Following up on my last post, I came across the Ives Family History Blog and an article written by David Allen Lower dated August 8, 2007. Blog owner and administrator Bill Ives has spent countless hours and many years tracing the family history of Williams Ives and his descendants.  A classic internet “rumor” is that Hannah Dickerman, the eldest daughter of Thomas¹ Dickerman, was the wife of William Ives.  Bill takes issue with this supposition in this post:

http://billives.typepad.com/ives_family_history_blog/controversy_over_william_ives_wife/index.html

Interestingly, Hannah was never listed in the Dickerman Genealogy by E.D. Dickerman.   It is likely that Edward was simply unaware of any records relating to Hannah, as she was older than Thomas² and the younger brothers.  Several current researchers agree with Bill Ives that the wife of Williams Ives, referred to in the original source documents as “Goodwife Ives”, was not in fact the daughter of Thomas and Ellen Dickerman.  He leaves the possibility open, however, with a reference to the research and report of David Allen Lower.

After reading David’s two-part report with excellent source references, this author agrees that it seems Thomas¹ Dickerman had actually married twice prior to his marriage to Elenor Whittington.  The full text can be reviewed here:

http://billives.typepad.com/ives_family_history_blog/2007/08/dickerman-ances.html

and Part 2 here:

http://billives.typepad.com/ives_family_history_blog/2007/08/dickerman-anc-1.html

To summarize, David states that Thomas Dickerman married Elizabeth Simms in the St. George the Martyr’s parish in Southwark,  England on 14 Jun 1613.   Later, in the Saint Clement Danes parish of London there was an entry of marriage on 2 Nov 1622 between Thomas Dickerman and Marie Eustaire or Eustice.  Finally the marriage to Elenor Whittington on 20 Oct 1631 in Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England as originally reported by Col. Charles E. Banks is also mentioned.

David suggests that because the surname Dickerman was unique at the time and because of the proximity to London, these three marriages are all of the same Thomas Dickerman – the Thomas Dickerman born about 1597 and our original immigrant ancestor referred in the Dickerman Genealogy as Thomas¹.

In the interest of adding some clarity to this mystery, I spoke to David Allen Lower today by telephone.  He revealed that he personally inspected the parchment at Aylesbury for the marriage of Thomas and Elenor and confirms, without question, its authenticity.  David has a photocopy of the original document in his personal library.

Working on the assumption that David is correct regarding the first two marriages, we find that the Dickerman descendants in America may have two or possibly even three maternal lines.  Descendants of Thomas² , who was born about 1623, would likely be descended from Marie Eustaire while the living descendants of Abraham² and Isaac² , both born after 1631, would be descended from Hannah Whittington.  Abraham was born in 1634 in England and Isaac in 1636/1637 in Dorchester.  Another son, John² Dickerman was born in 1644 in Dorchester but died young without having children.

What about Hannah² Dickerman, purported to have been born in 1622?  As noted above, there is some controversy about Hannah possibly being the wife of William Ives and after his death, the wife of William Bassett.  If the 1622 date of birth is to be believed, she may have been the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Simms, prior to the marriage of Thomas and Marie Eustaire.  Certainly more research needs to be done.  This author offers no opinion as to the Dickerman and Ives/Bassett controversy, but will refer the reader to the sites referenced below.

The author is descended from the elder Thomas² and his mother Marie (Eustaire) Dickerman, while David Allen Lower is descended from Abraham² and his mother Hannah (Whittington) Dickerman.

David’s pedigree from Thomas¹ is shown here:

And, due to the marriage of Edward⁷ Dickerman to Laura Hotchkiss⁷, daughter of Elias Hotchkiss and Esther⁶ Dickerman, also here:

Many thanks to David for his efforts and exceptional documentation.  Thanks also to the tireless efforts of Bill Ives and his excellent weblog.  As additional source documentation is discovered and digitized, it will be made available on this site.

References:

1. Dickerman, Edward Dwight, & Dickerman, George Sherwood, Families of Dickerman Ancestry: Descendents of Thomas Dickerman. (Tuttle, Morehouse, & Taylor Press, 1897, updated 1922), Chapter 1, p. 385, 440.
2. Ives Family History Blog – http://billives.typepad.com
3. Report of David Allen Lower – http://billives.typepad.com/ives_family_history_blog/2007/08/dickerman-ances.html and http://billives.typepad.com/ives_family_history_blog/2007/08/dickerman-anc-1.html
4. Ancestry.com website – http://boards.ancestrylibrary.com/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=40&p=surnames.dickerman
5. Genealogy.com Forum – http://genforum.genealogy.com/dickerman/messages/17.html