GENERAL NOTES
The death date shown above, November 19th, 1871, is actually the burial date; this date is shown as I don't have the actual death date. My guess is that he passed away the day before on Saturday. On 03/25/13, I did a broad search of NYC Vital Death Records and John was not within the results. These vital records cover 1868 to 1897 for Brooklyn and Manhattan only. He passed on from Manhattan, so it’s doubtful that John’s death records were part of filings for Queens County. It just happens that he is interred within the Queens portion of The Evergreens.
As a side note: The City of Brooklyn (Kings County) became part of The City of New York on Jan. 1st, 1898, as did Queens and Richmond (Staten Island) counties. The Bronx remained part of Manhattan until 1914, the year it became a NYS county and the fifth NYC borough.
John is buried as John Hickerman. Further information is provided below. Among other things, John was a cattleman in the NYC area.
OLD LANCASHIRE ROOTS
My brother Jimmy informed me that John married Susannah Neale (1815-1874). Her parents were Sarah [b. 1784 (80?) – d.11/22/1831 (08/28/1828?)] and Charles Neale [b.1774 (78?) – d.1861 (23?)], both were born in England. The Neale surname may likely be from O'Neil – a very large clan that spanned northern Ireland up through Co. Tyrone & across to Scotland
While records indicate John was from England, it is not yet definitely known where in England John’s family is from. After some researching, they appear to may have been from around old Lancashire, before various 1974 separations of the county (shire). For example, Liverpool and Manchester and their surrounding urban areas (conurbations) became Merseyside and Greater Manchester. Northern areas were collectively formed into Cumbria.
These specific areas have historically had Irish migrations, mostly old Gael, as well as an overall Celtic makeup. Going back to the early 800s these areas were also used as outposts for Norwegian Vikings; later in the 800s, Danish Vikings would influence a vast area extending from the old Lancashire coastline down southeasterly inland across to the North Sea, down to London – an area known as The Danelaw. So named as Danish laws were the ruling jurisprudence. The lands in between to the east-southeast was English Mercia, bound on the west by Wales. Wessex and its Dependencies occupied the east-west southern portion of England, from Canterbury in the east to Cornwall in the west.
The newer Lancashire counties are essentially on the north side of the Wales border. Liverpool and the Mersey River is a short trip from Dublin across the Irish Sea. As a matter of fact, many of our ancestral family members who emigrated travelled from Ireland to Liverpool to start their journey across the Atlantic.
From best I can determine at this time, the family of John’s wife Susanannah, the Neales, may not have been far from there, just north of the Wales border. So, both would be in the same general region – Celtic Brittons or maybe more likely, Norse-Gaels with a mix of Celtic Brittons. Further, John’s mother-in-law was Sarah (Baughan) Neale. Baughan is likely of Welsh origin. A small percentage (2%) of Welsh has recently (mid-2020) been reported in an Ancestry DNA test for our brother Jimmy – the 6th generation (Sarah-Susannah-Sarah Jane-Frank Cullen-Jas. Edwd.Aloy I-Jimmy).
During the middle of December 2017 I found a birth record from a parish in this area that fits for our John. It is from within the old Archdeaconry of Chester, for the last decade of the 1700s, from the parish birth and baptismal registries of today’s Borough of Wigan (now part of Greater Manchester). Specifically, from the registry records of the chapelry in Ashton-in-Makerfield, under entries for 1791, in script the registry records “John son of John Hickinson born April 17 baptized May 13.” Registry records for this chapelry were commenced in the year of 1698. Ashton-in-Makerfield lies about 10 miles northeast of the Mersey River. What’s needed now are some local record documents for around 1800 to 1810, 1810 to 1820 and/or 1820 to 1840, to weave it all together – one way or another.
During September 2020, I found that this John Hickinson is likely the one who married Nancy Briton (b.1795) who had a son John (b.1820-d.1892 in Wigan). Their son married Alice Green (b.1821-d.1881). Together they had 4 children: Mary Anne (b.1848-d.1919), Catherine (b.1853-d.1881), John (b.1856-d.1913) and Margaret (b.1859). Their son John was born in Goose Green in Lancashire.
There is a Marriage Registry record for the marriage of Richard Latham 29 and Mary Ann Hickinson 27 on February 11th of 1841 in Wigan, Lancashire, England. Her father’s name is noted as John Hickinson. Mary Ann’s birth year is given as 1814. Our John would have been around age 23 at time of her birth. This would imply an earlier marriage than that to Susannah, if she is our John’s daughter. On the other hand, she could be the daughter of the John Hckinson that passed away during the last quarter of 1860 from the Wigan Registration District.
Similarly there is one for Ann Hickinson to Thomas Parkinson, both 29, marrying Jan. 22nd, 1854, within records for Wigan, Lancashire, England. She would have been born c.1825. John would have been c.34-years-of-age.
Another marriage record that may tie-into the next paragraph, in re the 1881 Census of England and Wales, is that of a June 12, 1853 marriage of William Hickinson, age 26 (b.1827), son of a John Hickinson, to Mary Lowe, age 27 (b.1826), also from the records of Wigan, Lancashire.
The 1881 Census of England and Wales does record a 75-year-old John and wife Elizabeth, age 80, with 50-year-old son John and grandson William, age 35. The older John could be a paternal first cousin. They were residing on Burgesses Cottagebolton Rd, in Ashton-In-Makerfield, Lancashire, England. As noted, this small town is between Liverpool and Manchester, now in Greater Manchester as the borough of Wigan. Note the common family forenames.
The Lancashire area is home to a significant historic coalfield. While some use of the coal dates back to the Romans, its utility was greatly exploited during the Industrial Revolution that stared back around 1760 and last for another 60 to 80 years. This leads to the next section.
NORSE IRISH GAEL SURNAME ROOTS
The surname Hickinson is of Norse Gael origin. Surname etymology sites, e.g., House of Names, show that the root of the surname comes from “uiging”, the Norse word for Viking. That became the Gaelic “O hUgin”, which, in turn, evolved into surname transliterations like along the line of Higgins, Hickinson, et cetera.
In searching through England and Wales ancestral records for John, there were not many returns for Hickinson; they were rather scant. However, this was just the opposite in searching for the surname among Ireland’s records, despite the fact that there are far fewer available recorded documents over time for Ireland.
A simple family search for the Hickinson surname and a birthplace of Ireland returned 445 surname related ranked results. A considerable number of these, specifically with the surname Hickinson, sans variations, were from the Counties of Antrim (e.g., Ballymoney, Coleraine, Ballycastle, Carncullagh in Dervock, etc.) and Londonderry (aka Derry). And, among them, the frequency of the forenames John, William and James was readily discerned. Of the ones that were spot checked, they were all close to the coastlines and located fairly close to each other. A hooked line could easily be drawn through when these locations are viewed as laid out dots.
County Antrim was a portion of the ancient Dál Riata kingdom that reached it heights during the 600s. It is from Dál Riata that the Gaelic culture was born. It was bounded to the east by today’s Argyll, which translates to “Coast of the Gaels”. It covers Scotland’s western coastline peninsulas. This is why there’s a commonality in language – Gaelic dialects, and culture, e.g., bag pipes and dance. And, to this day, certain shared DNA.
So, while U.S. discovered documents record John as born in England, it’s appears to be a very real possibility that John’s ancestral roots could be to Ireland, particularly the northern counties of the Province of Ulster. It’s possible that his ancestors migrated to the old Lancashire relative to the coal industry drawn by the magnetism of aspirations - perceived as being realized within a striving economy.
This would also provide a plausible explanation for John’s marriage to a Neale (in re O’Neil), for the closeness evidenced by the Hickinsons to Edward Cullen, apparently merging him as “part of the family” even before his marriage to their daughter Sara Jane. Their son James and Edward appear to have been very close to each other – living and working together, along with John.
Current (mid-2020) Ancestry DNA testing gives indications that Edward may have been from County Cavan at the southern end of the Province of Ulster. At one time, Co. Cavan, the eastern portion of the old Kingdom of Breifne, still commonly referred to as Co. Breifne, was part of the Province of Connacht. The western portion was mostly Leitrim, which borders on its south Co. Sligo. The Hickinson name in Ireland has been cited as originating to a family seat in Co. Sligo. Sligo’s coastline is along the Atlantic Ocean. Norwegian and Danish Vikings are known to have invaded, settled and or traded along all of Ireland’s coastlines.
The aforementioned recent Ancestry DNA mid-2020 update shows the author of this memorial as having an ethnicity estimate of 3%+/- Swedish DNA. However, when I hone in on the looped DNA map for Sweden, it’s clear that it also captures Denmark, which I suspect is a better fit. This author did have blonde hair up until the age of 5 to 7. Blonde, as well as various shades of reddish hair is far more common on our paternal side than our maternal McElroy side where dark black hair is frequent.
My brothers and I all have light sky-blue eyes, a trait common to both family sides. The writer consumes close to 2 gallons of milk a week. These traits, among others, date back several millennia within today’s Irish, Scottish, and Welsh. A PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) December 2015 paper titled “Neolithic and Bronze Age migration to Ireland and establishment of the insular Atlantic genome” noted among other things “Irish Bronze Age haplotypic similarity is strongest within modern Irish, Scottish, and Welsh populations, and several important genetic variants that today show maximal or very high frequencies in Ireland appear at this horizon. These include those coding for lactase persistence, blue eye color, Y chromosome R1b haplotypes, and the hemochromatosis C282Y allele; to our knowledge, the first detection of a known Mendelian disease variant in prehistory. These findings together suggest the establishment of central attributes of the Irish genome 4,000 y ago.” DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1518445113.
