Not much is known about William Harker of Lynn,
Massachusetts, my 9th great grandfather. It is interesting to note that although he
had an unusual surname, there was another Harker family nearby in Boston. An Anthony Harker arrived in Boston in 1633
on board The Griffin, and was employed
by Thomas Leverett, one of the Puritan church elders under Rev. John Cotton. I
don’t know if these two Harker families were kin.
We know that William Harker was a young man living in Lynn before
about 1640. In 1640 a group of men from
Lynn formed a plantation on Long Island, New York and signed an agreement with
the Shinnecock Indians. By 1643 there
were 43 families living there, and Southampton became the first English colony
in New York state. The “Indian Deed of
December 13, 1640 was signed by thirteen men from Lynn: John Gosmer, Edward
Howell, Danial How, Edward Needham, Thomas Halsey, John Cooper, Thomas Sayre,
Edward Harington, Job Sayre, George Welbe, Allen Bread, William Harker, and
Henry Walton; and also signed by nine Indians: Pomatuck, Mandusk, Mocomanto,
Pathemanto, Wylennett, Wainmenowog, Heden, Watemexoted, and Chchepuchat. Later, in Southampton, William Harker deposed
that he was 24 years old and from “Gincenshire” (Lincolnshire?).
But William Harker didn’t stay in Long Island. He came back to Lynn, where he married a
woman named Elizabeth and had at least one child, named Sarah. According to the Salem Quarterly Court
Records on 26: 4: 1650 (Old Style) William Harker was freed from militia
training due to “bodily infirmity”. He
died about 1661 in Lynn, and his will bequeathed his estate to Robert and Sarah
Ingalls, my 8th great grandparents.
Robert Ingalls (about 1621 – 1698) was a farmer in Lynn, the
son of immigrants Edmund Ingalls and Ann Tripp.
He made a deed 1 January 1685/6 that gave his estate to his sons,
including the farms and lands inherited from his father-in-law William
Harker. His deed stated “freely granted
to my 3 sons, to be possessed and enjoyed in equal parts and shares between
them in Lynn or elsewhere: viz: my
dwelling house and out houses with all my lands given to me by my father-in-law
William Harker, which was for that good end that it should be continued unto my
children…” One of those sons, Nathaniel
Ingalls (about 1660 – 1736), was my 8th great grandfather.
Some HARKER resources:
Sketches from Local History, by William Donaldson Halsey, 1935 (history of Long Island, see page 9 for mention of William Harker)
The Early History of Southampton, L.I., New York with Genealogies, by George Rogers Howell, 1887 (see pages 18, 428, 450)
The Ingalls Genealogy, by Dr. Charles Burleigh, 1903
The Essex Genealogist, "Edmund Ingalls and his Descendants of Lynn (Part One)" by Marcia W. Lindbert, C. G., Volume 19, pages 43- 48.
My HARKER genealogy:
Generation 1: William Harker, died 1661 in Lynn,
Massachusetts; married Elizabeth Unknown.
One known child.
Generation 2: Sarah
Harker, born about 1625, died 8 April 1696; married about 1646 to Robert
Ingalls. He was born about 1621 in
Skirbeck, Lincolnshire, England and died 3 Janary 1698 in Lynn. Eight children.
Generation 3:
Nathaniel Ingalls, born about 1660 in Lynn, died about 1736; married
Anne Collins. Ten children.
Generation 4: Hannah Ingalls,
born about 1708, died before 15 April 1798; married on 30 March 1735 in Lynn to
Daniel Hitchings, son of Daniel Hitchings and Susannah Townsend. He was born 19 October 1709 in Lynn and died
25 April 1760 in Lynn. Twelve children.
Generation 5: Abijah
Hitchings, born 18 January 1753 in Lynn, died 27 March 1826 in Salem,
Massachusetts; married first on 24 June 1775 in Lynn to Mary Gardner, mother of
four children. She was the daughter of
Benjamin Gardner and Sarah Randall. He
married second to Sarah Gardner (probably her sister) before 1792, mother of
two more children.
Generation 6: Abijah
Hitchings, son of Abijah Hitchings and Mary Gardner, born about 1775 in Lynn,
died 26 July 1868 in Salem; married on 21 December 1795 in Salem to Mary
Cloutman, daughter of Joseph Cloutman and Hannah Becket. She was born about 1775 in Salem and died 28
November 1853 in Salem. Eleven children.
Generation 7: Abijah
Hitchings, born 18 January 1809 in Salem, died 18 January 1864 in Salem;
married on 4 December 1836 to Eliza Ann Treadwell, daughter of Jabez Treadwell
and Betsey Jillings Homan. She was born
27 August 1812 in Salem, and died 31 January 1896 in Salem. Four children.
Generation 8: Abijah Franklin Hitchings, born 28 October
1841 in Salem, died 19 May 1910 in Salem; married on 22 September 1864 in Salem
to Hannah Eliza Lewis, daughter of Captain Thomas Russell Lewis and Hannah
Phelps. She was born about 1844 probably
in Salem, and died 15 February 1921 at the Danvers State Hospital, Danvers,
Massachusetts. Two children.
Generation 9: Arthur
Treadwell Hitchings, born 10 May 1868 in Salem, died 7 March 1937 in Hamilton,
Massachusetts; married on 25 December 1890 in Beverly to Florence Etta
Hoogerzeil, daughter of Peter Hoogerzeil and Mary Etta Healey. She was born 20 August 1871 in Beverly, and
died 10 February 1941 in Hamilton. Eight
children.
Generation 10:
Gertrude Matilda Hitchings, born 1 August 1905 in Beverly, died 3
November 2001 in Peabody, Massachusetts; married on 14 February 1925 in Hamilton
to Stanley Elmer Allen, son of Joseph Elmer Allen and Carrie Maude
Batchelder. He was born 14 January 1904
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and died 6 March 1982 in Beverly. Seven children. My grandparents.
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