On This Day – Chloe Angeline (Stickney) Hall – was Born

Posted on November 1, 2023 by forwardlylookingback

Chloe Angeline (Stickney) Hall was born at Rodman, New York to Theophilus and Electa (Cook) Stickney on this day in 1830. She went by her middle name Angeline Stickney and before she married, Asaph Hall March 31, 1856, pursued the studies of calculus and mathematical astronomy. Funded my other women in her family she initially attended classes at Rodman Union Seminary and then New York Central College when it first opened where she majored in science and mathematics, graduating in the college’s first class in 1855. Angeline was teaching at the college where she met her future husband, Asaph, a student in her geometry and German classes. She gave up teaching when they married but continued to aid her husband at his different jobs where he was considered an expert computer of orbits. He worked at Harvard College Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts and became assistant astronomer at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. where he discovered the moons, Phobos and Deimos of Mars. After viewing the images from Mariner 9, the International Astronomical Union headed by Carl Sagan named the massive cater found on Phobos after her. Known as the Stickney Crater, it is 5.6 miles in diameter and its iconic image includes that of the smaller Limtoc crater entirely inside of its rim. Angeline was instrumental in encouraging her husband to pursue the discovery of Mars’ moons. She also, home-schooled her four children who all attended Harvard University. Chloe Angeline (Stickney) Hall died July 3, 1892, and is buried in East Street Cemetery, Goshen, Connecticut.

The Halls had four children. Asaph Hall, Jr. (1859–1930) became an astronomer, Samuel Stickney Hall (1864–1936) worked for Mutual Life Insurance Company, Angelo Hall (1868–1922) became a Unitarian minister and professor of mathematics at the US Naval Academy, and Percival Hall (1872–1953) became president of Gallaudet University. Angeline Hall died in 1892. Hall married Mary Gauthier after he fully retired to Goshen, Connecticut in 1901.

For more information on the life of Angeline consult An Astronomer’s Wife, The Biography of a Aneline Hall, written by her son Angelo Hall in 1908.

As well to find out more information on the crater named after her see https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/5263/stickney-crater-phobos/.

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Immigrant Ancestors

Posted on October 30, 2023 by forwardlylookingback

It’s a wonder that we do know who some of our immigrant ancestors are for there are many we don’t know their names or their stories. If they did happen to make a name for themselves in the new world, we still may not know for sure when or where they originated. Like Jesse Fearson, who suddenly appears during the American Revolution commanding privateers. DAR and SAR members state he is connected to the Charles County, Maryland Fearsons but I cannot find any evidence to support this theory. Below are some of the earliest to travel across the Atlantic to come to British America and whose descendants kept their names, births, marriages and deaths in bibles they passed down or fortunately published books about the immigrant and descendants that followed. Here is a brief list of our immigrants who left their own marks, staking claims to land and accomplishments that are recorded and set down in area histories.

William Stickney (?– bef. 25 Jan 1664/65) – I don’t know when or where William was born except that he was born in England. Traditionally most descendants state he was born in Frampton, Lincolnshire on 6 Sep 1592 but the records used to support this do not make sense to me, but that is another post. It is known that he was living in Cottingham, Yorkshire, England when he and his wife Elizabeth Dawson and three children immigrated to English America in 1638. He settled in Rowley, Massachusetts and that is where most of the people named Stickney in the United States generated from.

Elizabeth Dawson (bap. 22 Feb 1605/6- aft. 24 Sep 1678) – I do know that Elizabeth was born and raised in Cottingham, Yorkshire, England. Her parents Thomas and Elizabeth (Burrell) Dawson and their parents were from Cottingham as well. Paternal grandparents are John and Margaret (Thompson) Dawson, and her maternal grandmother is Marion Burrell.

