Who was William Ives' Wife?: Part Five

Hannah Not Claimed by the Dickermans

One problem with the Hannah Dickerman theory, in addition to the lack of any primary evidence, is that the Dickermans do not appear to claim her. In 1897, Edward Dwight Dickerman and George Sherwood Dickerman published Families of Dickerman Ancestry. Descendents of Thomas Dickerman, an Early Settler of Dorchester, Massachusetts, (28) the book referred to in the 1906 Boston Evening Transcript posting mentioned earlier. This book was praised when it first came out in the “Book Notices” section of the NEGHR (29). It was revised and re-published in 1922. Both editions list Thomas and Ellen Dickerman of Dorchester as having four sons, but no daughter (30).

One of their sons, also Thomas, did have a daughter named Hannah Dickerman but she was born in 1659, after William Ives died. Another son, Abraham, married Mary Cooper, in Dorchester. She was the daughter of John Cooper of New Haven and moved there to be in the same community as his wife’s family (31). Abraham became a very active participant in the community and served many roles. He also became directly involved with William Bassett when his daughter, Mary, married William’s son, Samuel, as mentioned earlier. A closer connection was later established between the Ives, Bassett, and Dickerman families through several subsequent marriages (32).

Other members of both the Ives and Bassett families married Dickermans and the family connections are presented in the 1897 edition of the Dickerman book and expanded on in the 1922 edition (33). As they trace the family lines, the authors state that William Bassett married the widow of William Ives and that her son, Samuel Bassett, married Mary Dickerman, daughter of Abraham Dickerman (34). It would seem almost certain that if the Dickerman authors knew she was Hannah Dickerman, a daughter of the first Thomas Dickerman, or connected to the Dickermans in any way they would have mentioned this. Instead, she is simply referred to as the wife of Ives and Bassett with no first or maiden name. This book does not appear to avoid the names of females, as many are mentioned (35). However, this omission may indicate that the Dickerman authors were simply unaware of her, not that she did not exist.

James Savage, in his 1860-1861 work on the genealogy of early New Englanders, agrees with the Dickerman authors and only lists sons for Thomas and Ellen Dickerman, as do the files of Colonel Charles Banks as reported by Jacobus (36). Thomas Dickerman’s will of 1657 does not mention any of his children, so this document does not help (37). More on this topic of the Dickermans tomorrow.

References

28. Listed under Book Notices of the NEGHR, 1897, 51, p. 239, is the Families of Dickerman Ancestry. Descendents of Thomas Dickerman, an Early Settler of Dorchester, Massachusetts. Prepared and published by Edward Dwight Dickerman and George Sherwood Dickerman, (New Haven: the Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Press, 1897). The same publisher issued the 1922 edition, NEGHR, 1922, 76, p. 216.

29. There was a brief comment appearing later in the same NEGHR Volume: “The book on the Dickerman family is one that any family might be proud of. The descendents of Thomas Dickerman of Dorchester have been traced with remarkable success…” NEGHR, 1897, 51, p. 241. Jacobus also speaks well of the book, in: Jacobus, Donald Lines, “Dickerman Origin in England” American Genealogist, 26, 165-167.

30. The Dickerman genealogy lists the four sons as: Thomas, Abraham, Issac, and John, Families of Dickerman Ancestry, p. 14. The birth of Thomas’ third son, Issac, born in Boston is recorded in A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston containing Dorchester Births, Marriages, and Deaths to the End of 1825 (Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1890). p. 2 and “Early Records of Boston” NEGHR, 1851, 5, p. 98. The Dickerman genealogy also lists a younger son, John, born 1644 and died young, p. 14, but he is not found in the Dorchester vital records. The New England activities of the two older sons, Thomas and Abraham, born in England, are well documented (see below).

31. Their marriage date is listed as February 10, 1658 in the A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston containing Dorchester Births, Marriages, and Deaths to the End of 1825, p. 20. Abraham and Mary received a significant grant of land in New Haven from her father John Cooper; the original transaction is reproduced in Families of Dickerman Ancestry, p. 144-145. Abraham’s involvement in the community is documented in several sources including Dexter, Franklin (Ed.), New Haven Town Records 1662-1684. New Haven: Haven Colony Historical Society, 1919, e.g., p. 220, 261, 285, 289, 337, 378, 404. He is listed as a proprietor of New Haven in 1685, “Proprietors of New Haven, CT” NEGHR, 1847, 1, p. 157.

32. For example, Hannah 4 Bassett (Abraham3, Samuel2, William1) married Jeremiah 5 Ives (Jonathan4, Samuel3, Joseph2, William1) on June 7, 1738 in New Haven and her grandfather Samuel 2 Bassett, as discussed, married Mary 3 Dickerman (Abraham 2, Thomas 1). In addition, Sarah 5 Hitchcock (Hannah 4, John 3, John 2, William 1) grand daughter of John Bassett, married Elam 5 Ives (James 4, Ebenezer 3, Joseph 2, William 1) on May 9, 1790. These connections are recorded in the Dickerman genealogy, Families of Dickerman Ancestry, p. 158 -163, as well as many other sources, including the vital records of the relevant towns. The marriage of Jeremiah Ives and Hannah Bassett is listed as June 7, 1768 in Vital Records of New Haven 1649-1850, p. 412.

33. Families of Dickerman Ancestry, p. 160, 163.

34. Families of Dickerman Ancestry, p. 156, 163.

35. For example, all the female and male children of Abraham and Mary Cooper Dickerman are listed. Families of Dickerman Ancestry, p. 156.

36. Savage only names three of Thomas Dickerman’s sons: Thomas, Abraham, and Issac, Savage, James, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981. (Vol. 2, p, 47). Savage also does not name the wife of William Bassett (Vol. 1, p. 136) and William Ives (Vol. 2, p. 525-526) in his coverage of these two men. Banks also only lists the same three sons for Thomas Dickerman. His work is covered in: Jacobus, Donald Lines, “Dickerman Origin in England” American Genealogist, 26, 165-167.