John Skidmore (1643 - bef. 1680)

Born 11 Apr 1643 in Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Susannah (Davis) Skidmore — married about 1663 in Jamaica, Long Island, New York

Descendants

Died before 7 Jul 1680 before age 37 in Jamaica, Queens, Province of New York

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Biography

The birth on 11 April 1643 of John Skidmore, son of Thomas and Ellen, was recorded in Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[1]

John was an early English settler in Jamaica, Queens, Long Island under Dutch rule.

On 1 January 1663/4 he signed his name as one of the proprietors of Jamaica in a statement of allegiance addressed to Charles II. Long Island was under Dutch rule at this date and the men of Jamaica protested that their “soil being invaded and His Majesty’s rights usurpted by the Hollanders to the great scandal of government and discouragement of His Majesty’s hopeful plantation which we will for the future defend as Englishmen, just proprietors, and loyal subjects.”

His name appears frequently thereafter in the Jamaica town minutes. On 5 February 1663/4 it is recorded that all of the town present “have given John Skidmore their share of the smith’s tools.”

At a town meeting on 14 September 1668 “the town have voted and concluded to take the best &
prudents course as may be for the procuring of a minister as soon as convenient time will permit.” This entry is signed “By me, John Skidmore, Clark.”

Although he continued to act as clerk it is not until 4 April 1670 that we find him elected to the office; on that date “it was voted and concluded that John Skidmore should be town clerk for the present year and the town is to give him twelve shillings for his pains.”

His home lot in Jamaica was on the north side of the burying ground (now Prospect Cemetery at
159th Street near Jamaica Avenue). This was confirmed to him on 23 May 1673 the record noting that he was to leave a “sufficient highway to the burying place.”

On 18 April 1673 it was agreed at a meeting of the constables and overseers of the town “that Thomas Smith and John Skidmore be
 Waywardings for this present year to call so many men as they shall see cause or need require for repairing and clearing the highway.”

John Skidmore died before 7 July 1680 when his estate was inventoried.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts to 1850, Volume 1, page 645: SKIDMORE, John, s. of Thomas and Ellen, Apr. 11, 1643.
2. ↑ Pelletreau, William S. Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York. New York: [Printed for the Society], 1893. 106-107.

• Pelletreau, William S. Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York. New York: [Printed for the Society], 1893. 106-107.

• York, N.Y., and Josephine C. Frost. Records of the Town of Jamaica, Long Island, New York, 1656-1751. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Long Island Historical Society, 1914. 17, 228-229.

• Hawley, Emily Carrie. A Genealogical and Biographical Record of the Pioneer Thomas Skidmore (E.C. Hawley, Brookfield, Conn., 1911) Page 31-2

• Skidmore, Warren. Thomas Skidmore (Scudamore), 1605-1684, of Westerleigh, Gloucestershire, and Fairfield, Connecticut: His Ancestors and His Descendants to the Ninth Generation. Akron, Ohio: W. Skidmore, 1980. 15-17.

• THOMAS SKIDMORE (SCUDAMORE), 1605-1684, OF WESTERLEIGH, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, AND FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT; his ancestors, and descendants to the ninth generation; by WARREN SKIDMORE

• John Skidmore, "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915"

• "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VQXN-ZPK : 4 December 2014), John Skidmore, 11 Apr 1643; citing CAMBRIDGE,MIDDLESEX,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 496,864.

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Skidmore-153 created through the import of JOSEPH~1.GED on Jul 14, 2012 by Joseph Stalnaker. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Joseph and others.
• Thanks to Mike Muncy for starting this profile.