Henry Flower (ca 1660 – 1736) came with his uncle, Enoch Flower (b. __-d. 1684) in 1683 into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Enoch, a teacher by profession, was one of William Penn’s first purchasers. He headed a group of investors from the Corsham area of Wiltshire, England, which included his brother Seth (b. __-1702), Henry’s father. Enoch began right away locating lots in Philadelphia and was requested by the Provincial Council to establish a school, but unfortunately Enoch died the next year leaving Henry to carry on. Henry was in his early twenties and thrived in the new colony. He married twice and produced as many as eleven children, was a barber like his father, owned a prominent coffee house and was postmaster of Philadelphia.

1st wife

Elizabeth Paschall (bap. 28 May 1671-19 Jul 1706) was born in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England to Thomas and Joanna (Sloper) Paschall and came to Philadelphia with them when she was eleven years old. Her father was a pewterer and purchased 500 acres of land in Pennsylvania. Henry and Elizabeth married before 1695 the year their first child was born.

Ann Biers married Henry sometime before their first child was born in 1708 but remains somewhat of a mystery and needs more investigation.

Anthony Morse (9 May 1606 – 12 Oct 1686) is our earliest immigrant into British America and another one from Wiltshire area of England. Anthony came in 1635 with his brother William, both were shoemakers from Marlborough. They sailed into New England on the James from England, arriving at Boston on 3 Jun 1635 and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts. Their parents were Anthony and Christian Morse. Anthony Jr. married Ann Cox (ca 1610 – 9 Mar 1679/80) at Saint Mary’s parish on 2 May 1629, and they had four children before embarking on their great move. There were other Morse immigrants to New England in the 1600s making it a difficult task to define the individual families as well the children from those families.

Francis (?-15 Oct 1688) and Rebecca (Hayward) (?-26 Apr 1705) Richardson came to New York after their marriage 20 Jan 1680/81 in London, England. Francis was a mariner from Ratcliffe, Middlesex, a small ship building area on the north side of the Thames east of London and Rebecca was from Uxbridge, Middlesex, the daughter of John Hayward a shoemaker. They were married at Devonshire House, London a Quaker meeting place which explains their desire to relocate to British America for religious freedom plus New York was now firmly in British control and offered Francis a great marketing opportunity. They had four children, but only two, Francis and Rebecca seem to have survived to adulthood. The father, Francis would not live to see his children grown for he died 15 Oct 1688. His wife Rebecca’s second marriage was to Edward Shippen a fellow Quaker from Boston and they merged their families in Philadelphia where both had recently acquired land in the new Quaker development.

John Young (12 Oct 1714 – 26 Jun 1790) represents an unusual immigrant that was born in Deptford, England, whose mother, Rebecca Richardson (1685-1752), the daughter shown above who was born in New York and grew up in Philadelphia. There she must have met and married his father, William Young, who lived in Deptford, another shipbuilding area southeast of London on the south side of the Thames. William Young (?- ca 1720) was captain of a large merchant ship trading from London to Philadelphia and was lost at sea when John was about 6 years old. John’s mother, Rebecca, knew what it was like to grow up without a father and moved back to Philadelphia to be near family. Her eldest brother, Francis Richardson II (25 Nov 1684 – 17 Aug 1729) was a merchant and silversmith in Philadelphia. John grew up to become a saddler and married Ann Boyte 9 Apr 1737.

I hope what I provide here is of interest to others, however I plan to bring more details about these immigrants, their families, their stories, and history in future posts. I am working on other families as well that I will share when I am happy the stories are confirmed and clear. There is always more to do in forensic genealogy which makes the decision when to do more research or when to stop and share so difficult. My goal is to share stories that are informative and interesting about my ancestors to further honor their existences.

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James Franklin Stickney

Posted on October 25, 2020 by forwardlylookingback

Note: This post was updated with new information from what was originally published in the Stickneys of Texas Newsletter, March 2014.

