as de Mara or FitzNorman by George Ormerod in The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester. By 1086, the year of the Domesday Book, Hugh FitzNorman, also styled de Kilpec, held lands of Hugh d’Avranches, Earl of Cheshire, also known as Hugh Lupus, the Wolf. This last name was meant to reflect how the Welsh thought of him because of the ferocity of his attacks upon them. Hugh FitzNorman became Lord of Leigh (Lea) and held a large estate in Cheshire. He had a son, William FitzHugh FitzNorman and a grandson, Simon FitzWilliam FitzHugh. His line ended with this grandson and all lands and titles reverted to the descendants of Hugh’s brother, Ralph FitzNorman and the Barons of Montalt. Ralph was the Dapifer or Seneschal of the Palatinate of Cheshire. There was another brother, Roger FitzNorman also mentioned in Ormerod’s book. If Roger had family, it wasn’t discussed in this book, as the full focus was put on the Barons of Montalt.  The family name gradually changed to ‘de Monte-Alto.’ The seats of this Barony were located at Hawarden and Mold, where little or nothing remains of the manors.

                                                        The Cheshire countryside

As I’ve pointed out, the FitzNomans had holdings in more than one county. So far I’ve been able to find for William FitzNorman, 8 holdings in Herefordshire and 3 in Gloucestershire. For Hugh FitzNorman I have found 8 holdings in Cheshire.  I still have several more counties to search.  I shall return with more information.

The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, George Ormerod

Domesday Book, Thomas Hinde