who was born in 1837 and who died in 1876. When I was younger all of us knew about Wild Bill Hickok thanks in large part to numerous movies and TV shows that featured this man especially the 1936 movie titled
starring the outstanding and then very popular actor named Gary Cooper. Fortunately for my cousin Wild Bill, his name and his often very make-believe stories still show up in movies, TV shows, novels, and even in comic books. While this chapter of our blog is not about Wild Bill Hickok, we thought that it might be interesting to repeat a brief description of his life that we have copied from the Find A Grave website:
Wow, anyway James Butler Hickok was or is my 6th cousin, 4x removed and we share as our common ancestor his 5th great grandfather and my 9th great grandfather, William Hickok (?-1645), whose life story as we know it shall begin this new chapter in our blog. Incidentally, the spelling of our ancestor's surname in historical documents is all over the place including Hickox, Hitchcock, Hickox, Hickock, and more but just to keep it simple we are going to stick with the more modern spelling of the family name, Hickok.
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| Voyage to America in 1635 |
Not surprisingly we know little about the early life of my 9th great grandfather William Hickok including not knowing the names of his parents nor exactly when and where he was born, other than we know that it was in England. There are numerous websites online especially Ancestry.com, that name his parents and his birth date and location, but most of that information appears to be just guesses. We really just do not know his background. It is also further recorded that William sailed on the ship "
Plaine Jane" that departed from England in 1635 headed for Virginia. He is listed in the ship records as "William Hitchcock" age 27. While this at first appears to be nonsense since we know that William immigrated to New England, what is interesting is that a number of the other passengers onboard the
Plaine Jane besides our William also ended up in New England. This fact might suggest that the ship never intended on sailing to Virginia in the first place. From what we understand there were some restrictions about who was allowed to emigrate to New England and one of these restrictions was most likely that one must be a Puritan with a good background and a certain amount of wealth. There is no evidence that William Hickok met any of these requirements and the fact that soon after his arrival in America, he left the strongly Puritan area of Boston and moved to Connecticut might suggest that he did not emigrate for religious reasons as did so many others.
It is generally accepted that William Hickok met and married my 9th great grandmother in the year in 1641. Here again we know nothing for certain about my great grandmother's background other than that her name was Elizabeth. There are some websites and family trees that suggest that her maiden name was
Elizabeth Coles or Cole and that she emigrated to the New World on the ship "Bachelor" in 1635. She was listed in the ship records as a "maidservant" to the Lyon (or Lion) Gardner family. If this is accurate this is fascinating since
Lyon Gardner (1599-1663) and his wife
Mary are my 12th great grandparents. Lyon was an officer in the English army who served in the Netherlands. He apparently was a military engineer and was later hired to serve for four years at the mouth of the Connecticut River in America to build a fort and establish a village which he named Saybrook. His maidservant, Elizabeth Coles, was listed in the ship's records as having been born in 1621. Who knows for certain if this Elizabeth Coles is our great grandmother. One thing that we do know however, about my Lyon family and Lyon Gardner is that he was an early settler in Connecticut and that his first two children were born in Saybrook, Connecticut in 1636 and 1638. The family later moved to Long Island where they remained for the rest of their lives. Incidentally their home on Long Island was actually off the northwestern coast of the island on a small island still known today as "Gardiners Island." This history of the Lyon family might suggest that their maidservant Elizabeth Coles may have accompanied the Gardner family to Connecticut where she may have eventually met her future husband. What is known is that in late 1636 the Pequot Indians attacked what was then Fort Saybrook, and it is entirely possible that Elizabeth Coles was among a group of people that following the Indian war vacated the area in 1637 or 1638 and moved north up the Connecticut River possibly to Hartford that had been settled only a few years earlier. It is certainly possible that William Hickok was among the first group of settlers in Hartford around that same time period although he is not listed as an original settler of Hartford. If this is accurate, then William would have met his future wife in Hartford sometime in the late 1630s or very early 1640s. Another interesting coincidence is that one of the original founders of Hartford was a man by the name of Samuel Gardner who was born in 1615. Whether or not he was related to my great grandfather Lyon Gardner and his family living in Saybrook is unknown but it is very possible that Samuel and Lyon Gardner were brothers or cousins.