James Franklin was born May 13, 1849 the fifth of six known children born to Edward Lawrence and Catherine M. (Childers) Stickney in what was then Milam County, Texas. This according to Bible records and the 1850 federal census that shows him listed as “Francis” age two. May 9, 1853, a few days before James Franklin’s fourth birthday tragedy struck his family when they were flooded out of their home in Belton, Bell County, Texas. Their loses and others are related in the following article from Texas State Gazette, (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 4, No. 39, Ed. 1, Saturday, May 14, 1853, page 3, via The Portal to Texas History.

Even though his father E. Lawrence Stickney along with his wife’s family the Childers had helped establish Nolansville, the original name given to Belton, this loss appears to interrupt the family’s future in Texas. In the following months E. Lawrence sells his two town lots and the flooded farmland on Nolan’s Creek. This suggests that E. Lawrence was giving up and moving his family back to his hometown of Mobile, Alabama, but perhaps they were planning this eventual move all along and the flood produced the need sooner than later. Hopefully, more research may uncover evidence and give a more accurate picture.

Whatever the reason or cause for being in Mobile it was not a new beginning, but further tragedy for the family. According to Edward Lawrence Stickney’s grave marker he died near Mobile on May 9, 1854, exactly a year after the flood. His death certificate states he died from yellow fever and he is buried in his family’s plot at Church Street Graveyard, Mobile, Alabama. Catherine was pregnant with their youngest daughter who was born a few months later on June 16, 1854. She is named Hannah Jones Stickney, so Lawrence and Catherine must have had a stronger connection to Lawrence’s sister Hannah Jane Stickney and her husband Emanuel Jones. Perhaps they were staying in their home at the time. Whatever the support during this devastating time for Catherine, she felt a stronger pull to return to Texas and be near her family. Certainly this place was responsible for Lawrence’s death, and Catherine could not continue with this new plan without any support.

Catherine would not leave family tragedy behind in Alabama, it would continue back in Texas with the deaths of her two older daughters within the next ten years. A census taken on July 31, 1860 shows Catherine age 38 and the children, (Emma age 14, James F. age 11 and Hannah J. age 6), living with her son-in-law, John Key, a 27 year old herdsman and wife, Lidia [sic] age 17. Also living in nearby households are Catherine’s brothers Pryor and William Childers. James Franklin Stickney became of age in this household. John P. Key would have been a father figure for him along with his uncles Pryor and William. The 1870 census show us Catherine again, is living with another daughter, Emma Caroline, who is married to Crockett King and their two children in Gatesville. Hannah Jones is there as well, but James Franklin is not found. After the civil war William and David Jones established a steam saw and grist mill on the Coryell and Hamilton County line and perhaps this is what brought James Franklin to this area finding work in the mill. He also ran a store for a while in what became known as Jonesboro. His brother-in-law, John P. Key, was a surveyor and I imagine he helped James Franklin find 160 acres of unclaimed land to homestead just west of Jonesboro. The original Coryell county land map from the Texas General Land Office shows this plot of land and that J. P. Key, himself had several small plots nearby.

By 1870 James Franklin has established his own household and is enumerated in Coryell County precinct 3 and post office known as Moundville which is marked through and Leonville is written. The information was taken October 9, 1870, but was supposed to be given as if it were June 1, 1870 and lists his name as Frank, age 21, a farmer, value of real estate as $100 and also listed his wife, Alace J., age 19. This census record is the only information I have on James Franklin’s first wife. Beside her age it notes that she was born in Ioway[sic] and that both her parents were foreign born. Alace apparently died sometime between when the census was taken and December 7, 1871 when James Franklin married Elvira Tennessee Perry.

James Franklin and Elvira Tennessee (Perry) Stickney

Elvira Tennessee Perry was fifteen when she and James Franklin married. Their Family Bible gives her birth date as November 26, 1856, and originally thought her the daughter of John L. and Eleanor C. Perry, but now believe Elvira is the daughter of Rev. Jackson H. and Sarah (______) Perry and born in Jackson County, Tennessee. Jackson and Sarah Perry are found in Jackson County, Tennessee 1850 census with one son, William B. age 3. By 1860 the family had relocated to Hillsboro, Hill County, Texas, and the census recorded two more children Rufus P. age 7 and Elvira T, age 4 both born in Tennessee.