EARLY NY DIRECTORIES AND U.S.A. & NYS CENSUSES
There are no readily available records to search for the Hickinson surname within the New York State Censuses of 1825, 1835 and 1845. After a thorough search through John Doggett’s New York City Directory for years 1842-43, 1843-1844, 1844-45, 1845-46, 1846-47, and 1847-48, no listing for the surname Hickinson is shown.
However, there is a listing within the 1848-49 Directory for “Hickerson, John A., carman, 127 Hammond”. Hammond Street is now West 11th St. in Greenwich Village. It was north of Perry and ran from Greenwich Avenue westward to the North (Hudson) river. This was within Manhattan’s 1st District of Ward 9.
The 1850 Census does record a 30-year-old John Hickinson and wife Margaret, age 22, with 2-year-old daughter Josephine. They were residing in Manhattan’s 1st District of Ward 9. This ward encompassed the area between Houston Street north to 14th Street and from 6th Avenue west to the North (Hudson) River. This John was born in New Jersey. I wonder if he’s John’s namesake from an earlier marriage, given none of his sons, for whom we have records on, with Susannah were named John.
There is a 21-year-old William Hickinson of Ireland listed on a December 8th, 1852 Post of New York manifest (incorrectly recorded as 1853) for the ship Andrew Foster out of Liverpool.
During late summer 2017, I did a search through numerous old newspapers of the United States. The Hickinson surname is not all that common, as a matter of fact, it’s rather rare in the U.S., as it is in England (but, not Ireland!).
I only found two (2) results for “Hickinson”, which are interesting. The first is from the Wednesday, June 2nd, 1852 issue of The New York Herald. Therein is a “To Let” ad “in a business part of this city between the New Haven and Harlem Railroad depots ………” “Inquire of John Hickinson, 86 Centre Street, or Thomas O’Callaghan, 48 Roosevelt Street.” It is interesting to well note that neither the U.S., nor the NYS Censuses record any Hickinson for this period. I suspect this could be our John Hickinson. Interesting to note two Irish surnames to contact.
The second result also comes from The New York Herald, the Monday, July 2, 1855 issue. It notes a William Hickinson, circa age 35. who according to the news article has a sister, both living down in Philadelphia. A woman by the name of Ann Haney attempted to murder him. He was hit with 26 buckshot. He could possibly be a relative, even a son from an earlier marriage.
1850’S THRU 1860 CENSUSES
I was able to find and screen the New York State 1855 Census. While this 1855 Census provides, what appears to be, a more reasonable age for John, I’m of the opinion that it’s incorrect based upon other documentation that follows. Similarly, the age for Susannah is understated by around 4 years.
This 1855 Census enumerates the following listing in order of Role, Name, Gender and Age. It was enumerated on the 19th of July.
Head John Hickinson M 50
Wife Susannah Hickinson F 36
Child Alfred Hickinson M 13
Child Sarah Jane Hickinson F 5
Child Jas Hickinson M 6/12
Boarder Mary Carrigan F 38
Boarder Ann Carrigan F 9
The family were residing within the 2nd Division of the 1st Election District of the 19th Ward. The 19th Ward was formed in 1850. At the time the 19th Ward extended from 40th Street north to 86th Street and from the East River westward to 6th Avenue. The 1st Election District (ED) within this ward was that portion between the East River and 6th Avenue between 40th to 52nd Streets. This ED certainly encompasses the address shown within a directory for John for the year ending May 1st, 1860. From this census we can imply that John and Susannah were married by or around 1841. In 1841 she would have been around 26-years-of-age. So, their marriage may have been several years earlier.
Based upon this earlier 1855 census at one time I had changed the previous noted “Birth: 1790”, as shown within a latter census, to “Birth: 1805”. This inclusion within the NYS 1855 census of The Hickinson Family was enumerated on July 19th with information to be reported as of 1st June 1855. So, this census indicates an 1804-1805 birth year for John. Without getting into social demographical statistics of the occurrences of births during time periods of the year specific to any one locale during a demarcated epoch within a specific culture, a quick and dirty take-off would say it’s a 50-50 chance that he already had a birthday that year. In short, say, an estimated birth year bracket of 1804-1805. However, as further documents were uncovered, it has become clear that was Susannah’s actual birth year. Thus, while John was reported as age 50, it was Susan who was 50 years old.
As listed they had two boarders, a 38-year-old mother Mary and her 9-year-old daughter Ann Carrigan, both shown as being of Irish birth. It remains to be discovered what the religion of the Hickinsons were at this time. Although it’s highly probable they were Episcopalian. It was not uncommon in the 1700s and 1800s where the sons were raised Episcopalian (Anglican; Protestant but Catholic) while the daughters were raised Roman Catholics.
Screens of the 1860 Census of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont for the Hickinson surname returned no results.
NEW YORK CITY DIRECTORIES & HICKINSON’S 5TH AVE. RESIDENCE
In search of some insightful information, I went through every Trow’s Directory from 1851 through 1872, a year after John’s death. With the one exception noted, he is not listed in the prior years to 1851 when the Directory was still Doggett’s New York City Directory and not found before in some earlier Longworth’s Almanak (Almanac), Registry and Directory.
Trow’s New York City Directory, compiled by H. Wilson, for the Year Ending May 1st, 1860, records John as a driver with a home residence of Fifth Avenue and north West 45th Street, Manhattan. As noted foregoing, this address falls within the metes and bounds of the NYS 1855 Census for New York County’s Ward 19, E.D. 1 (ref. memorial for John’s son James).
At this location John had a nice two-story framed dwelling house, along 5th Avenue between 45th and 46th Streets, in a rather rural setting. It was most convenient for his business as they lived across from the Cattle Yards, spanning from the northside of 44th Street, both sides of 45th and 46th Streets.
I was able to locate a copy of an 1859 color print of a private residence at this location (Framed Dwelling with Store Below). This was the home of a Putnam as in the Putnam & Sons publishing family. John Hickinson’s house, a ½ of block away up 5th Avenue, probably looked very much like this one, but without a store below. I’ve also located a copy of an 1859 plan map of the time and it clearly shows John’s residence.
There was no Hickinson listing with Trow’s 1859 Directory. However, the same information shows in the 1862 Directory (Vol. LXXV) as in that of 1860. As a side note, John F. Trow was a “Book and Job Printer” with an address of Nos. 377 & 379 Broadway, corner of White Street. They advertised “Stereotyping, Electrotyping, and Bookbinding, done promptly, and in the best manner.”.
While there was a NYS 1865 Census, it did not include, i.a., the counties of New York, Queens and Westchester. The notion of the county and borough of the Bronx was yet to evolve.
1870S AND END OF EARTHLY VISITS
Jimmy also informed me that according to the 1870 Census (enumerated June 20th), John was 80 years of age and was a cattleman, and Susannah age 52. I’ve found this 1870 census and it does record John as 80. It also shows sons James at age 15 and William E., a student, at age 9. It further enumerates Edward Cullen, a cattle driver at age 25, his wife Sarah (John’s and Susan’s daughter) being age 20 with son John, a 9-month-old infant, which places his birth around September 1869. All children are shown as having been born in New York City, New York., with the senior Hickinsons being born in England. All were of the same residence.
From information gleaned from both 1855 NYS Census and that of the 1870 U.S. Census, it is now a “known known” that John’s and Susannah’s children and approximated year of birth are: Alfred c. 1842, Sarah Jane c. 1850, Jas. (Dec.) 1854, William E. (Edwd.?) 1861. We know from history that infant and childhood mortality rates are considered high during these periods of time, so it is a “known unknown” as to whether The Hickinsons had other children. In light of this perspective, there may be other things we don’t yet realize that remain to be realized, id est, “unknown unknowns”.
By the end of 1871 John would have passed on from inflammation of the bowels, while his wife Susannah passed on almost exactly three years later from cirrhosis.
RECONFIGURED FAMILY AT START OF THE 1880’S
By the time of the next census 1880, both John and Susannah had passed on. At this snapshot in time we find The Edwd. and Sarah Jane Cullen family consisting of John, the previously (1870) recorded 9-month-old infant as now reported being age 8 (should be 10, reaching age 11 in September IF the same John), Bessie (Elizabeth) 6, Nellie (Ellen) 4, James 3, Eddie 1 and the 2-month-old infant Susie having been born in April (refer to memorial #19874448). The reconfigured Hickinson family consisted of James as head, being a drover, now age 25, his wife Maria age 22, their children 1-year-old Susan and 5-month-old Maggie born that January (refer to memorial #17809803).
This 1880 Census also lists as a member of the Hickinson household brother William, now 18, as unemployed and, as it’s recorded under the “Sickness on day of enumeration” column, he’s suffering from a “hip disease”. According to the “1880 Sickness on Day of Enumeration Codes,” “hip disease” falls under “14 Diseases of the Skeletal System”, “14.02 Hip”. Having an eye for the obvious, I suggest, as a side note, consideration of multiple myeloma, which was rarely, if ever, recognized at this time until a famous medical publication in 1889; further, serum proteins were not recognized until 1956.
INTERMENT & NOTES
Susannah and John are interred in the same grave site at The Evergreens Cemetery, Bushwick, NY. John's burial record shows his name as John Hickerman rather than Hickinson. Hickerman is how his name appeared on the burial permit filed by the funeral parlor, which was Brody (probably should have read Brady) Funeral Home. John's place of death was reported as 97th Street and Lexington Avenue. His burial number is 31062. Jimmy informed me that two of their children are interred in Greenlawn Cemetery 1850 and 1852.
Refer to the entries for Susan Neale Hickinson, their daughter Sarah Jane Hickinson Cullen, as well as Edward Cullen for further details.
My brother Jimmy provided me initial morsels of genealogical information as noted, which whetted my appetite. From there I did my own research of which documented findings are presented herein. The burial information as to burial number, surname, section and grave number I was able to obtain from The Evergreens Cemetery.
