M. about 1633 in England2
Wife: Ann
D. before 26 Jan 1664 in Rowley, Massachusetts3
The way land was bought and sold by the original colonists of New England was often messy, and the story of Richard Wicom illustrates this. Richard was likely born in about 16091 in Rowley, England, a village in Yorkshire (if he wasn't born in Rowley, he certainly lived there later on). It’s been speculated that his brother was Thomas Wickham, a man who ended up in the Connecticut colony.4 In about 1633, Richard married a woman known only as Ann, and they had a young son named Daniel born about two years later.
Rowley, England was one of a few places in the north that supplied many settlers to the New England colonies. This was because the vicar of Rowley's church was Reverend Ezekiel Rogers, a Puritan from Essex, which had a large population of non-conformists. It may be assumed that Reverend Rogers' influence led to Richard and his family becoming Puritans, and then to join him in migrating to America. A ship called John of London, which sailed in December 1638, carried many of the followers, but the Wicom family wasn't on the passenger list, so they might have come over on another vessel.
The group brought by Reverend Rogers carved out a new community on the Massachusetts coast north of Ipswich, and they named it Rowley, after their home in England. Richard and Ann settled there and two more children were born, both of them boys. Richard didn’t seem to play much of a civic role in the town, and for the most part, his name only turned up in divisions of common land. Only once was he mentioned in town records as being owed money for taking care of the town’s cattle.5
As for receiving his share of land, this happened several times in the first 20 years of Rowley’s existence; whenever the town was granted a large tract of land, it was portioned it out to everyone settled there. This led to each man owning small plots scattered all over the area. As described in the inventory of Richard’s estate, his land included his home lot in Rowley, land on Bradford Street, land in “pollipod lots,” land in the “new plain,” one acre of meadow, 3 acres of upland and meadow at his farm, 3 acres of marshland, 107 rods of upland at his farm, 4 acres of upland in the common, and a lot referred to as “land called the village land.”6 It must have been difficult to make use of this many lots, and as Richard got older, it's likely most of the land laid dormant.
Map of Rowley, Massachusetts in 1639 showing Richard's house.
Richard died in Rowley and was buried on January 26, 1664,3 but his name came up in a lawsuit just a couple of months later. The case was between a man named Robert Swan who sued John Todd for stealing his corn crop.7 The story was that each man said they were the owner of the property, which had recently belonged to Richard. Robert Swan said he acquired it from a man named Peter Nash, who testified that he had a deed to it signed over by Richard in 1660.
But John Todd claimed he made a deal with Richard a couple of years later for the same land, explaining that Richard had told him Swan had never paid him. Todd further said that the original contract was burned, and he went back to get a new contract verifying the original sale. This happened very late in Richard’s life, and another witness said that he was so weak at that point, he didn’t know what he was signing. The final ruling was that Swan had title to the land, and Todd’s claim was rejected.
Children:
1. Daniel Wicom — B. about 1635, England;8 D. 15 Apr 1700, Rowley, Massachusetts;3 M. (1) Mary Smith (1642-1691), 14 Oct 1658, Rowley, Massachusetts;3 (2) Lydia Bailey (1644-1722), 11 Nov 1691, Rowley, Massachusetts3
2. Thomas Wicom — B. about 1643, Rowley, Massachusetts;9 D. before 6 Jul 1660, Rowley, Massachusetts3
3. John Wicom — B. about 1647, Rowley, Massachusetts;10 D. 1 Apr 1715, Rowley, Massachusetts;11 M. Abigail Kimball (~1652-1693), 14 May 1673, Rowley, Massachusetts3
Sources:
1 Based on rough birth year in Richard Wicom’s Wikitree listing
2 Estimated marriage year based on birth year of his oldest known child
3 Vital Records of Rowley, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849, 1928
4 Genealogies and Biographies of Ancient Wethersfield, Volume 2, p.788, Sherman W. Adams and Henry R. Stiles
5 Town meeting records of Rowley, Massachusetts, 1648-1872, FamilySearch.org
6 Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts: 1635-1664, 1916
7 Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Volume III, 1912
8 Find-a-Grave listing for Daniel Wicom
9 Based on rough birth year in Thomas Wicom’s Wikitree listing
10 Early Settlers of Rowley, Massachusetts, p. 409, George Brainard Blodgette, Amos Everett Jewett, 1981
11 Find-a-Grave listing for John Wicom
