NICKERSON, David Atkins U.S. Census 1800 Chatham, MA (REVISED 10/14/2021)

This family has been the most interesting and challenging for me to sort through thus far!

The progenitor of this family is William Nickerson, who was born in Norwich, England in 1604, immigrated to American in 1637 and settled in Chatham, MA. They were a seafaring family and without a doubt there are many interesting stories to unearth, but I am focusing here on the line(s) that came to Readfield.

In researching the Readfield Nickerson family I learned that David, the subject of this sketch, married a woman with the same last name. To further complicate the process his wife’s mother was also a Nickerson who married a Nickerson – all of them from Chatham, MA. So that raised my curiosity to see how they were all related.  I cannot begin to figure out their blood relationship other than saying that David and his wife Jedediah shared the same 4^th great-grandfather, William (noted above). But wait a minute – Jedediah and her mother also shared William as a 4^th great-grandfather. Then there is Jedediah’s father Constant Nickerson – who also shares William as a grandfather but in this case it is his 3^rd great grandfather. Phew! If you can tell me which cousin and how many times removed the Readfield Nickerson family members are you’re a genealogical wizard! I’m not good enough to sort through all that and I don’t think it really matters – other than to say it is probably good they got out of Chatham and met and married into some new bloodlines!

To begin, let me say that David, his wife, children and his father-in-law Constant Nickerson, Sr. moved to Readfield about 1802 at which time Constant was deeded property by Peter Norton.[i]

David Nickerson b. 10/6/1775 in Chatham, MA the eldest child of Jonathan and Susannah (Atkins) Nickerson – both of Chatham.  David m.1/30/1796 Jedediah[ii]  Nickerson in Chatham.  She b.1779 in Chatham d/o Constant and Phebe (Nickerson) Nickerson. Jedediah died 11/7/1804 in Readfield, leaving three young sons, their  youngest, Ansel, died 9 months before his mother age 8mos. David left their sons with his in-laws/their grandfather and returned to Chatham after his wife died. Perhaps he planned to return but never did as he died soon after. The two older sons moved to and died in Mercer, ME.

It is not known at this time where Jedediah and Ansel are buried. The boy’s grandfather Constant (noted above) mentioned the three surviving boys – Ebenezer, David and Jonathan – in his will in 1823.[iii] Constant and his wife raised their grandsons after their parents died.

Children of David and Jedediah (Nickerson) Nickerson:[iv]

1. Ebenezer b.7/29/1797 d.4/25/1887 Mercer, ME. m. 1819 Hannah Stain of Mt. Vernon, ME.  She b.1798 d/o John and Rebecca (Emerson) Stain. She d.8/2/1877 Adel, Iowa[v]
2. David b.7/4/1799 d.4/30/1883 Mercer, ME m.1818 Rebecca Bean. She b.1/8/1800 d/o Josiah and Lois (Emerson) Bean of Mt. Vernon. She d.4/23/1857 Mercer, ME
3. Jonathan b.12/7/1802 d.10/7/1880 Clinton, MA m.1826 Hannah Rollins. She b.7/8/1806 Belgrade, Me d/o George and Rebecca (Randall) Rollins. She d.2/8/1892 Lancaster, MA.
4. Ansel b.12/7/1804 d.7/20/1805 Readfield
   

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[i] Kennebec County Registry of Deeds: 6/9/1802 Deed Book 4 Page 195 from Peter Norton to Constant Nickerson

[ii]  Judith on the Readfield VR’s. Source:  To Those Who Led the Way: Readfield VR’s 1768-1913; self-published by Dale Potter Clark 2009; page 34

[iii] Stackpole’s History of Winthrop with Genealogical Notes by Keene and Young; pub. Heritage Books Inc. 1994

Bowie, MD; page 792

[iv] To Those Who Led the Way: Readfield VR’s 1768-1913; self pub. Dale Potter Clark 2009; page 34

[v] Ancestry.com, Web: Iowa, Find A Grave Index, 1800-2012 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012), www.ancestry.com, Database online.

www.ancestry.com for various records that are online