Elvira and James Franklin would have ten children, eight of which lived to adulthood. Clydine Stickney, the youngest of their children, relates in a letter to her niece Gwen Blank of their home in Jonesboro and how she and her siblings made a few trips back there to view the home. Clydine did not know her father since he died just before her first birthday, on July 30, 1898 in Robert Lee, Texas. The family had just moved to this new area evidently in this last year of his life, for Clydine was born in Jonesboro. Family lore has it that they moved to a dryer climate of West Texas because of their father’s ill health. Their move apparently was not soon enough, and Elvira was left to raise the rest of their children on her own. The 1900 census shows Elvira as the head of household with six of the children still at home. The two older boys had since died, and the two eldest girls married. The census tells us that Elvira was supporting herself as a laundress and that she owned her own home free of a mortgage. James Franklin had taken care to make sure Elvira and the children had a home before he died.


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Old St. Paul’s Cemetery

Posted on September 21, 2020 by forwardlylookingback

Note: This post was originally published in the Stickneys of Texas Newsletter in Fall 2013.

This last visit to Baltimore was primarily for the lovely wedding of Meghan Gordon, daughter of Beverly and Doug Gordon to David Melson of Annapolis, Maryland. They were married just below Federal Hill at the Visual Arts Museum, not far from Fort McHenry. This turned into another emotional journey to Baltimore watching my God-child get married in the same town where her fourth great-grandparents, Henry Stickney and Lydia Wells Fearson married on Sept. 6, 1810, and her fifth great-grandparents, Jesse Fearson and Hannah (Young) Wells, married on May 28, 1791. During this visit several of us went to Old St. Paul’s cemetery and viewed Jesse Fearson’s new grave monument. We were elated to see people from the Sons and Daughters of the Revolution, who along with the University of Maryland plan to inventory, clean up the grounds and restore many markers. I will be submitting Jesse’s story to a gentleman from the Sons of the Revolution who is doing research on those buried in the historic cemetery.

Gathered to view the new stone (L to R) are Sam Gordon and wife Laura, Deborah Allard, Teddy Stickney, David Allard, Beverly Gordon and Graham Allard.
New Headstone of Capt. Jesse Fearson.
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Star Spangled Experience

Posted on September 20, 2020 by forwardlylookingback

Note: This post was originally published in the Stickneys of Texas newsletter in fall 2013.

As I am putting together this second issue of the Stickneys of Texas newsletter, I will have made my fourth trip to Baltimore, three trips within the last three months. At the end of July, my sister, Beverly and I began a road trip just short of three thousand miles, that we will never forget.

We took three days to drive to Baltimore, our first stop in Memphis for a great lunch at the Bar-B-Q Shop and stumbling onto the historic Sun Recording Studio. Before reaching Nashville we jogged over to the Neches Trace to see the Meriwether Lewis Memorial. The second morning we toured the Hermitage (Andrew Jackson’s home) and then suffered through bumper to bumper traffic getting to Gatlinburg, through Pigeon Forge so we could be in the Smoky Mountains and to satisfy a shopping fix. We toured Jefferson’s Monticello the third morning and arrived in Baltimore in time to enjoy a pub dinner at Mick O’Shea’s in the Mt. Vernon area of downtown Baltimore. On our first visit to Baltimore in May 2012 we went to the various cemeteries to view the graves of our ancestors and at Old St. Paul’s Cemetery, where Jesse and Hannah Fearson and a few of their children are buried, we found Jesse’s grave marker lying face down in the lawn. A month prior to our road trip, I contacted a monument company and had them retrieve the marker hoping to simply have it repaired and correctly reinstalled on Jesse’s grave, but alas the marble marker came out in three pieces and had been lying in the ground too long absorbing water so that one side, (unfortunately the side that might contain his birth date was completely sloughed off. So we had no other choice but to have a new marker made.