The death date shown above, November 19th, 1871, is actually the burial date; this date is shown as I don't have the actual death date. My guess is that he passed away the day before on Saturday. On 03/25/13, I did a broad search of NYC Vital Death Records and John was not within the results. These vital records cover 1868 to 1897 for Brooklyn and Manhattan only. He passed on from Manhattan, so it’s doubtful that John’s death records were part of filings for Queens County. It just happens that he is interred within the Queens portion of The Evergreens.
As a side note: The City of Brooklyn (Kings County) became part of The City of New York on Jan. 1st, 1898, as did Queens and Richmond (Staten Island) counties. The Bronx remained part of Manhattan until 1914, the year it became a NYS county and the fifth NYC borough.
John is buried as John Hickerman. Further information is provided below. Among other things, John was a cattleman in the NYC area.
OLD LANCASHIRE ROOTS
My brother Jimmy informed me that John married Susannah Neale (1815-1874). Her parents were Sarah [b. 1784 (80?) – d.11/22/1831 (08/28/1828?)] and Charles Neale [b.1774 (78?) – d.1861 (23?)], both were born in England. The Neale surname may likely be from O'Neil – a very large clan that spanned northern Ireland up through Co. Tyrone & across to Scotland
While records indicate John was from England, it is not yet definitely known where in England John’s family is from. After some researching, they appear to may have been from around old Lancashire, before various 1974 separations of the county (shire). For example, Liverpool and Manchester and their surrounding urban areas (conurbations) became Merseyside and Greater Manchester. Northern areas were collectively formed into Cumbria.
These specific areas have historically had Irish migrations, mostly old Gael, as well as an overall Celtic makeup. Going back to the early 800s these areas were also used as outposts for Norwegian Vikings; later in the 800s, Danish Vikings would influence a vast area extending from the old Lancashire coastline down southeasterly inland across to the North Sea, down to London – an area known as The Danelaw. So named as Danish laws were the ruling jurisprudence. The lands in between to the east-southeast was English Mercia, bound on the west by Wales. Wessex and its Dependencies occupied the east-west southern portion of England, from Canterbury in the east to Cornwall in the west.
The newer Lancashire counties are essentially on the north side of the Wales border. Liverpool and the Mersey River is a short trip from Dublin across the Irish Sea. As a matter of fact, many of our ancestral family members who emigrated travelled from Ireland to Liverpool to start their journey across the Atlantic.
From best I can determine at this time, the family of John’s wife Susanannah, the Neales, may not have been far from there, just north of the Wales border. So, both would be in the same general region – Celtic Brittons or maybe more likely, Norse-Gaels with a mix of Celtic Brittons. Further, John’s mother-in-law was Sarah (Baughan) Neale. Baughan is likely of Welsh origin. A small percentage (2%) of Welsh has recently (mid-2020) been reported in an Ancestry DNA test for our brother Jimmy – the 6th generation (Sarah-Susannah-Sarah Jane-Frank Cullen-Jas. Edwd.Aloy I-Jimmy).
During the middle of December 2017 I found a birth record from a parish in this area that fits for our John. It is from within the old Archdeaconry of Chester, for the last decade of the 1700s, from the parish birth and baptismal registries of today’s Borough of Wigan (now part of Greater Manchester). Specifically, from the registry records of the chapelry in Ashton-in-Makerfield, under entries for 1791, in script the registry records “John son of John Hickinson born April 17 baptized May 13.” Registry records for this chapelry were commenced in the year of 1698. Ashton-in-Makerfield lies about 10 miles northeast of the Mersey River. What’s needed now are some local record documents for around 1800 to 1810, 1810 to 1820 and/or 1820 to 1840, to weave it all together – one way or another.
During September 2020, I found that this John Hickinson is likely the one who married Nancy Briton (b.1795) who had a son John (b.1820-d.1892 in Wigan). Their son married Alice Green (b.1821-d.1881). Together they had 4 children: Mary Anne (b.1848-d.1919), Catherine (b.1853-d.1881), John (b.1856-d.1913) and Margaret (b.1859). Their son John was born in Goose Green in Lancashire.
There is a Marriage Registry record for the marriage of Richard Latham 29 and Mary Ann Hickinson 27 on February 11th of 1841 in Wigan, Lancashire, England. Her father’s name is noted as John Hickinson. Mary Ann’s birth year is given as 1814. Our John would have been around age 23 at time of her birth. This would imply an earlier marriage than that to Susannah, if she is our John’s daughter. On the other hand, she could be the daughter of the John Hckinson that passed away during the last quarter of 1860 from the Wigan Registration District.
Similarly there is one for Ann Hickinson to Thomas Parkinson, both 29, marrying Jan. 22nd, 1854, within records for Wigan, Lancashire, England. She would have been born c.1825. John would have been c.34-years-of-age.
Another marriage record that may tie-into the next paragraph, in re the 1881 Census of England and Wales, is that of a June 12, 1853 marriage of William Hickinson, age 26 (b.1827), son of a John Hickinson, to Mary Lowe, age 27 (b.1826), also from the records of Wigan, Lancashire.
The 1881 Census of England and Wales does record a 75-year-old John and wife Elizabeth, age 80, with 50-year-old son John and grandson William, age 35. The older John could be a paternal first cousin. They were residing on Burgesses Cottagebolton Rd, in Ashton-In-Makerfield, Lancashire, England. As noted, this small town is between Liverpool and Manchester, now in Greater Manchester as the borough of Wigan. Note the common family forenames.
The Lancashire area is home to a significant historic coalfield. While some use of the coal dates back to the Romans, its utility was greatly exploited during the Industrial Revolution that stared back around 1760 and last for another 60 to 80 years. This leads to the next section.
NORSE IRISH GAEL SURNAME ROOTS
The surname Hickinson is of Norse Gael origin. Surname etymology sites, e.g., House of Names, show that the root of the surname comes from “uiging”, the Norse word for Viking. That became the Gaelic “O hUgin”, which, in turn, evolved into surname transliterations like along the line of Higgins, Hickinson, et cetera.
In searching through England and Wales ancestral records for John, there were not many returns for Hickinson; they were rather scant. However, this was just the opposite in searching for the surname among Ireland’s records, despite the fact that there are far fewer available recorded documents over time for Ireland.
A simple family search for the Hickinson surname and a birthplace of Ireland returned 445 surname related ranked results. A considerable number of these, specifically with the surname Hickinson, sans variations, were from the Counties of Antrim (e.g., Ballymoney, Coleraine, Ballycastle, Carncullagh in Dervock, etc.) and Londonderry (aka Derry). And, among them, the frequency of the forenames John, William and James was readily discerned. Of the ones that were spot checked, they were all close to the coastlines and located fairly close to each other. A hooked line could easily be drawn through when these locations are viewed as laid out dots.
County Antrim was a portion of the ancient Dál Riata kingdom that reached it heights during the 600s. It is from Dál Riata that the Gaelic culture was born. It was bounded to the east by today’s Argyll, which translates to “Coast of the Gaels”. It covers Scotland’s western coastline peninsulas. This is why there’s a commonality in language – Gaelic dialects, and culture, e.g., bag pipes and dance. And, to this day, certain shared DNA.
So, while U.S. discovered documents record John as born in England, it’s appears to be a very real possibility that John’s ancestral roots could be to Ireland, particularly the northern counties of the Province of Ulster. It’s possible that his ancestors migrated to the old Lancashire relative to the coal industry drawn by the magnetism of aspirations - perceived as being realized within a striving economy.
This would also provide a plausible explanation for John’s marriage to a Neale (in re O’Neil), for the closeness evidenced by the Hickinsons to Edward Cullen, apparently merging him as “part of the family” even before his marriage to their daughter Sara Jane. Their son James and Edward appear to have been very close to each other – living and working together, along with John.
Current (mid-2020) Ancestry DNA testing gives indications that Edward may have been from County Cavan at the southern end of the Province of Ulster. At one time, Co. Cavan, the eastern portion of the old Kingdom of Breifne, still commonly referred to as Co. Breifne, was part of the Province of Connacht. The western portion was mostly Leitrim, which borders on its south Co. Sligo. The Hickinson name in Ireland has been cited as originating to a family seat in Co. Sligo. Sligo’s coastline is along the Atlantic Ocean. Norwegian and Danish Vikings are known to have invaded, settled and or traded along all of Ireland’s coastlines.
The aforementioned recent Ancestry DNA mid-2020 update shows the author of this memorial as having an ethnicity estimate of 3%+/- Swedish DNA. However, when I hone in on the looped DNA map for Sweden, it’s clear that it also captures Denmark, which I suspect is a better fit. This author did have blonde hair up until the age of 5 to 7. Blonde, as well as various shades of reddish hair is far more common on our paternal side than our maternal McElroy side where dark black hair is frequent.
My brothers and I all have light sky-blue eyes, a trait common to both family sides. The writer consumes close to 2 gallons of milk a week. These traits, among others, date back several millennia within today’s Irish, Scottish, and Welsh. A PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) December 2015 paper titled “Neolithic and Bronze Age migration to Ireland and establishment of the insular Atlantic genome” noted among other things “Irish Bronze Age haplotypic similarity is strongest within modern Irish, Scottish, and Welsh populations, and several important genetic variants that today show maximal or very high frequencies in Ireland appear at this horizon. These include those coding for lactase persistence, blue eye color, Y chromosome R1b haplotypes, and the hemochromatosis C282Y allele; to our knowledge, the first detection of a known Mendelian disease variant in prehistory. These findings together suggest the establishment of central attributes of the Irish genome 4,000 y ago.” DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1518445113.
