Nathaniel Dickinson (pioneer)

Nathaniel Dickinson (3 May 1601 – 16 June 1676) was an early English immigrant to America. Dickinson was born in Billingborough, Lincolnshire.[1] He married widow Anna Gull in the mid-1620s and they had at least twelve children, the first five of whom were born in England.[2] Although he was previously thought to have emigrated to America with the Winthrop Fleet, more recent research shows that he and his family likely emigrated between 1636, at which point they still appear in the parish register at Billingborough, and 1638, when they appear in the records in Wethersfield, Connecticut.[3] The family can be traced as early as 1564 in the Billingborough parish register, with the earliest known ancestor a Waters Dickinson, probably born about 1530.[4]

Nathaniel Dickinson
Born(1601-05-03)May 3, 1601
Billingborough, Lincolnshire, England
DiedJune 16, 1676(1676-06-16) (aged 75)
Hadley, Massachusetts, British America
NationalityEnglish
Known forA Founder of Wethersfield, Connecticut, Leading Founder of Hadley, Massachusetts
Spouse(s)Anna Gull
ChildrenJohn, Nathaniel, Elizabeth, Joseph, Thomas, Samuel, Hannah, Samuel, Obadiah, Nehemiah, Hezekiah, Azariah

Dickinson held several public offices. In Wethersfield, Connecticut, he served as de facto town clerk before being officially appointed in 1645. He served until 1659. He was a deputy to the Connecticut General Court from 1646 to 1659. Other positions he held included jury member of the Particular Court in 1642, selectman of Wethersfield in 1646, and deacon of the Wethersfield church.[5]

In the late 1650s, he and a group of fellow dissenters from the Wethersfield church organized a new settlement in Hadley, Massachusetts.[6] In 1660, Dickinson was once again appointed town clerk, this time of Hadley. He became the first permanent settler in the town and also surveyed the neighboring towns of Amherst, Belchertown, and Hatfield where he lived for a few years after moving to Hadley to help get the town started up. Back in the 1600s, those town lands included all towns Nathaniel surveyed along with Granby, and South Hadley.

Three of Nathaniel's sons, John, Joseph, and Azariah, were killed in King Philip's War in 1675 and 1676.[7] Nathaniel died shortly after them on June 16, 1676. It is likely that he was not killed by the Indians, but instead died of old age. He was buried in Old Hadley Cemetery, where there is a memorial and plaque. He was among the first Dickinsons in America.[8]

Nathaniel's ancestry was featured on season two, episode three (Philadelphia - Franklin Institute) of the American version of Genealogy Roadshow.

Notable descendants

References
  1. "Dickinson Family Association". Dickinson Family Association. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  2. Stott, Clifford L. (April 1998). "The Correct Origins of Nathaniel Dickinson and William Gull, Settlers of Wethersfield and Hadley". The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 152 (606): 161, 170–172.
  3. Stott, Clifford, L. (April 1998). "The Correct Origins of Nathaniel Dickinson and William Gull, Settlers of Wethersfield and Hadley". The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 152 (606): 164.
  4. Stott, Clifford, L. (April 1998). "The Correct Origins of Nathaniel Dickinson and William Gull, Settlers of Wethersfield and Hadley". The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 152 (606): 164.
  5. Stott, Clifford, L. (April 1998). "The Correct Origins of Nathaniel Dickinson and William Gull, Settlers of Wethersfield and Hadley". The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 152 (606): 168.
  6. Stott, Clifford, L. (April 1998). "The Correct Origins of Nathaniel Dickinson and William Gull, Settlers of Wethersfield and Hadley". The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 152 (606): 168.
  7. Dickinson, Frederick (1897). To the Descendants of Thomas Dickinson, Son of Nathaniel and Anna Gull Dickinson of Wethersfield, Connecticut, and Hadley, Massachusetts. Chicago: W.D. Grant. pp. 66–68. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  8. See "Dickinson Settlers in the United States in the 17th Century" at House of Names: Dickinson Family Crest, https://www.houseofnames.com/dickinson-family-crest
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