Unfortunately or at least adding to the confusion, there are other websites and family trees that suggest that my great grandmother's maiden name was really Elizabeth Stacy who was born in 1624 and who emigrated to America with her parents Simon and Elizabeth Clerke Stacy around 1635. The family soon moved to Ipswich located about 35 miles north of Boston. Assuming that Elizabeth Stacy was still living in Ipswich around 1641 when she was around 17 years old, it is hard to imagine that William Hickok met her there and they later married and then moved to Connecticut, but then again, who knows. We are going to have to accept that my 9th great grandparents' names are simply William and Elizabeth (unknown) Hickok.
It would appear that William and his new wife Elizabeth moved to the new community of Farmington shortly following their marriage in 1641. The community of Farmington located about 10 miles west of Hartford, had been established by residents of Hartford only a year earlier following their purchase of the land from the local Tunix Indian tribe. William and Elizabeth Hickok are thus credited with being among the founding residents of Farmington. Farmington has the distinction of being the oldest inland community west of the Connecticut River and being the twelfth oldest community in the future State of Connecticut. Some of the earliest of the communities of Connecticut include Windsor (1633), Wethersfield (1634), Hartford (1636), Saybrook (1636), and New Haven (1637). It is estimated that by around 1637 nearly 1,000 people had moved from Massachusetts to Connecticut including many of my ancestors. Our Hickok ancestors undoubtedly soon constructed a small log cabin on their new property in Farmington and quickly cleared the land, planted crops, and most likely raised some farm animals. Their life of course would have been very difficult as it was for all of the original settlers of Farmington and other early rural communities. Nevertheless they were to have two sons born within a few years of moving to their new home,
Samuel Hickok who was born in 1643 and Joseph who was born in 1645. Samuel is my 8th great grandfather and his brother Joseph is the 4th great grandfather of our cousin Wild Bill Hickok. Both boys would have been born in their parents small home and undoubtedly without the benefit of a doctor overseeing their births.
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| Multiple early deaths like smallpox |
One of the websites that we reviewed while trying to learn more about our Hickok ancestors described the huge problem that all early settlers had with life in America. This same problem was undoubtedly an issue worldwide. The problem was the frequent and rapid spreading of diseases that caused multiple deaths due to such illnesses as smallpox, measles, influenzas, whooping cough, and other diseases for which there was no cure. Larger cities were of course the most vulnerable and in a city like Boston in the 1600s a spread of a disease like smallpox might have led to the death of hundreds. Unfortunately even small rural communities like Farmington were also vulnerable. William Hickok died sometime in late 1645 undoubtedly as a result of some great sickness that had hit his area. We are not sure of his exact age in 1645 although he was likely still in his 20s or early 30s. His two sons were still babies and Elizabeth was in her mid-20s. Very sad but not at all that uncommon. Fortunately for my great grandmother, she remarried soon after William's death, a man by the name of William Adams in 1647 and together they had two children. But here again the spread of diseases once more hit the family and William Adams succumbed to the effect of his illness and died on 18 July 1655 followed only a few weeks later by the death of Elizabeth on 3 August 1655. The four children living in their family's home, now ages 3 to 12, were suddenly left alone in the world. One other comment is worth mentioning with respect to the plaques that kept hitting the New World in the 1600s. While the white people that had immigrated from Europe and England had a certain amount of resistance to the various germs that were causing the deaths particularly since they were responsible for carrying the germs across the ocean in the first place, the local Indians had absolutely no resistance. It is easy to believe that these new white immigrants were stronger from a military standpoint that the native American Indians as they did after all carry guns, in reality one of the main reasons for the Indians inability to prevent the loss of their land was that their population was being devastated by illnesses and deaths. A great sadness that is often overlooked.