EARLY NY DIRECTORIES AND U.S.A. & NYS CENSUSES
There are no readily available records to search for the Hickinson surname within the New York State Censuses of 1825, 1835 and 1845. After a thorough search through John Doggett’s New York City Directory for years 1842-43, 1843-1844, 1844-45, 1845-46, 1846-47, and 1847-48, no listing for the surname Hickinson is shown.
However, there is a listing within the 1848-49 Directory for “Hickerson, John A., carman, 127 Hammond”. Hammond Street is now West 11th St. in Greenwich Village. It was north of Perry and ran from Greenwich Avenue westward to the North (Hudson) river. This was within Manhattan’s 1st District of Ward 9.
The 1850 Census does record a 30-year-old John Hickinson and wife Margaret, age 22, with 2-year-old daughter Josephine. They were residing in Manhattan’s 1st District of Ward 9. This ward encompassed the area between Houston Street north to 14th Street and from 6th Avenue west to the North (Hudson) River. This John was born in New Jersey. I wonder if he’s John’s namesake from an earlier marriage, given none of his sons, for whom we have records on, with Susannah were named John.
There is a 21-year-old William Hickinson of Ireland listed on a December 8th, 1852 Post of New York manifest (incorrectly recorded as 1853) for the ship Andrew Foster out of Liverpool.
During late summer 2017, I did a search through numerous old newspapers of the United States. The Hickinson surname is not all that common, as a matter of fact, it’s rather rare in the U.S., as it is in England (but, not Ireland!).
I only found two (2) results for “Hickinson”, which are interesting. The first is from the Wednesday, June 2nd, 1852 issue of The New York Herald. Therein is a “To Let” ad “in a business part of this city between the New Haven and Harlem Railroad depots ………” “Inquire of John Hickinson, 86 Centre Street, or Thomas O’Callaghan, 48 Roosevelt Street.” It is interesting to well note that neither the U.S., nor the NYS Censuses record any Hickinson for this period. I suspect this could be our John Hickinson. Interesting to note two Irish surnames to contact.
The second result also comes from The New York Herald, the Monday, July 2, 1855 issue. It notes a William Hickinson, circa age 35. who according to the news article has a sister, both living down in Philadelphia. A woman by the name of Ann Haney attempted to murder him. He was hit with 26 buckshot. He could possibly be a relative, even a son from an earlier marriage.
1850’S THRU 1860 CENSUSES
I was able to find and screen the New York State 1855 Census. While this 1855 Census provides, what appears to be, a more reasonable age for John, I’m of the opinion that it’s incorrect based upon other documentation that follows. Similarly, the age for Susannah is understated by around 4 years.
This 1855 Census enumerates the following listing in order of Role, Name, Gender and Age. It was enumerated on the 19th of July.
Head John Hickinson M 50
Wife Susannah Hickinson F 36
Child Alfred Hickinson M 13
Child Sarah Jane Hickinson F 5
Child Jas Hickinson M 6/12
Boarder Mary Carrigan F 38
Boarder Ann Carrigan F 9
The family were residing within the 2nd Division of the 1st Election District of the 19th Ward. The 19th Ward was formed in 1850. At the time the 19th Ward extended from 40th Street north to 86th Street and from the East River westward to 6th Avenue. The 1st Election District (ED) within this ward was that portion between the East River and 6th Avenue between 40th to 52nd Streets. This ED certainly encompasses the address shown within a directory for John for the year ending May 1st, 1860. From this census we can imply that John and Susannah were married by or around 1841. In 1841 she would have been around 26-years-of-age. So, their marriage may have been several years earlier.
Based upon this earlier 1855 census at one time I had changed the previous noted “Birth: 1790”, as shown within a latter census, to “Birth: 1805”. This inclusion within the NYS 1855 census of The Hickinson Family was enumerated on July 19th with information to be reported as of 1st June 1855. So, this census indicates an 1804-1805 birth year for John. Without getting into social demographical statistics of the occurrences of births during time periods of the year specific to any one locale during a demarcated epoch within a specific culture, a quick and dirty take-off would say it’s a 50-50 chance that he already had a birthday that year. In short, say, an estimated birth year bracket of 1804-1805. However, as further documents were uncovered, it has become clear that was Susannah’s actual birth year. Thus, while John was reported as age 50, it was Susan who was 50 years old.
As listed they had two boarders, a 38-year-old mother Mary and her 9-year-old daughter Ann Carrigan, both shown as being of Irish birth. It remains to be discovered what the religion of the Hickinsons were at this time. Although it’s highly probable they were Episcopalian. It was not uncommon in the 1700s and 1800s where the sons were raised Episcopalian (Anglican; Protestant but Catholic) while the daughters were raised Roman Catholics.
Screens of the 1860 Census of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont for the Hickinson surname returned no results.
NEW YORK CITY DIRECTORIES & HICKINSON’S 5TH AVE. RESIDENCE
In search of some insightful information, I went through every Trow’s Directory from 1851 through 1872, a year after John’s death. With the one exception noted, he is not listed in the prior years to 1851 when the Directory was still Doggett’s New York City Directory and not found before in some earlier Longworth’s Almanak (Almanac), Registry and Directory.
Trow’s New York City Directory, compiled by H. Wilson, for the Year Ending May 1st, 1860, records John as a driver with a home residence of Fifth Avenue and north West 45th Street, Manhattan. As noted foregoing, this address falls within the metes and bounds of the NYS 1855 Census for New York County’s Ward 19, E.D. 1 (ref. memorial for John’s son James).
At this location John had a nice two-story framed dwelling house, along 5th Avenue between 45th and 46th Streets, in a rather rural setting. It was most convenient for his business as they lived across from the Cattle Yards, spanning from the northside of 44th Street, both sides of 45th and 46th Streets.
I was able to locate a copy of an 1859 color print of a private residence at this location (Framed Dwelling with Store Below). This was the home of a Putnam as in the Putnam & Sons publishing family. John Hickinson’s house, a ½ of block away up 5th Avenue, probably looked very much like this one, but without a store below. I’ve also located a copy of an 1859 plan map of the time and it clearly shows John’s residence.
There was no Hickinson listing with Trow’s 1859 Directory. However, the same information shows in the 1862 Directory (Vol. LXXV) as in that of 1860. As a side note, John F. Trow was a “Book and Job Printer” with an address of Nos. 377 & 379 Broadway, corner of White Street. They advertised “Stereotyping, Electrotyping, and Bookbinding, done promptly, and in the best manner.”.
While there was a NYS 1865 Census, it did not include, i.a., the counties of New York, Queens and Westchester. The notion of the county and borough of the Bronx was yet to evolve.
1870S AND END OF EARTHLY VISITS
Jimmy also informed me that according to the 1870 Census (enumerated June 20th), John was 80 years of age and was a cattleman, and Susannah age 52. I’ve found this 1870 census and it does record John as 80. It also shows sons James at age 15 and William E., a student, at age 9. It further enumerates Edward Cullen, a cattle driver at age 25, his wife Sarah (John’s and Susan’s daughter) being age 20 with son John, a 9-month-old infant, which places his birth around September 1869. All children are shown as having been born in New York City, New York., with the senior Hickinsons being born in England. All were of the same residence.
From information gleaned from both 1855 NYS Census and that of the 1870 U.S. Census, it is now a “known known” that John’s and Susannah’s children and approximated year of birth are: Alfred c. 1842, Sarah Jane c. 1850, Jas. (Dec.) 1854, William E. (Edwd.?) 1861. We know from history that infant and childhood mortality rates are considered high during these periods of time, so it is a “known unknown” as to whether The Hickinsons had other children. In light of this perspective, there may be other things we don’t yet realize that remain to be realized, id est, “unknown unknowns”.
By the end of 1871 John would have passed on from inflammation of the bowels, while his wife Susannah passed on almost exactly three years later from cirrhosis.
RECONFIGURED FAMILY AT START OF THE 1880’S
By the time of the next census 1880, both John and Susannah had passed on. At this snapshot in time we find The Edwd. and Sarah Jane Cullen family consisting of John, the previously (1870) recorded 9-month-old infant as now reported being age 8 (should be 10, reaching age 11 in September IF the same John), Bessie (Elizabeth) 6, Nellie (Ellen) 4, James 3, Eddie 1 and the 2-month-old infant Susie having been born in April (refer to memorial #19874448). The reconfigured Hickinson family consisted of James as head, being a drover, now age 25, his wife Maria age 22, their children 1-year-old Susan and 5-month-old Maggie born that January (refer to memorial #17809803).
This 1880 Census also lists as a member of the Hickinson household brother William, now 18, as unemployed and, as it’s recorded under the “Sickness on day of enumeration” column, he’s suffering from a “hip disease”. According to the “1880 Sickness on Day of Enumeration Codes,” “hip disease” falls under “14 Diseases of the Skeletal System”, “14.02 Hip”. Having an eye for the obvious, I suggest, as a side note, consideration of multiple myeloma, which was rarely, if ever, recognized at this time until a famous medical publication in 1889; further, serum proteins were not recognized until 1956.
INTERMENT & NOTES
Susannah and John are interred in the same grave site at The Evergreens Cemetery, Bushwick, NY. John's burial record shows his name as John Hickerman rather than Hickinson. Hickerman is how his name appeared on the burial permit filed by the funeral parlor, which was Brody (probably should have read Brady) Funeral Home. John's place of death was reported as 97th Street and Lexington Avenue. His burial number is 31062. Jimmy informed me that two of their children are interred in Greenlawn Cemetery 1850 and 1852.
Refer to the entries for Susan Neale Hickinson, their daughter Sarah Jane Hickinson Cullen, as well as Edward Cullen for further details.
My brother Jimmy provided me initial morsels of genealogical information as noted, which whetted my appetite. From there I did my own research of which documented findings are presented herein. The burial information as to burial number, surname, section and grave number I was able to obtain from The Evergreens Cemetery.