Hannah Fearson’s grave marker alongside Jesse Fearson’s broken marker at Old St. Paul’s Cemetery.

The next day Beverly and I got to participate in the re-creation of the Star Spangle Banner that I wrote about in the first issue and one reason that prompted me to start this newsletter. This was done at the Maryland Historical Society Museum and Library where we had to first practice stitching on scraps, before we could sew on the actual flag. We visited with the other stitchers and ladies in charge and had the story of how we were connected to the flag recorded by the society’s film photographer. The next day we came back and put a few stitches in one of the stars, which were uniquely reversed appliquéd just like Mary Pickersgill did on the original flag. In between sewing we did some research in the society’s library and discovered a couple more of the Jesse and Hannah Fearson’s children in their books on church records.

Beverly was unable to go back with me to the flag raising on September 14th, the 199th anniversary of the bombardment of Baltimore, but my husband, Dave, was glad to go and we turned it into a week of visiting historic places. The events of this trip began on Friday where a small group of us carried the flag all the way from the Society’s downtown museum to Fort McHenry stopping at Federal Hill where a large group of reenactors met us and fired off their muskets and a canon. The next day Ft. McHenry National Park was full of people to watch reenactments, listen to speeches by the governor and others, and to see the new flag raised in the fort. The stitchers and their one guest were the only ones allowed inside the fort when it was raised, that being said there were a lot of stitchers. It was emotional to watch the re-created banner rise on the flagpole and interesting to see the unusual effect the old style fabric had as it rippled in the slight breeze.

The evening ended with the U. S. Army Band playing patriotic music and a finale of fireworks, reminiscent of the bombardment. We were told by several people that next year’s festivities on the 200th anniversary would be even bigger and it would be great if we could muster a larger contingency of the Stickneys of Texas next September. I have been able to verify that Henry Stickney was indeed in the Fort when this battle took place and Park Ranger Vince is sending copies of Henry’s War of 1812 pension records. We have two very good reasons to take part in this celebration, actually three patriotic ancestors, if we include visiting Jesse Fearson’s grave. In fact the commander of Ft. McHenry, George Armistead is buried just a few plots away from Jesse and Hannah. It will be necessary to include a side trip to Washington D. C. to see Mary Pickersgill’s original flag on display at the Smithsonian. Please let us know if you are interested in joining us for the 200th anniversary celebrations.

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Captain Jesse Fearson, Privateer

Posted on September 20, 2020 by forwardlylookingback

Note: This was originally published in the Stickneys of Texas newsletter Fall 2013.

Jesse Fearson was Edward Lawrence Stickney’s maternal grandfather and probably a big influence on his decision to go to Texas and help liberate it from Mexico. As family legend goes, E. Lawrence was from Mobile, Alabama, but was pursuing a law career in Baltimore before coming to Texas. It is suspected that he may have come to Texas on a privateer, since under remarks for qualifying for a second-class headright was stated “at a Cannon on Sea”. Growing up, E. Lawrence would have listened to tales from his grandfather of privateering and how to man a cannon would have been an important part of the stories.

Jesse Fearson’s early life is not well known, but he must have grown up along the coast navigating waterways most of his life to gain experience to captain a vessel in his twenties. It is not until 1779 that we first find evidence of Jesse’s participation in the American Revolution, but he must have been active prior to this to be chosen to command. Jesse Fearson’s first known commission was petitioned for on Aug. 18, 1779, by Edward Norris to the Salem council requesting Jesse Fearson be commander of the schooner Swett. The commission was issued the next day. A schooner is a vessel with two or more masts, with fore and aft sails on both masts, normally less than 150 tons. Again, in Salem on April 27, 1780, Miles Greenwood of Salem, along with the other owners of the brigantine Fortune, fitted for a three-month cruise, requested Fearson be commissioned as commander. It was granted by the council on the same day. A brigantine is similar to a schooner, has two or more masts, each with fore and aft sails, but normally with the tonnage range of 150 to 250 tons. May 23, 1781, Samuel Page on behalf of himself and others petitioned the Salem council requesting Jesse Farson [sic] be commissioned as commander of the brigantine Cato (privateer); age 28 years, stature 6 ft. complexion light. The commission was issued the same day. A few days later, on May 28, 1781 a $20,000 bond was filed on this 16 guns and 60 crew Massachusetts vessel. Jesse Fearson is listed as Master, as well as one of the bonders, along with Bartholomew Putnam of Salem and Stephen Bruce of Boston. Owners are listed as Samuel Page and others of Salem. Witnesses to this bond are James Fosdick and John M. Lovell.

