Dick Jacobs

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Re Nicholas Jacob of Hingham MA

There are a number of sources that identify Nicholas Jacob, the founder of this 
particular Jacobs line in America, as the son of one Richard Jacob and Winifred(e)
Chamber. However, I can find no reliable source that even suggests a connection to
that family. For one thing, Richard apparently died more than nine months prior to Nicholas' birth. For another, the Richard Jacob family was wealthy, almost certainly Church of England, and eventually produced the first Baronet Jacob (the title became defunct in the 18th century for lack of an heir), while Nicholas was clearly a religious dissenter, a loyal member of his congregation, and middle-class. He may have been a relative of Richard and Winifrede, but there is thus far no evidence, direct or indirect, to support that possibility.

While there are no extant birth records, Nicholas was probably born in the very early 17th century. There is no documentation regarding his place of birth, but East Anglia, more specifically the counties of Norfolk or Suffolk, seems likely.

What is known is that Nicholas married Mary Gilman, daughter of Edward Gilman, in 1622, probably in Hingham, Norfolk. Nicholas may have lived in the vicinity of Hingham his entire life, or moved there from a neighboring town or village. Mary, on the other hand, was clearly a native of Hingham. She was a granddaughter of one Edward Gilman, who married Rose Rysse on June 21, 1550, and left a house and land at "Halwicks," [possibly a reference to Halwick Manor in Thetford, Norfolk] to Mary's father of the same name.

We know that Nicholas and Mary had two children in England: John, baptized February 26,1629, and Mary, baptized May 11,1632, both in Hingham, Norfolk. Mary would therefore have been little more than a year old when the family set out for America.

Nicholas and family left Great Yarmouth in early May 1633 aboard the Elizabeth Bonaventure, John Graves, Master. 3 Among others in this group were Edmond Hobart, his wife Margaret, and children Nazareth, Edmond, Thomas, Joshua, Rebecca, and Sarah; Nicholas Jacob, his wife, and children John and Mary; Thomas Chubbock, wife Alice, and daughters Sarah and Rebecca.

By 1638, the family of Nicholas Jacob, including in-laws, was settled in Bare Cove (later Hingham). When they arrived, they found a group of settlers from England's West Country, primarily Devon and Dorset, who had arrived between 1630 and 1632. These were mostly prosperous farmers attracted to the New World for economic rather than religious reasons. Three of Nicholas' children married into this West Country group: Mary to John Otis, Jr., Hannah to Thomas Loring, and John to Margery Eames. 8 The following is an unattributed 1853 account of Nicholas' land ownership. "In June, 1635, there were granted to him [Nicholas] 6 acs. of Planting ground, upon 'weariall Hill.' June 4,1636, the first of the Great Lots next to Wey'h. [Weymouth] river was assigned to him; and a lot of 6 acs. 'at the head of the plain next to Edward Gillman, his bro. inlaw." He had also a house lot in Bachelor river [probably Bachelor's Row], which he sold to Mr. Gillman. ...July 6,1640, he was one of the 9 to divide Conohasset, where he had land."

While Nicholas Jacob was not particularly wealthy, he was definitely one of the leading members of the community. In 1640, he was licensed by the General Court to keep an "ordinary" or tavern in Hingham. He served on the town "rate committee", various church committees, and for several years was one of Hingham's two deputies to the General Court, a body that had been created in the 1630's to represent the views of all the freemen in the colony. This was the highest office, in most cases, to which any member of the lesser gentry could aspire. Only the most wealthy and politically influential could hope to become one of the magistrates, a small body of men that wielded enormous power in the colony.

Nicholas died on June 5,1657, leaving an estate of a little more than £393, an amount that made him about average for that time and place. His bequest to Mary, his wife, included "...the bed and bedding she vsually lyeth vpon...." A year or two later, Mary married John Beal, Senior, as his third wife. The William Lincoln House on North Street in Hingham (if it is still standing) is said to contain charred timbers from a house built in the mid-17th century by Nicholas.

Sources:

18/15/76 letter from Mary E. Lonsdale, official searcher of church records, Hingham, Norfolk. 2 The American Genealogist. Vol. 11. 3The Planters of the Commonwealth: 1620-40. Charles E. Banks. According to reliable sources, there were several similarly named ships in service between England and the east coast of America during this period. 4 Edmond Hobart was the father of Rev. Peter Hobart and a direct ancestor through his daughter Nazareth of Helen Miller (Foster) Jacobs. 5 Albion's Seed, Four British Folkways in America, David Hackett Fischer, Oxford Univ. Press, 1989.
6Watertown. Mass. Records. Vol. unknown, p. 99. 6 Watertown, Mass. Records, Vol. Unknown, p. 99. 7 Rev. Peck returned to England in 1646 and died ten years later. Norfolk in the Civil War, R.W. Ketton-Cremer, Faber & Faber, London 1969. 8 Hingham, Massachusetts, 1631-1661: An East Anglian Oligarchy in the New World, John J. Waters, Journal of Social History, June 1968. 9 A Historical Sketch of the Town of Hanover. Mass.. with Family Genealogies, by John S. Barry, 1853. 10 Massachusetts Bay: The Crucial Decade, Robt E. Wall, Jr., Yale Univ. 1972. 11 New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 8, 1854, p. 280.

12 Hingham. A Story of Its Early Settlement and Life. Its Ancient Landmarks. Its Historic Sites and Buildings, Old Colony Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1911.