There are no records that exist or at least that we could find, that tell us what happen to my then 12-year old 8th great grandfather Samuel Hickok when his mother and his then step-father died in 1655. We only know that at around the age of 24, Samuel married an 18-year old girl named
Hannah Upson who also lived with her family in Farmington. What we find interesting is that Hannah's father,
Thomas Upson, who also happens to be my 9th great grandfather, also died of an epidemic illness in Farmington around the same time period as Samuel Hickok's mother and his step-father. Thomas Upson's wife
Elizabeth Fuller Upson, my 9th great grandmother, was fortunate to have escaped death during this epidemic and almost immediately following her husband's death she married a man named Edmund Scott. Now here comes a little bit of speculation. Samuel Hickok and his brother and his step-sister and step-brother having lost their parents were undoubtedly sent to live with different families in Farmington. In the case of William he was possibly "adopted" by Edmund Scott and his new wife Elizabeth Upson Scott along with all of their family including Elizabeth's then 9-year old daughter Hannah Upson. This being the case, Hannah and Samuel grew up together, became wonderful friends and then more, and on 25 October 1664 they married. Pure speculation of course. Incidentally Hannah's father Thomas Upson, is credited with being one of the original founders of Hartford, Connecticut having first settled there in 1638. He shortly thereafter moved to the new settlement later to be called Farmington, in the early 1640s and he too is credited with being one of the founders of Farmington. Thomas Upson did not actually marry Elizabeth Fuller, who was to be his second wife, until early 1647 and there is some evidence via a court record dated 21 August 1646 that Thomas and Elizabeth may have given birth to a daughter prior to their marriage. It was implied in the court records that "
Elizabeth was sentenced to be severely corrected for an offense against morality" which certainly implies that she did something morally wrong. The exact date of Hannah Upson's birth is not known but it is usually noted as being sometime in 1646 or maybe before her parents marriage. Not that it really matters.
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| Waterbury on the Naugatuck River |
Samuel and Hannah Upson Hickok were to have eleven children born between the years 1668 and 1692 including their first child and my 7th great grandfather
Samuel Hickok Jr. It always comes as a surprise to see families during this period of history up and move from their homes especially when the location of their new homes was in a total wilderness area previously occupied only by Indians. The defeat of the Indians during the King Philip's War that took place between 1675 and 1676, meant that more free land suddenly became available in western Connecticut. This opening obviously attracted new settlers who desired more land for their families and for farming. Nevertheless, despite the obvious difficulties created by moving, Samuel and Hannah along with their children and around twenty-five other Farmington families moved on or shortly following the year 1677 to a new area originally known as Mattatuck and later to be known in 1686 as the town of Waterbury located about 20 miles southwest of Farmington and around 33 miles southwest of Hartford. This area was extremely attractive to these new settlers as it was located on the Naugatuck River and the available land was in a large valley mostly void of trees and surrounded by hills. At the time of their move the oldest Hickok child who was my 7th great grandfather was only around nine or ten years old. Samuel Hickok's name is mentioned frequently in a book written by Henry Bronson and published in 1858 titled "The History of Waterbury." Also acknowledged in the book as original settlers of Waterbury were Samuel's brother Joseph and his brother-in-law and his wife's brother, Stephen Upson.