March 27, 1782, Job Prince on behalf of Andrew Cabot and others, of Beverly, Massachusetts ask that Fearson be commissioned as commander of the ship Buccanier (privateer) and it was granted the same day. Also, on the same day a $20,000 bond was posted for this Massachusetts ship of 18 guns and 120 crewmen. Jesse Fearson is listed as shipmaster again as well as one of the bonders, stating he is of Boston, along with Andrew Cabot and Job Prince, Jr. of Boston. Owners are listed as John and Andrew Cabot of Beverly and the witnesses are Isaac Peirce and John Dall.

Privateering was a profitable high stakes enterprise, as well as dangerous warfare. If captured, Jesse Fearson risked confinement in an English Prison since England viewed privateers as common pirates and not prisoners of war that were often traded between the two warring countries. So how did Jesse Fearson profit as a ship’s captain? On privateers the sailors hired on for a certain cut of the prize uncertain if they would make a capture or possibly be seized themselves. The owners of the ship got the first cut off the top and that could be anywhere from two-fifths to two-thirds of the take. The men that actually sailed on the vessel got varying shares of what was left accorded by their rank with the ship master getting the highest number of shares. An ad found in the Continental Journal newspaper, dated 4-18-1782, illustrates how a shareholder wanted to sell his one eighth share of Jesse’s privateer, (see inset). 

From History and Genealogy of the Cabot Family, 1475- 1927, by L. V. Briggs, an inventory of a prize seized and brought into Nantes, France by Capt. Jesse Fearson when he commanded the Buccanier is noted. Now the Buccanier was classified as a “ship” which meant it had three or more masts with square sails on each and could exceed 500 tons. The ship he seized was a Brig named Kitty. A “Brig” was a two mast vessel, square rigged on both masts usually between 150 and 200 tons. Thus, the Buccanier had more sails, which made it faster, and it was larger, so it carried more canons than the Kitty. The first thing listed on the inventory is “The Brig & appurtenances £4,200.” Appurtenances are all the trimmings: sails, ropes, etc., but may not include the anchor because two anchors are listed next along with their fathoms of cable. The anchors and cable and “Caboose for 12 Men” had a listed value of £1231.5. So basically, all that Capt. Fearson brought into the port of Nantes, France was the Brig. The inventory continues to list the cargo that was found on the Kitty, but that was sold elsewhere or at least prior to being presented to the agent for clearance. The total value of the inventory was £60,622.18. The agent in charge takes a five percent cut off the top along with any expenses incurred during the process such as unloading and storage fees. This amounted to £7,501 bringing the total to £53,121.18 which was evenly split half to the owners and half to the crew. How the crew’s half was divided up is not known, but Jesse Fearson as ship master would have gotten the largest take probably five times as much as a regular crewman. It is interesting to note that this inventory was signed by Jonathan Williams who was in Nantes, France at the request of his uncle, Benjamin Franklin to oversee any Continental receipts and was known to keep impeccable records at the time.