GENERAL NOTES
The death date shown above, November 19th, 1871, is actually the burial date; this date is shown as I don't have the actual death date. My guess is that he passed away the day before on Saturday. On 03/25/13, I did a broad search of NYC Vital Death Records and John was not within the results. These vital records cover 1868 to 1897 for Brooklyn and Manhattan only. He passed on from Manhattan, so it’s doubtful that John’s death records were part of filings for Queens County. It just happens that he is interred within the Queens portion of The Evergreens.
As a side note: The City of Brooklyn (Kings County) became part of The City of New York on Jan. 1st, 1898, as did Queens and Richmond (Staten Island) counties. The Bronx remained part of Manhattan until 1914, the year it became a NYS county and the fifth NYC borough.
John is buried as John Hickerman. Further information is provided below. Among other things, John was a cattleman in the NYC area.
OLD LANCASHIRE ROOTS
My brother Jimmy informed me that John married Susannah Neale (1815-1874). Her parents were Sarah [b. 1784 (80?) – d.11/22/1831 (08/28/1828?)] and Charles Neale [b.1774 (78?) – d.1861 (23?)], both were born in England. The Neale surname may likely be from O'Neil – a very large clan that spanned northern Ireland up through Co. Tyrone & across to Scotland
While records indicate John was from England, it is not yet definitely known where in England John’s family is from. After some researching, they appear to may have been from around old Lancashire, before various 1974 separations of the county (shire). For example, Liverpool and Manchester and their surrounding urban areas (conurbations) became Merseyside and Greater Manchester. Northern areas were collectively formed into Cumbria.
These specific areas have historically had Irish migrations, mostly old Gael, as well as an overall Celtic makeup. Going back to the early 800s these areas were also used as outposts for Norwegian Vikings; later in the 800s, Danish Vikings would influence a vast area extending from the old Lancashire coastline down southeasterly inland across to the North Sea, down to London – an area known as The Danelaw. So named as Danish laws were the ruling jurisprudence. The lands in between to the east-southeast was English Mercia, bound on the west by Wales. Wessex and its Dependencies occupied the east-west southern portion of England, from Canterbury in the east to Cornwall in the west.
The newer Lancashire counties are essentially on the north side of the Wales border. Liverpool and the Mersey River is a short trip from Dublin across the Irish Sea. As a matter of fact, many of our ancestral family members who emigrated travelled from Ireland to Liverpool to start their journey across the Atlantic.
From best I can determine at this time, the family of John’s wife Susanannah, the Neales, may not have been far from there, just north of the Wales border. So, both would be in the same general region – Celtic Brittons or maybe more likely, Norse-Gaels with a mix of Celtic Brittons. Further, John’s mother-in-law was Sarah (Baughan) Neale. Baughan is likely of Welsh origin. A small percentage (2%) of Welsh has recently (mid-2020) been reported in an Ancestry DNA test for our brother Jimmy – the 6th generation (Sarah-Susannah-Sarah Jane-Frank Cullen-Jas. Edwd.Aloy I-Jimmy).
During the middle of December 2017 I found a birth record from a parish in this area that fits for our John. It is from within the old Archdeaconry of Chester, for the last decade of the 1700s, from the parish birth and baptismal registries of today’s Borough of Wigan (now part of Greater Manchester). Specifically, from the registry records of the chapelry in Ashton-in-Makerfield, under entries for 1791, in script the registry records “John son of John Hickinson born April 17 baptized May 13.” Registry records for this chapelry were commenced in the year of 1698. Ashton-in-Makerfield lies about 10 miles northeast of the Mersey River. What’s needed now are some local record documents for around 1800 to 1810, 1810 to 1820 and/or 1820 to 1840, to weave it all together – one way or another.
During September 2020, I found that this John Hickinson is likely the one who married Nancy Briton (b.1795) who had a son John (b.1820-d.1892 in Wigan). Their son married Alice Green (b.1821-d.1881). Together they had 4 children: Mary Anne (b.1848-d.1919), Catherine (b.1853-d.1881), John (b.1856-d.1913) and Margaret (b.1859). Their son John was born in Goose Green in Lancashire.
There is a Marriage Registry record for the marriage of Richard Latham 29 and Mary Ann Hickinson 27 on February 11th of 1841 in Wigan, Lancashire, England. Her father’s name is noted as John Hickinson. Mary Ann’s birth year is given as 1814. Our John would have been around age 23 at time of her birth. This would imply an earlier marriage than that to Susannah, if she is our John’s daughter. On the other hand, she could be the daughter of the John Hckinson that passed away during the last quarter of 1860 from the Wigan Registration District.
Similarly there is one for Ann Hickinson to Thomas Parkinson, both 29, marrying Jan. 22nd, 1854, within records for Wigan, Lancashire, England. She would have been born c.1825. John would have been c.34-years-of-age.
Another marriage record that may tie-into the next paragraph, in re the 1881 Census of England and Wales, is that of a June 12, 1853 marriage of William Hickinson, age 26 (b.1827), son of a John Hickinson, to Mary Lowe, age 27 (b.1826), also from the records of Wigan, Lancashire.
The 1881 Census of England and Wales does record a 75-year-old John and wife Elizabeth, age 80, with 50-year-old son John and grandson William, age 35. The older John could be a paternal first cousin. They were residing on Burgesses Cottagebolton Rd, in Ashton-In-Makerfield, Lancashire, England. As noted, this small town is between Liverpool and Manchester, now in Greater Manchester as the borough of Wigan. Note the common family forenames.
The Lancashire area is home to a significant historic coalfield. While some use of the coal dates back to the Romans, its utility was greatly exploited during the Industrial Revolution that stared back around 1760 and last for another 60 to 80 years. This leads to the next section.
NORSE IRISH GAEL SURNAME ROOTS
The surname Hickinson is of Norse Gael origin. Surname etymology sites, e.g., House of Names, show that the root of the surname comes from “uiging”, the Norse word for Viking. That became the Gaelic “O hUgin”, which, in turn, evolved into surname transliterations like along the line of Higgins, Hickinson, et cetera.
In searching through England and Wales ancestral records for John, there were not many returns for Hickinson; they were rather scant. However, this was just the opposite in searching for the surname among Ireland’s records, despite the fact that there are far fewer available recorded documents over time for Ireland.
A simple family search for the Hickinson surname and a birthplace of Ireland returned 445 surname related ranked results. A considerable number of these, specifically with the surname Hickinson, sans variations, were from the Counties of Antrim (e.g., Ballymoney, Coleraine, Ballycastle, Carncullagh in Dervock, etc.) and Londonderry (aka Derry). And, among them, the frequency of the forenames John, William and James was readily discerned. Of the ones that were spot checked, they were all close to the coastlines and located fairly close to each other. A hooked line could easily be drawn through when these locations are viewed as laid out dots.
County Antrim was a portion of the ancient Dál Riata kingdom that reached it heights during the 600s. It is from Dál Riata that the Gaelic culture was born. It was bounded to the east by today’s Argyll, which translates to “Coast of the Gaels”. It covers Scotland’s western coastline peninsulas. This is why there’s a commonality in language – Gaelic dialects, and culture, e.g., bag pipes and dance. And, to this day, certain shared DNA.
So, while U.S. discovered documents record John as born in England, it’s appears to be a very real possibility that John’s ancestral roots could be to Ireland, particularly the northern counties of the Province of Ulster. It’s possible that his ancestors migrated to the old Lancashire relative to the coal industry drawn by the magnetism of aspirations - perceived as being realized within a striving economy.
This would also provide a plausible explanation for John’s marriage to a Neale (in re O’Neil), for the closeness evidenced by the Hickinsons to Edward Cullen, apparently merging him as “part of the family” even before his marriage to their daughter Sara Jane. Their son James and Edward appear to have been very close to each other – living and working together, along with John.
Current (mid-2020) Ancestry DNA testing gives indications that Edward may have been from County Cavan at the southern end of the Province of Ulster. At one time, Co. Cavan, the eastern portion of the old Kingdom of Breifne, still commonly referred to as Co. Breifne, was part of the Province of Connacht. The western portion was mostly Leitrim, which borders on its south Co. Sligo. The Hickinson name in Ireland has been cited as originating to a family seat in Co. Sligo. Sligo’s coastline is along the Atlantic Ocean. Norwegian and Danish Vikings are known to have invaded, settled and or traded along all of Ireland’s coastlines.
The aforementioned recent Ancestry DNA mid-2020 update shows the author of this memorial as having an ethnicity estimate of 3%+/- Swedish DNA. However, when I hone in on the looped DNA map for Sweden, it’s clear that it also captures Denmark, which I suspect is a better fit. This author did have blonde hair up until the age of 5 to 7. Blonde, as well as various shades of reddish hair is far more common on our paternal side than our maternal McElroy side where dark black hair is frequent.
My brothers and I all have light sky-blue eyes, a trait common to both family sides. The writer consumes close to 2 gallons of milk a week. These traits, among others, date back several millennia within today’s Irish, Scottish, and Welsh. A PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) December 2015 paper titled “Neolithic and Bronze Age migration to Ireland and establishment of the insular Atlantic genome” noted among other things “Irish Bronze Age haplotypic similarity is strongest within modern Irish, Scottish, and Welsh populations, and several important genetic variants that today show maximal or very high frequencies in Ireland appear at this horizon. These include those coding for lactase persistence, blue eye color, Y chromosome R1b haplotypes, and the hemochromatosis C282Y allele; to our knowledge, the first detection of a known Mendelian disease variant in prehistory. These findings together suggest the establishment of central attributes of the Irish genome 4,000 y ago.” DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1518445113.