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Early Map of Waterbury (Mattatuck)
"Serj Samuel Hickox" name on map
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While there are not a lot of details in the various historical books and documents, Samuel Hickok apparently became a fairly prominent and influential man in his new community. In May of 1680 he was one of only two men who were selected to be their community's "townsmen" and he apparently held the position for a number of years. Records also show that he was appointed as a sergeant in their local militia referred to in documents as a "first train-band." There are no records that we uncovered that indicated whether he ever engaged in any battles or wars. Their Train-Band was formed in 1689 and their local group of only 32 soldiers was headed up by a Lieutenant
John Stanley who just happens to be my 9th great grandfather and whose name also appears on the above map of early settlers in Waterbury. It was a small world. Anyway, Samuel is known to have owned land both in Waterbury as well as in Farmington at the time of his death and according to his will he was fairly wealthy leaving 434 pounds to his family. He is also credited according to the Waterbury history book with having one of the nicer homes in the area which makes us somewhat curious as to what might have happened to their home following the major flood that occurred in Waterbury in 1691 when the Naugatuck River overflowed. Fortunately for Samuel and his family some of his wealth was obtained following the settlement of his father-in-law's will in 1671 which may have helped pay for some of the flood damage. Unfortunately for his community and especially for his family, Samuel died somewhat unexpectedly in March of 1694 at the fairly young age of only 51. Samuel's youngest son had only been born a few years earlier so obviously his wife Hannah, my grandmother, was left alone at a still fairly young age to raise her younger children and manage their home. Fortunately for Hannah she was surrounded by friends and some of her children were in or nearing adulthood and one son had already married. She was undoubtedly well cared for until her death in 1707 at the age of 61 years old. At the time of Hannah's death the population of Waterbury had grown to around 200 people of which 10 were her surviving sons and daughters and around 24 were her grandchildren. Her family was obviously a major part of the population of the soon to be growing community of Waterbury. In 1707 the population of Connecticut was approaching 36,000 making it the fourth largest of the futures states behind Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts. Incidentally, while the next part of our story deals primary with Samuel's oldest son, Samuel Jr, our 7th great grandfather, we might mention that another of his sons and Samuel Jr's younger brother, a man named William Hickok (or Hickock) (1673-1737) has the dubious distinction of being Waterbury's first slave owner. Not much of a distinction by today's standards but apparently on the positive side he was at the time also fairly wealthy.
Samuel Hickok Jr, was around 22 years old in 1690 when he married 21 year old
Elizabeth Plumb daughter of
John and Elizabeth (Norton) Plumb from Milford, Connecticut. Exactly how Samuel and Elizabeth met is a mystery as Milford and Waterbury are around 30 miles apart which was quite a distance back in the late 1600s. The fact that the families may not have known each other might suggest that it was an arranged marriage which in 1690 might not have been that unusual. On the other hand both settlements sat on the shores of the Naugatuck River and its contributory the Housatonic River which would have greatly reduced the difficulty in travelling between the two communities. John Plumb's grandfather and my 9th great grandfather,
Robert Plumb (1617-1655), emigrated with his father from County Essex, England to America around 1635 and he is credited with being one of the earliest settlers in Milford in 1639. His son John Plumb was born in Milford in 1648 and he married Elizabeth Norton in 1668. Elizabeth's family as turns out lived in Farmington, Connecticut which is almost 50 miles from Milford so here again is another example of how two individuals who lived so far apart were able to meet each other and eventually wed. We know very little about the Plumb family other than according to an early historian named James Savage, "
he (John Plumb)
was a man of distinction."
Unfortunately once again there are not a lot of details about the life of my 7th great grandparents Samuel and Elizabeth Plumb Hickok. It is written that at the age of only 18 he was granted a three acre parcel of land which would certainly suggest that even at a young age he was highly respected. There are also other records reporting other land grants and home construction but we believe that the most interesting record lists him as the first settler in 1702 of a settlement later known as Naugatuck located about six miles or so south of Waterbury. This distinction is noted on a historical marker in Naugatuck as shown to the left.
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| An Old Fulling Mill |
Samuel is also recorded as having built a sheep wool mill in 1709 on a small river known as Fulling Mill Brook that flows westward just north of the Naugatuck settlement into the much larger Naugatuck River. Incidentally the word "
Fulling" is defined on Wikipedia as "
the cleansing of cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker." Samuel and Elizabeth also built a home next to Samuel's Fulling Mill where they eventually raised ten children including their last child, a daughter named Silence Hickok who was born in September of 1613. Silence is my 6th great grandmother. Her name might suggest that she was very noisy as a baby and her mother was forced to yell "SILENCE." Wonder if it worked? Unfortunately beginning around October of 1712 another "
Great Sickness" sweep through the Waterbury/Naugatuck area and it is written that the sickness killed around 10% of the population and left many others seriously ill. The disease raged until around September of 1713 but not before it killed our great grandfather Samuel on June 3rd in 1713. One of Samuel's and Elizabeth's sons also died as a result of the disease.