While Captain Fearson was out sailing the high seas, he had a family waiting for his return. Eight months prior to his first recorded commission in 1779, he married Elizabeth Welman. Evidently his third known commission on the Cato, was profitable enough for him to purchase on November 12, 1781 a plot of land with a house and barn from a Mr. Paul Dudley Sargent Esq., for two thousand pounds. This was more than six times the amount Mr. Sargent paid for it a year earlier on September 16, 1780, that being three hundred pounds sterling. The record states that Jesse Fearson is a merchant of Salem and a map of the property indicates a house facing “The Main Street”, affording him a place to market his goods from his voyages. He held this property for almost two years before selling it on September 17, 1783 to William Grey III of Salem, “a famous merchant”, at a loss for one thousand and three pounds. This is the last detail I have thus far in Jesse Fearson’s life in the Salem, Massachusetts area and must speculate that the selling of this property might indicate his movement out of this area.

Jesse’s wife Elizabeth Welman died December 28, 1787 and I know they had at least one child, Mary Wellman Fearson born June 4, 1786, and that Jesse and his daughter, Mary, relocated by the 1790s to Baltimore, whether it was before or after wife Elizabeth’s death is not known. May 28, 1791, Jesse Fearson marries Hannah Young, it is the second marriage for both and each bringing at least one daughter into this new marriage.

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Descent of William Stickney to Edward Lawrence Stickney

Posted on September 20, 2020 by forwardlylookingback

Note: This was originally published in the Stickneys of Texas newsletter in the fall of 2013.

William Stickney & Elizabeth Dawson
(~1592-1664/65) | (~1608-1678)

Amos Stickney & Sarah Morse
       (~1635-1678) | (1641-1711)

Moses Stickney & Sarah Wardwell
          (1677-1756) | (~1677-~1724)

John Stickney & Abigail Wingate
         (1711-1775) | (1715-1755)

Thomas Stickney & Abigail Blodget
              (1747-1791) | (1751-1808)

Henry Stickney & Lydia Fearson
          (1782-1862) | (1794-1882)

Edward Lawrence Stickney & Catherine Childers
                              (1815-1864?) | (1820-1880)

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Dedicated to Matthew Adams Stickney

Posted on September 18, 2020 by forwardlylookingback

Note: This was originally published in the Stickneys of Texas Newsletter in June 2013.

Matthew Adams Stickney (1805-1894) was a collector and one of the most important Stickneys of America. He had an extensive coin collection and I just recently read that he had one of the largest collection of bird’s eggs in America. Most important to me was that he collected ancestors and relatives, or actually facts and information about them and his greatest achievement was to share this information with me and the world with his book The Stickney Family: A Genealogical Memoir of the Descendants of William and Elizabeth Stickney from 1637 to 1869, which he published in 1869. Matthew traveled around and acquired first-hand knowledge of countless Stickney families and researched hundreds of land and probate records for details to the lives of those first American Stickneys. He relates the origin of the name to a location still in existence in Lincolnshire, England.

Close up of inscription of monument for William and Elizabeth Stickney.
Rowley Burial Ground Site in Rowley, Massachusetts cemetery.
Monument Matthew A. Stickney and others erected in honor of William and Elizabeth Stickney.

Matthew chronicles the first, William Stickney immigrating to New England in 1638, along with his wife, Elizabeth and three children. Through five hundred plus pages, he provides deed and probate information on many of the over thirty-five hundred descendants of William Stickney. And yes we do find Edward Lawrence Stickney the first of William’s descendant to come to Texas listed in the book. Every Stickney family should possess a copy of this book, though it has been out of print for quite some time, since it was originally published in 1869, you can get a paperback photo reproduction through Amazon. This book has given me clues to further explore the lives of my ancestors and their related families, discovering what they had to overcome and achieve to get me to where I am today1.

  1. I was fortunate to find a copy that had belonged to a descendant of Samuel Stickney, William’s eldest son, which had additional information on their family branch.

Posted in Places, Rowley, Massachusetts, Stickney, Stickneys of Texas Newsletter | Leave a comment

Family and The War of 1812

Posted on September 18, 2020 by forwardlylookingback

Note: This was originally posted in the Stickneys of Texas newsletter June 2013.

