The Dickerman genealogy books of 1897 and 1922 appear careful in their claims and contain much information backed up by other sources. For example, the authors suggest that Thomas Dickerman and his family might have come to Boston with Richard Mather on the James in 1635, as later claimed on many Web sites, but they indicate this is not proven (38). The passenger list for this voyage of the James, while showing Richard Mather, does not include the Thomas Dickerman family (39).
This omission is unfortunate since the complete families of all passengers are listed and we could have seen if Hannah was included. On the other hand, there is ample independent evidence that Thomas and his family were in Boston perhaps as early as 1636, when he may be listed in the church annuals, and certainly by 1637 when the birth of his son, Issac, is recorded and when he participated in the division of land in Dorchester (40). He continues after that date as an active and well-documented member of the community (41).
The Dickerman genealogy authors could not find any information on Thomas and Ellen Dickerman in England; the only exception is the listing of the births of their two oldest sons in 1623 (Thomas) and 1634 (Abraham). The common assumption on many Web sites is that Thomas and Ellen were married in 1621. However, the church records in Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire indicate that Thomas Dickerman and Ellen Whittington were married on October 10, 1631. This date is found in both the 1911 publication of marriages in Little Missenden and the original handwritten record (42). While the printed version of Little Missenden parish records only includes marriages, the original handwritten version also includes christenings and burials. However, the handwriting for the years 1620-1635 is much harder to read for christenings than marriages, and some of the pages are damaged.
It was not possible for me to determine with certainty if the christening of Thomas, Abraham, or Hannah is listed or not listed. However, if not listed here, they also could have been christened in another parish for a variety of reasons. It is also possible that the date for the birth of Thomas was actually 1633, not 1623 but there is no primary evidence for either date. The birth dates of his children (1653-1668), at least make this 1633 birth date plausible (43). Thomas, the younger, also could have been the child of a prior marriage or relationship for either Thomas or Ellen. The same could be said for Hannah, if she existed. What is clear is that Hannah Dickerman could not have been born during the 1631 marriage of Thomas and Ellen Dickerman and then produced the first child of William Ives in 1642. (Continued)
37. McGhan, Judith, Suffolk County Wills, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, Co., 1984.
38. Families of Dickerman Ancestry, p. 4.
39. Banks, Charles Edward, The Planters of the Commonwealth 1620 – 1640 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co.), p. 134-135. Thomas Dickerman is also not listed in other sailings of the James: Planters of the Commonwealth 1620 – 1640, p. 136-140, 151-153; Tepper, Michael, New World Immigrants (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980), p. 59-60.
40. The Dickerman family book indicates he was on the church rolls in Dorchester in 1636 (Families of Dickerman Ancestry, p. 3-4), and the book provides a copy of the land division statement from March 18, 1637, p. 5. Meredith Colkert lists a 1636 arrival date for Thomas Dickerman but cites the Dickerman genealogy as the major source along with the Jacobus article mentioned earlier – Colkert, Meredith, Founders of Early American Families (Cleveland: The General Court of the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, 1985), p. 95. Issac Dickerman’s birth is listed as (9th) 1637 in A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston containing Dorchester Births, Marriages, and Deaths to the End of 1825, p. 2. Farmer also lists 1636 as the date of Thomas Dickerman’s arrival in Dorchester in Farmer, John, Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984 – first published in Lancaster, MA 1829) p. 84.
41. Thomas Dickermen was admitted as a freeman in Boston on March 14, 1638-39, NEGHR, 1849, 3, 96. He died on March 11, 1657, “Boston Records,” NEGHR, 1857, 11, p. 332.
42. The printed version of the Little Misseden marriages 1559 to 1812 is found in Phillimore, W. P. W., Buckinghamshire Parish Registers, Vol. VII (London: Phillimore & Co., 1911), with the marriage of Thomas Dickerman and Ellen Whittington on p. 104. A microfilm of the original handwritten register of Little Missenden christening, marriages, and burials from 1559 – 1718 was obtained from the LDS and viewed at their Cambridge family history center. The hand written parish records are listed chronically, as marriages occurred, so there is little room for 1631 to be a mistake for 1621. We can only speculate on the origin of the mistaken 1621 date in most Web sites, perhaps to cover the real or mistaken date of the birth of Thomas, the son. Banks also reports the 1631 marriage date for Thomas and Ellen Dickerman through the same Little Missenden records in; Jacobus, Donald Lines, “Dickerman Origin in England” American Genealogist, 26, 165-167.
43. Thomas2 Dickerman first married by 1653 to Elizabeth. While the marriage is not recorded, her death is listed “Elizabeth Dickerman, wife of Thomas 10 (3) 1671” in Births, Marriages and Deaths in the Town of Malden, Massachusetts 1649 – 1850 (Cambridge: University Press, 1903) p. 340. There is a second listing of her death on May 5, 1671 in Flagg, Frances G., “Early Malden Records” NEGHR, 1852, p. 241. Their children (Sarah, Lydia, Thomas, and Hannah) are also listed in Births, Marriages and Deaths in the Town of Malden, Massachusetts 1649 – 1850, p. 22. After Elizabeth died, Thomas remarried and had one child, Anna, listed in “Births, Marriages, and Deaths in Malden,” NEGHS, 1856, 10, p. 235. Thomas’ death is listed as September 6, 1685 in Births, Marriages and Deaths in the Town of Malden, Massachusetts 1649 – 1850, p. 340.
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