Elizabeth Plumb Hickok was in her early 40s when her husband died and she was left with at least seven surviving children ranging in age between a few months old to around 20 years old. It is likely that all of her children were still living at home. Elizabeth lived until the age of 77 but we know nothing about her life following the death of her husband other than she undoubtedly continued to raise her children. Her youngest child, my 6th great grandmother Silence was 24 years old when she married
Abraham Bennett in 1737. Her mother who was then around 68 years old, undoubtedly attended her youngest daughter's wedding as she had the weddings of all of her other children.
My 6th great grandfather Abraham Bennett was around 6 years old when he moved with his parents and siblings in 1621 from Fairfield, Connecticut located down on the Long Island Sound up to Ridgefield, Connecticut located about 37 miles west of Silence Hickok's home in Waterbury. Ridgefield had been first settled back in 1708 but despite the Bennett's later arrival, Abraham's father,
James Bennett (1675-1725), my 7th great grandfather, apparently was fairly wealthy as he was thus able to purchase a large section of land in the area. Obviously the family does not own the same property today but nevertheless the Bennett name is still well known as there is a road in the Ridgefield area named Bennett's Farm Road and a state park by the name of Bennett's Pond State Park. Abraham Bennett's great grandfather and my 9th great grandfather,
James Bennett (1618-1659) settled in Fairfield back in 1644 around five years following the founding of the settlement in 1639. Grandpa James is believed to have sailed from England and arrived in Massachusetts on or before 1639. Whatever the date of his arrival, he is recorded as marrying my great grandmother,
Hannah Wheeler, (1617-1659) in Concord, Massachusetts in 1639.
Abraham and Silence Hickok Bennett were to have around eleven children born between the years 1738 and 1767 including their son
Abraham Bennett Jr, my 5th great grandfather, who was born in 1742. While the records are very unclear, the Bennett family eventually moved west into the future State of New York to a place later to be known as Warwick, in the future County of Orange. Warwick was first settled in 1764 so the family moved there sometime after this date. During the American Revolution Warwick was known to be the site of a Continental Army encampment and the records of the encampment show that both Abraham and his son Abraham were listed as Revolutionary War soldiers. Abraham Sr. would have been in his 60s during this period and it is doubtful that he actually fought in any battles although their Orange County Militia unit did fight at the Battle of White Plains and at the disastrous Battle of Minisink, so who knows. Anyway, Abraham died after the Revolutionary War around 1790 and his wife and my grandmother Silence Hickok Bennett died in 1795 thus ending the last of my Hickok ancestors. My relationship to my Hickok ancestors is shown below:
6th great grandparents: Silence Hickok m Abraham Bennett
5th great grandparents: Abraham Bennett m Jersuha Wanzer
(1742-1795) (1750-1839)
4th great grandparents: Comfort Bennett m Abigail Miller
(1781-1864) (1787-1872)
3rd great grandparents: Sally Bennett m Joseph Livesay
(1814-1881) (1806-1882)
2nd great grandparents: Ellen Livesay m David Reynolds
(1841-1917) (1836-1899)
Great grandparents: Ella Reynolds m Henry Spaulding
(1863-1935) (1863-1889)
Grandparents: Helen Spaulding m Charles S Baker
(1887-1937) (1885-1952)
Parents: Charles A Baker m Marian Patterson
(1916-2999) (1916-1973)
Living generation: Charles A Baker Jr
Anne Baker Fanton
Joan Patterson Baker
And so ends another story . . . .
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