Samuel Dickinson (abt. 1754 - 1841)

Born about 11 Aug 1754 in Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Lois (Willard) Dickinson — married 19 Jun 1777 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Descendants

Died 29 Nov 1841 at about age 87 in Harvard, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Christopher Childs [send private message]

Biography

Samuel Dickinson was born at Groton, Massachusetts Bay, most probably in the summer of 1754, a son of James Dickinson and Sarah (Stickney) Dickinson, who moved to the area from Rowley; Samuel married Lois Willard at Lancaster in 1777. A farmer, he died, aged close to 90 (the age entered by a clerk on his handwritten death record, though the printed record has 88 and his gravestone reads "Aet. 88"), at nearby Harvard in 1841.

Research Notes

While George and Sarah Dickinson are known to have been living in neighboring Harvard, and have offspring there between 1738 and 1750, there is a Groton record identifying the parents of Samuel as James and Sarah (Stickney) Dickinson; James's 1754 passing is recorded at Groton, under the misspelled "James Dickerson" -- age 38 ("39th Year"). His death occurred on 5 July, about six weeks before Samuel appears to have been born, though the town's record of his birth lacks a final digit in the year and it is possible he was born earlier in the 1850s. Little else has been found about James in Groton beyond the record of Samuel's arrival, and his father's death record:

"DICKERSON... James, July 5, 1754, a. 39 y."^[1]

There is also a single reference to James's wife, Sarah, joining the Groton church, at https://books.google.com/books?id=L-FYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA47&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false .

Because of an error in reading a gravestone, the Groton death records (from "G.R. 2", or "gravestone record 2") wrongly show the simultaneous death of another, seemingly older James Dickinson immediately below the entry for "James Dickerson":

"DICKINSON... James, July 5, 1754, a. 68 y. G. R. 2." (see also his epitaph: https://books.google.com/books?id=qUXoTmfpbD4C&pg=PA26&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false).

Extensive research culminating in evidence from Groton Old Burying Ground Commissioner Eleanor Gavazzi has demonstrated that there was no second James Dickinson/Dickerson who died on 5 July 1754: the gravestone inscription originally contained at least two errors, was overcarved, and thus seemed to show different dates and ages depending on the light striking its surface, and the angle from which it was viewed.

This profile as created showed a death date of 29 November 1841; one Harvard (handwritten) record dates Samuel's death to "1 Decr", while the printed record agrees with 29 Nov. The November date is supported by the probate record for Samuel Dickinson (see NEHGS, https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/worcester-county-ma-probate-file-papers-1731-1881/image?pageName=16831:11&volumeId=26965&rId=49787118 ; subscription needed); the difference is minor and may represent the difference between death and burial.

The birth date shown on Find A Grave is unsourced (and disagrees by 11 days with the transcribed birth record), but the year, 1754, matches a calculation based on the age of 88 shown in the printed death record and inscribed on Samuel's gravestone... especially if the inscribed "Aet. 88" is taken to mean "in his 88th year" rather than "having reached the age of 88".

Sources

1. ↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/i/7714/216/143146208 (subscription)

• Birth (Groton record; final digit of year is missing): “DICINSON (also see Dickinson)/Samuell, s. James and Sarah, Aug. 11, 175 - .” -- Groton, MA Vital Records to 1850, published by: Essex Institute, Salem, MA 1926, transcribed for the web by Corolynn Brown; http://www.rays-place.com/town/ma/groton/gro-birth-d.htm

• Birth, spouse, death, and burial (with image of grave memorial): Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 16 October 2019), memorial page for Samuel Dickinson (22 Aug 1754–29 Nov 1841), Find A Grave Memorial no. 48884026, citing Harvard Center Cemetery, Harvard, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by cap624 (contributor 47007905); https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/48884026

• Marriage (intentions; NEHGS): "Samuel Dickerson & Louis Willard, both of Lancaster, Entered their Intentions of marriage May 30th: 1777." -- Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/i/13320/137/238401955 (subscription)

• Marriage (NEHGS): "June 19. [1777] Mr. Samuel Dickerson, & Mrs. Lois Willard both of Lancaster" -- Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/i/13320/126/238400770 (subscription)

• Death (handwritten Harvard record, "1 Decr"): "Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NWX9-C4C : 22 May 2019), Samuel Dickinson, 01 Dec 1841; citing Harvard, Massachusetts, v 1 p 117, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 959,806.

• Death (printed Harvard record, 29 Nov.; Harvard v1; NEHGS): "Samuel, Nov. 29, 1841, a. 88 y. G.R.1." -- Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/i/7716/261/142359048 (subscription)

• DAR Patriot Index.