EARLY NY DIRECTORIES AND U.S.A. & NYS CENSUSES
There are no readily available records to search for the Hickinson surname within the New York State Censuses of 1825, 1835 and 1845. After a thorough search through John Doggett’s New York City Directory for years 1842-43, 1843-1844, 1844-45, 1845-46, 1846-47, and 1847-48, no listing for the surname Hickinson is shown.
However, there is a listing within the 1848-49 Directory for “Hickerson, John A., carman, 127 Hammond”. Hammond Street is now West 11th St. in Greenwich Village. It was north of Perry and ran from Greenwich Avenue westward to the North (Hudson) river. This was within Manhattan’s 1st District of Ward 9.
The 1850 Census does record a 30-year-old John Hickinson and wife Margaret, age 22, with 2-year-old daughter Josephine. They were residing in Manhattan’s 1st District of Ward 9. This ward encompassed the area between Houston Street north to 14th Street and from 6th Avenue west to the North (Hudson) River. This John was born in New Jersey. I wonder if he’s John’s namesake from an earlier marriage, given none of his sons, for whom we have records on, with Susannah were named John.
There is a 21-year-old William Hickinson of Ireland listed on a December 8th, 1852 Post of New York manifest (incorrectly recorded as 1853) for the ship Andrew Foster out of Liverpool.
During late summer 2017, I did a search through numerous old newspapers of the United States. The Hickinson surname is not all that common, as a matter of fact, it’s rather rare in the U.S., as it is in England (but, not Ireland!).
I only found two (2) results for “Hickinson”, which are interesting. The first is from the Wednesday, June 2nd, 1852 issue of The New York Herald. Therein is a “To Let” ad “in a business part of this city between the New Haven and Harlem Railroad depots ………” “Inquire of John Hickinson, 86 Centre Street, or Thomas O’Callaghan, 48 Roosevelt Street.” It is interesting to well note that neither the U.S., nor the NYS Censuses record any Hickinson for this period. I suspect this could be our John Hickinson. Interesting to note two Irish surnames to contact.
The second result also comes from The New York Herald, the Monday, July 2, 1855 issue. It notes a William Hickinson, circa age 35. who according to the news article has a sister, both living down in Philadelphia. A woman by the name of Ann Haney attempted to murder him. He was hit with 26 buckshot. He could possibly be a relative, even a son from an earlier marriage.
1850’S THRU 1860 CENSUSES
I was able to find and screen the New York State 1855 Census. While this 1855 Census provides, what appears to be, a more reasonable age for John, I’m of the opinion that it’s incorrect based upon other documentation that follows. Similarly, the age for Susannah is understated by around 4 years.
This 1855 Census enumerates the following listing in order of Role, Name, Gender and Age. It was enumerated on the 19th of July.
Head John Hickinson M 50
Wife Susannah Hickinson F 36
Child Alfred Hickinson M 13
Child Sarah Jane Hickinson F 5
Child Jas Hickinson M 6/12
Boarder Mary Carrigan F 38
Boarder Ann Carrigan F 9
The family were residing within the 2nd Division of the 1st Election District of the 19th Ward. The 19th Ward was formed in 1850. At the time the 19th Ward extended from 40th Street north to 86th Street and from the East River westward to 6th Avenue. The 1st Election District (ED) within this ward was that portion between the East River and 6th Avenue between 40th to 52nd Streets. This ED certainly encompasses the address shown within a directory for John for the year ending May 1st, 1860. From this census we can imply that John and Susannah were married by or around 1841. In 1841 she would have been around 26-years-of-age. So, their marriage may have been several years earlier.
Based upon this earlier 1855 census at one time I had changed the previous noted “Birth: 1790”, as shown within a latter census, to “Birth: 1805”. This inclusion within the NYS 1855 census of The Hickinson Family was enumerated on July 19th with information to be reported as of 1st June 1855. So, this census indicates an 1804-1805 birth year for John. Without getting into social demographical statistics of the occurrences of births during time periods of the year specific to any one locale during a demarcated epoch within a specific culture, a quick and dirty take-off would say it’s a 50-50 chance that he already had a birthday that year. In short, say, an estimated birth year bracket of 1804-1805. However, as further documents were uncovered, it has become clear that was Susannah’s actual birth year. Thus, while John was reported as age 50, it was Susan who was 50 years old.
As listed they had two boarders, a 38-year-old mother Mary and her 9-year-old daughter Ann Carrigan, both shown as being of Irish birth. It remains to be discovered what the religion of the Hickinsons were at this time. Although it’s highly probable they were Episcopalian. It was not uncommon in the 1700s and 1800s where the sons were raised Episcopalian (Anglican; Protestant but Catholic) while the daughters were raised Roman Catholics.
Screens of the 1860 Census of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont for the Hickinson surname returned no results.
NEW YORK CITY DIRECTORIES & HICKINSON’S 5TH AVE. RESIDENCE
In search of some insightful information, I went through every Trow’s Directory from 1851 through 1872, a year after John’s death. With the one exception noted, he is not listed in the prior years to 1851 when the Directory was still Doggett’s New York City Directory and not found before in some earlier Longworth’s Almanak (Almanac), Registry and Directory.
Trow’s New York City Directory, compiled by H. Wilson, for the Year Ending May 1st, 1860, records John as a driver with a home residence of Fifth Avenue and north West 45th Street, Manhattan. As noted foregoing, this address falls within the metes and bounds of the NYS 1855 Census for New York County’s Ward 19, E.D. 1 (ref. memorial for John’s son James).
At this location John had a nice two-story framed dwelling house, along 5th Avenue between 45th and 46th Streets, in a rather rural setting. It was most convenient for his business as they lived across from the Cattle Yards, spanning from the northside of 44th Street, both sides of 45th and 46th Streets.
I was able to locate a copy of an 1859 color print of a private residence at this location (Framed Dwelling with Store Below). This was the home of a Putnam as in the Putnam & Sons publishing family. John Hickinson’s house, a ½ of block away up 5th Avenue, probably looked very much like this one, but without a store below. I’ve also located a copy of an 1859 plan map of the time and it clearly shows John’s residence.
There was no Hickinson listing with Trow’s 1859 Directory. However, the same information shows in the 1862 Directory (Vol. LXXV) as in that of 1860. As a side note, John F. Trow was a “Book and Job Printer” with an address of Nos. 377 & 379 Broadway, corner of White Street. They advertised “Stereotyping, Electrotyping, and Bookbinding, done promptly, and in the best manner.”.
While there was a NYS 1865 Census, it did not include, i.a., the counties of New York, Queens and Westchester. The notion of the county and borough of the Bronx was yet to evolve.
1870S AND END OF EARTHLY VISITS
Jimmy also informed me that according to the 1870 Census (enumerated June 20th), John was 80 years of age and was a cattleman, and Susannah age 52. I’ve found this 1870 census and it does record John as 80. It also shows sons James at age 15 and William E., a student, at age 9. It further enumerates Edward Cullen, a cattle driver at age 25, his wife Sarah (John’s and Susan’s daughter) being age 20 with son John, a 9-month-old infant, which places his birth around September 1869. All children are shown as having been born in New York City, New York., with the senior Hickinsons being born in England. All were of the same residence.
From information gleaned from both 1855 NYS Census and that of the 1870 U.S. Census, it is now a “known known” that John’s and Susannah’s children and approximated year of birth are: Alfred c. 1842, Sarah Jane c. 1850, Jas. (Dec.) 1854, William E. (Edwd.?) 1861. We know from history that infant and childhood mortality rates are considered high during these periods of time, so it is a “known unknown” as to whether The Hickinsons had other children. In light of this perspective, there may be other things we don’t yet realize that remain to be realized, id est, “unknown unknowns”.
By the end of 1871 John would have passed on from inflammation of the bowels, while his wife Susannah passed on almost exactly three years later from cirrhosis.
RECONFIGURED FAMILY AT START OF THE 1880’S
By the time of the next census 1880, both John and Susannah had passed on. At this snapshot in time we find The Edwd. and Sarah Jane Cullen family consisting of John, the previously (1870) recorded 9-month-old infant as now reported being age 8 (should be 10, reaching age 11 in September IF the same John), Bessie (Elizabeth) 6, Nellie (Ellen) 4, James 3, Eddie 1 and the 2-month-old infant Susie having been born in April (refer to memorial #19874448). The reconfigured Hickinson family consisted of James as head, being a drover, now age 25, his wife Maria age 22, their children 1-year-old Susan and 5-month-old Maggie born that January (refer to memorial #17809803).
This 1880 Census also lists as a member of the Hickinson household brother William, now 18, as unemployed and, as it’s recorded under the “Sickness on day of enumeration” column, he’s suffering from a “hip disease”. According to the “1880 Sickness on Day of Enumeration Codes,” “hip disease” falls under “14 Diseases of the Skeletal System”, “14.02 Hip”. Having an eye for the obvious, I suggest, as a side note, consideration of multiple myeloma, which was rarely, if ever, recognized at this time until a famous medical publication in 1889; further, serum proteins were not recognized until 1956.
INTERMENT & NOTES
Susannah and John are interred in the same grave site at The Evergreens Cemetery, Bushwick, NY. John's burial record shows his name as John Hickerman rather than Hickinson. Hickerman is how his name appeared on the burial permit filed by the funeral parlor, which was Brody (probably should have read Brady) Funeral Home. John's place of death was reported as 97th Street and Lexington Avenue. His burial number is 31062. Jimmy informed me that two of their children are interred in Greenlawn Cemetery 1850 and 1852.
Refer to the entries for Susan Neale Hickinson, their daughter Sarah Jane Hickinson Cullen, as well as Edward Cullen for further details.
My brother Jimmy provided me initial morsels of genealogical information as noted, which whetted my appetite. From there I did my own research of which documented findings are presented herein. The burial information as to burial number, surname, section and grave number I was able to obtain from The Evergreens Cemetery.