Wondering where to go on vacation this summer? May I suggest Baltimore, Maryland. Begun in 2012 and continuing through 2014, Baltimore is celebrating the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and the Battle of Baltimore. After the British attacked and burned Washington D.C. on August 4, 1814, they turned their attention to Baltimore. To take the city they had to get past Fort McHenry. On September 13, 1814, nineteen British ships attacked the fort, blasting it throughout that day and night with more than 1500 cannonballs and mortars. The fort under the command of Major George Armistead, suffered little damage, but could not inflict any either because the British ships stayed just beyond the range of their cannons. After twenty-five hours of shelling the English finally gave up early on the morning of the 14th. Major Armistead had the 32 X 40-foot flag he had commissioned and made by Mary Pickersgill the year before sent up the flagpole. As the English sailed away, he wanted to make sure they could see the flag. Francis Scott Key was amazed as he gazed on that “Star-Spangled Banner” he could see by “dawn’s early light” and wrote the poem which was originally titled “In Defence of Fort McHenry” and that would one day become our national anthem.

Mary Pickersgill

So how is the Stickney family connected to the Battle of Baltimore (I hear you asking)? The flag maker, Mary (Young) Pickersgill was Edward Lawrence Stickney’s great aunt! His maternal grandmother, Hannah (Young) Wells Fearson was her sister. Hannah’s husband, Capt. Jesse Fearson is thought to have sold her the wool and cotton material for the flag, since he had a dry goods store in Baltimore, according to an article by Michael Kernan, Saving the Nation’s Flag, written in 1998 about the restoration work to be done by the Smithsonian, where the Star-Spangled Banner now hangs.

The Maryland Historical Society is recreating the 30 X 42-foot Star-Spangled Banner flag. They want to accomplish this in the same six-week time period in which Mary and her helpers had sewn the original, 200 years ago. So, this summer they will begin sewing this replica on July 4 and they have two public days where people may participate.

Not only did one of our ancestors make the flag that flew over Ft. McHenry, but Henry Stickney, E. Lawrence’s father may have been at the fort manning a cannon1. Henry Stickney was in a Maryland Militia unit, known as the Baltimore Fencibles, commanded by Judge Joseph H. Nicholson. His was the 1st Regiment, Maryland Artillery which were brought in to serve with Captain Evans’ Regular Corp of Artillery at Fort McHenry because a large number of Evans’ men were ill. It is reported that some of the Fencibles were working one of the 24-pounders on the southwest bastion at the time it received a direct hit and two of their men were killed. The Baltimore Fencibles were made up of prominent citizens, merchants, and business owners and many of them were involved with privateering.

I have found one record where Henry and his eldest brother John Stickney are listed along with twenty-two others as owners of a 55-ton, 59-foot schooner called Wasp, commissioned a privateer on February 23, 1813. It only had one gun but carried 40 men so it could man other ships if lucky enough to catch a prize. No prizes were listed for this vessel so they apparently did not make any money from their investment, but since there were twenty-four owners, it would not have been a big loss. Henry and the other owners were banking on the previous year’s take when the Wasp, captured four prizes.

So if you decide to visit Baltimore, I suggest staying in the new revitalized Fells Point area which is within walking distance to the Flag House Museum and you’ll want to tour the US Sloop-of-War Constellation and try to imagine what it was like to sail as a privateer. But the most important place you will want to visit is Fort McHenry and maybe you will see the newly recreated Star- Spangled Banner flying overhead and have the same feeling Francis Scott Key felt two hundred years ago. Mary and Hannah’s mother, Rebecca (Flower) Young, was a flag maker herself and contemporary of Betsy Ross. Rebecca is mentioned in a recent book Betsy Ross and the Making of America, by Maria R. Miller, where it is suggested she too made a flag for George Washington. I hope to bring you more stories about this exciting family.

  1. Henry was indeed in Fort McHenry during the bombardment as documented by his wife Lydia Wells (Fearson) Stickney’s War of 1812 pension file.
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