The death date shown above, November 19th, 1871, is actually the burial date; this date is shown as I don't have the actual death date. My guess is that he passed away the day before on Saturday. On 03/25/13, I did a broad search of NYC Vital Death Records and John was not within the results. These vital records cover 1868 to 1897 for Brooklyn and Manhattan only. He passed on from Manhattan, so it’s doubtful that John’s death records were part of filings for Queens County. It just happens that he is interred within the Queens portion of The Evergreens.
As a side note: The City of Brooklyn (Kings County) became part of The City of New York on Jan. 1st, 1898, as did Queens and Richmond (Staten Island) counties. The Bronx remained part of Manhattan until 1914, the year it became a NYS county and the fifth NYC borough.
John is buried as John Hickerman. Further information is provided below. Among other things, John was a cattleman in the NYC area.
OLD LANCASHIRE ROOTS
My brother Jimmy informed me that John married Susannah Neale (1815-1874). Her parents were Sarah [b. 1784 (80?) – d.11/22/1831 (08/28/1828?)] and Charles Neale [b.1774 (78?) – d.1861 (23?)], both were born in England. The Neale surname may likely be from O'Neil – a very large clan that spanned northern Ireland up through Co. Tyrone & across to Scotland
While records indicate John was from England, it is not yet definitely known where in England John’s family is from. After some researching, they appear to may have been from around old Lancashire, before various 1974 separations of the county (shire). For example, Liverpool and Manchester and their surrounding urban areas (conurbations) became Merseyside and Greater Manchester. Northern areas were collectively formed into Cumbria.
These specific areas have historically had Irish migrations, mostly old Gael, as well as an overall Celtic makeup. Going back to the early 800s these areas were also used as outposts for Norwegian Vikings; later in the 800s, Danish Vikings would influence a vast area extending from the old Lancashire coastline down southeasterly inland across to the North Sea, down to London – an area known as The Danelaw. So named as Danish laws were the ruling jurisprudence. The lands in between to the east-southeast was English Mercia, bound on the west by Wales. Wessex and its Dependencies occupied the east-west southern portion of England, from Canterbury in the east to Cornwall in the west.
The newer Lancashire counties are essentially on the north side of the Wales border. Liverpool and the Mersey River is a short trip from Dublin across the Irish Sea. As a matter of fact, many of our ancestral family members who emigrated travelled from Ireland to Liverpool to start their journey across the Atlantic.
From best I can determine at this time, the family of John’s wife Susanannah, the Neales, may not have been far from there, just north of the Wales border. So, both would be in the same general region – Celtic Brittons or maybe more likely, Norse-Gaels with a mix of Celtic Brittons. Further, John’s mother-in-law was Sarah (Baughan) Neale. Baughan is likely of Welsh origin. A small percentage (2%) of Welsh has recently (mid-2020) been reported in an Ancestry DNA test for our brother Jimmy – the 6th generation (Sarah-Susannah-Sarah Jane-Frank Cullen-Jas. Edwd.Aloy I-Jimmy).
During the middle of December 2017 I found a birth record from a parish in this area that fits for our John. It is from within the old Archdeaconry of Chester, for the last decade of the 1700s, from the parish birth and baptismal registries of today’s Borough of Wigan (now part of Greater Manchester). Specifically, from the registry records of the chapelry in Ashton-in-Makerfield, under entries for 1791, in script the registry records “John son of John Hickinson born April 17 baptized May 13.” Registry records for this chapelry were commenced in the year of 1698. Ashton-in-Makerfield lies about 10 miles northeast of the Mersey River. What’s needed now are some local record documents for around 1800 to 1810, 1810 to 1820 and/or 1820 to 1840, to weave it all together – one way or another.
During September 2020, I found that this John Hickinson is likely the one who married Nancy Briton (b.1795) who had a son John (b.1820-d.1892 in Wigan). Their son married Alice Green (b.1821-d.1881). Together they had 4 children: Mary Anne (b.1848-d.1919), Catherine (b.1853-d.1881), John (b.1856-d.1913) and Margaret (b.1859). Their son John was born in Goose Green in Lancashire.
There is a Marriage Registry record for the marriage of Richard Latham 29 and Mary Ann Hickinson 27 on February 11th of 1841 in Wigan, Lancashire, England. Her father’s name is noted as John Hickinson. Mary Ann’s birth year is given as 1814. Our John would have been around age 23 at time of her birth. This would imply an earlier marriage than that to Susannah, if she is our John’s daughter. On the other hand, she could be the daughter of the John Hckinson that passed away during the last quarter of 1860 from the Wigan Registration District.
Similarly there is one for Ann Hickinson to Thomas Parkinson, both 29, marrying Jan. 22nd, 1854, within records for Wigan, Lancashire, England. She would have been born c.1825. John would have been c.34-years-of-age.
Another marriage record that may tie-into the next paragraph, in re the 1881 Census of England and Wales, is that of a June 12, 1853 marriage of William Hickinson, age 26 (b.1827), son of a John Hickinson, to Mary Lowe, age 27 (b.1826), also from the records of Wigan, Lancashire.
The 1881 Census of England and Wales does record a 75-year-old John and wife Elizabeth, age 80, with 50-year-old son John and grandson William, age 35. The older John could be a paternal first cousin. They were residing on Burgesses Cottagebolton Rd, in Ashton-In-Makerfield, Lancashire, England. As noted, this small town is between Liverpool and Manchester, now in Greater Manchester as the borough of Wigan. Note the common family forenames.
The Lancashire area is home to a significant historic coalfield. While some use of the coal dates back to the Romans, its utility was greatly exploited during the Industrial Revolution that stared back around 1760 and last for another 60 to 80 years. This leads to the next section.
NORSE IRISH GAEL SURNAME ROOTS
The surname Hickinson is of Norse Gael origin. Surname etymology sites, e.g., House of Names, show that the root of the surname comes from “uiging”, the Norse word for Viking. That became the Gaelic “O hUgin”, which, in turn, evolved into surname transliterations like along the line of Higgins, Hickinson, et cetera.
In searching through England and Wales ancestral records for John, there were not many returns for Hickinson; they were rather scant. However, this was just the opposite in searching for the surname among Ireland’s records, despite the fact that there are far fewer available recorded documents over time for Ireland.
A simple family search for the Hickinson surname and a birthplace of Ireland returned 445 surname related ranked results. A considerable number of these, specifically with the surname Hickinson, sans variations, were from the Counties of Antrim (e.g., Ballymoney, Coleraine, Ballycastle, Carncullagh in Dervock, etc.) and Londonderry (aka Derry). And, among them, the frequency of the forenames John, William and James was readily discerned. Of the ones that were spot checked, they were all close to the coastlines and located fairly close to each other. A hooked line could easily be drawn through when these locations are viewed as laid out dots.
County Antrim was a portion of the ancient Dál Riata kingdom that reached it heights during the 600s. It is from Dál Riata that the Gaelic culture was born. It was bounded to the east by today’s Argyll, which translates to “Coast of the Gaels”. It covers Scotland’s western coastline peninsulas. This is why there’s a commonality in language – Gaelic dialects, and culture, e.g., bag pipes and dance. And, to this day, certain shared DNA.
So, while U.S. discovered documents record John as born in England, it’s appears to be a very real possibility that John’s ancestral roots could be to Ireland, particularly the northern counties of the Province of Ulster. It’s possible that his ancestors migrated to the old Lancashire relative to the coal industry drawn by the magnetism of aspirations - perceived as being realized within a striving economy.
This would also provide a plausible explanation for John’s marriage to a Neale (in re O’Neil), for the closeness evidenced by the Hickinsons to Edward Cullen, apparently merging him as “part of the family” even before his marriage to their daughter Sara Jane. Their son James and Edward appear to have been very close to each other – living and working together, along with John.
Current (mid-2020) Ancestry DNA testing gives indications that Edward may have been from County Cavan at the southern end of the Province of Ulster. At one time, Co. Cavan, the eastern portion of the old Kingdom of Breifne, still commonly referred to as Co. Breifne, was part of the Province of Connacht. The western portion was mostly Leitrim, which borders on its south Co. Sligo. The Hickinson name in Ireland has been cited as originating to a family seat in Co. Sligo. Sligo’s coastline is along the Atlantic Ocean. Norwegian and Danish Vikings are known to have invaded, settled and or traded along all of Ireland’s coastlines.
The aforementioned recent Ancestry DNA mid-2020 update shows the author of this memorial as having an ethnicity estimate of 3%+/- Swedish DNA. However, when I hone in on the looped DNA map for Sweden, it’s clear that it also captures Denmark, which I suspect is a better fit. This author did have blonde hair up until the age of 5 to 7. Blonde, as well as various shades of reddish hair is far more common on our paternal side than our maternal McElroy side where dark black hair is frequent.
My brothers and I all have light sky-blue eyes, a trait common to both family sides. The writer consumes close to 2 gallons of milk a week. These traits, among others, date back several millennia within today’s Irish, Scottish, and Welsh. A PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) December 2015 paper titled “Neolithic and Bronze Age migration to Ireland and establishment of the insular Atlantic genome” noted among other things “Irish Bronze Age haplotypic similarity is strongest within modern Irish, Scottish, and Welsh populations, and several important genetic variants that today show maximal or very high frequencies in Ireland appear at this horizon. These include those coding for lactase persistence, blue eye color, Y chromosome R1b haplotypes, and the hemochromatosis C282Y allele; to our knowledge, the first detection of a known Mendelian disease variant in prehistory. These findings together suggest the establishment of central attributes of the Irish genome 4,000 y ago.” DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1518445113.
EARLY NY DIRECTORIES AND U.S.A. & NYS CENSUSES
There are no readily available records to search for the Hickinson surname within the New York State Censuses of 1825, 1835 and 1845. After a thorough search through John Doggett’s New York City Directory for years 1842-43, 1843-1844, 1844-45, 1845-46, 1846-47, and 1847-48, no listing for the surname Hickinson is shown.
However, there is a listing within the 1848-49 Directory for “Hickerson, John A., carman, 127 Hammond”. Hammond Street is now West 11th St. in Greenwich Village. It was north of Perry and ran from Greenwich Avenue westward to the North (Hudson) river. This was within Manhattan’s 1st District of Ward 9.
The 1850 Census does record a 30-year-old John Hickinson and wife Margaret, age 22, with 2-year-old daughter Josephine. They were residing in Manhattan’s 1st District of Ward 9. This ward encompassed the area between Houston Street north to 14th Street and from 6th Avenue west to the North (Hudson) River. This John was born in New Jersey. I wonder if he’s John’s namesake from an earlier marriage, given none of his sons, for whom we have records on, with Susannah were named John.
There is a 21-year-old William Hickinson of Ireland listed on a December 8th, 1852 Post of New York manifest (incorrectly recorded as 1853) for the ship Andrew Foster out of Liverpool.
During late summer 2017, I did a search through numerous old newspapers of the United States. The Hickinson surname is not all that common, as a matter of fact, it’s rather rare in the U.S., as it is in England (but, not Ireland!).
I only found two (2) results for “Hickinson”, which are interesting. The first is from the Wednesday, June 2nd, 1852 issue of The New York Herald. Therein is a “To Let” ad “in a business part of this city between the New Haven and Harlem Railroad depots ………” “Inquire of John Hickinson, 86 Centre Street, or Thomas O’Callaghan, 48 Roosevelt Street.” It is interesting to well note that neither the U.S., nor the NYS Censuses record any Hickinson for this period. I suspect this could be our John Hickinson. Interesting to note two Irish surnames to contact.
The second result also comes from The New York Herald, the Monday, July 2, 1855 issue. It notes a William Hickinson, circa age 35. who according to the news article has a sister, both living down in Philadelphia. A woman by the name of Ann Haney attempted to murder him. He was hit with 26 buckshot. He could possibly be a relative, even a son from an earlier marriage.
1850’S THRU 1860 CENSUSES
I was able to find and screen the New York State 1855 Census. While this 1855 Census provides, what appears to be, a more reasonable age for John, I’m of the opinion that it’s incorrect based upon other documentation that follows. Similarly, the age for Susannah is understated by around 4 years.
This 1855 Census enumerates the following listing in order of Role, Name, Gender and Age. It was enumerated on the 19th of July.
Head John Hickinson M 50
Wife Susannah Hickinson F 36
Child Alfred Hickinson M 13
Child Sarah Jane Hickinson F 5
Child Jas Hickinson M 6/12
Boarder Mary Carrigan F 38
Boarder Ann Carrigan F 9
The family were residing within the 2nd Division of the 1st Election District of the 19th Ward. The 19th Ward was formed in 1850. At the time the 19th Ward extended from 40th Street north to 86th Street and from the East River westward to 6th Avenue. The 1st Election District (ED) within this ward was that portion between the East River and 6th Avenue between 40th to 52nd Streets. This ED certainly encompasses the address shown within a directory for John for the year ending May 1st, 1860. From this census we can imply that John and Susannah were married by or around 1841. In 1841 she would have been around 26-years-of-age. So, their marriage may have been several years earlier.
Based upon this earlier 1855 census at one time I had changed the previous noted “Birth: 1790”, as shown within a latter census, to “Birth: 1805”. This inclusion within the NYS 1855 census of The Hickinson Family was enumerated on July 19th with information to be reported as of 1st June 1855. So, this census indicates an 1804-1805 birth year for John. Without getting into social demographical statistics of the occurrences of births during time periods of the year specific to any one locale during a demarcated epoch within a specific culture, a quick and dirty take-off would say it’s a 50-50 chance that he already had a birthday that year. In short, say, an estimated birth year bracket of 1804-1805. However, as further documents were uncovered, it has become clear that was Susannah’s actual birth year. Thus, while John was reported as age 50, it was Susan who was 50 years old.
As listed they had two boarders, a 38-year-old mother Mary and her 9-year-old daughter Ann Carrigan, both shown as being of Irish birth. It remains to be discovered what the religion of the Hickinsons were at this time. Although it’s highly probable they were Episcopalian. It was not uncommon in the 1700s and 1800s where the sons were raised Episcopalian (Anglican; Protestant but Catholic) while the daughters were raised Roman Catholics.
Screens of the 1860 Census of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont for the Hickinson surname returned no results.
NEW YORK CITY DIRECTORIES & HICKINSON’S 5TH AVE. RESIDENCE
In search of some insightful information, I went through every Trow’s Directory from 1851 through 1872, a year after John’s death. With the one exception noted, he is not listed in the prior years to 1851 when the Directory was still Doggett’s New York City Directory and not found before in some earlier Longworth’s Almanak (Almanac), Registry and Directory.
Trow’s New York City Directory, compiled by H. Wilson, for the Year Ending May 1st, 1860, records John as a driver with a home residence of Fifth Avenue and north West 45th Street, Manhattan. As noted foregoing, this address falls within the metes and bounds of the NYS 1855 Census for New York County’s Ward 19, E.D. 1 (ref. memorial for John’s son James).
At this location John had a nice two-story framed dwelling house, along 5th Avenue between 45th and 46th Streets, in a rather rural setting. It was most convenient for his business as they lived across from the Cattle Yards, spanning from the northside of 44th Street, both sides of 45th and 46th Streets.
I was able to locate a copy of an 1859 color print of a private residence at this location (Framed Dwelling with Store Below). This was the home of a Putnam as in the Putnam & Sons publishing family. John Hickinson’s house, a ½ of block away up 5th Avenue, probably looked very much like this one, but without a store below. I’ve also located a copy of an 1859 plan map of the time and it clearly shows John’s residence.
There was no Hickinson listing with Trow’s 1859 Directory. However, the same information shows in the 1862 Directory (Vol. LXXV) as in that of 1860. As a side note, John F. Trow was a “Book and Job Printer” with an address of Nos. 377 & 379 Broadway, corner of White Street. They advertised “Stereotyping, Electrotyping, and Bookbinding, done promptly, and in the best manner.”.
While there was a NYS 1865 Census, it did not include, i.a., the counties of New York, Queens and Westchester. The notion of the county and borough of the Bronx was yet to evolve.
1870S AND END OF EARTHLY VISITS
Jimmy also informed me that according to the 1870 Census (enumerated June 20th), John was 80 years of age and was a cattleman, and Susannah age 52. I’ve found this 1870 census and it does record John as 80. It also shows sons James at age 15 and William E., a student, at age 9. It further enumerates Edward Cullen, a cattle driver at age 25, his wife Sarah (John’s and Susan’s daughter) being age 20 with son John, a 9-month-old infant, which places his birth around September 1869. All children are shown as having been born in New York City, New York., with the senior Hickinsons being born in England. All were of the same residence.
From information gleaned from both 1855 NYS Census and that of the 1870 U.S. Census, it is now a “known known” that John’s and Susannah’s children and approximated year of birth are: Alfred c. 1842, Sarah Jane c. 1850, Jas. (Dec.) 1854, William E. (Edwd.?) 1861. We know from history that infant and childhood mortality rates are considered high during these periods of time, so it is a “known unknown” as to whether The Hickinsons had other children. In light of this perspective, there may be other things we don’t yet realize that remain to be realized, id est, “unknown unknowns”.
By the end of 1871 John would have passed on from inflammation of the bowels, while his wife Susannah passed on almost exactly three years later from cirrhosis.
RECONFIGURED FAMILY AT START OF THE 1880’S
By the time of the next census 1880, both John and Susannah had passed on. At this snapshot in time we find The Edwd. and Sarah Jane Cullen family consisting of John, the previously (1870) recorded 9-month-old infant as now reported being age 8 (should be 10, reaching age 11 in September IF the same John), Bessie (Elizabeth) 6, Nellie (Ellen) 4, James 3, Eddie 1 and the 2-month-old infant Susie having been born in April (refer to memorial #19874448). The reconfigured Hickinson family consisted of James as head, being a drover, now age 25, his wife Maria age 22, their children 1-year-old Susan and 5-month-old Maggie born that January (refer to memorial #17809803).
This 1880 Census also lists as a member of the Hickinson household brother William, now 18, as unemployed and, as it’s recorded under the “Sickness on day of enumeration” column, he’s suffering from a “hip disease”. According to the “1880 Sickness on Day of Enumeration Codes,” “hip disease” falls under “14 Diseases of the Skeletal System”, “14.02 Hip”. Having an eye for the obvious, I suggest, as a side note, consideration of multiple myeloma, which was rarely, if ever, recognized at this time until a famous medical publication in 1889; further, serum proteins were not recognized until 1956.
INTERMENT & NOTES
Susannah and John are interred in the same grave site at The Evergreens Cemetery, Bushwick, NY. John's burial record shows his name as John Hickerman rather than Hickinson. Hickerman is how his name appeared on the burial permit filed by the funeral parlor, which was Brody (probably should have read Brady) Funeral Home. John's place of death was reported as 97th Street and Lexington Avenue. His burial number is 31062. Jimmy informed me that two of their children are interred in Greenlawn Cemetery 1850 and 1852.
Refer to the entries for Susan Neale Hickinson, their daughter Sarah Jane Hickinson Cullen, as well as Edward Cullen for further details.
My brother Jimmy provided me initial morsels of genealogical information as noted, which whetted my appetite. From there I did my own research of which documented findings are presented herein. The burial information as to burial number, surname, section and grave number I was able to obtain from The Evergreens Cemetery.
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