Hinckleys in America

Written and Compiled by William Scott Hinckley (1948-

In 1977 I finished a compilation of some of the Hinckley ancestors of mine. At the time I used the best resources available and put together life sketches of a few of my direct line. With what is now available on the internet and due to the Family Search indexing projects much more data is available and some of the older research has been shown to not be as “correct” as first thought. This is an effort to update the earlier work. However, rather than citing sources like a term paper, I will reference them in various ways to allow any readers to search for them when they want additional information. This project will start with those who first came to the United States as my brother Ron is researching those who lived in England.

Samuel Hinckley (1589-1662)

Samuel’s early life was spent in England and he married his first wife Sarah Soole in 1617 at Hawkhurst, Kent England. Several of his children were born in England. Samuel with his wife and four young women (three of his children. Sara, Susan and Mary and a kinswoman Elezabeth) boarded the ship Hercules and arrived in Plymouth Colony in 1635.

At the time he left England, there was considerable political and religious turmoil. Charles I was king and he had disbanded Parliament. Many of the Puritans had been jailed. One must assume he thought his prospects for raising his family in a safe environment were better in Plymouth Colony.

Upon arrival at Scituate, Plymouth Colony he was allotted a farm of twenty acres. He lived and worked this farm for four years. A side note, at this time land ownership was not a sole qualification for the right of suffrage. One was also required to take the freeman’s oath which required loyalty to the King of England, his heirs and successors and to those who governed New Plymouth. Samuel took the oath in 1637. New Plymouth was not however a place where religious freedom was fully tolerated. On the fourth of December 1638 Samuel, along with others, was charged with:

“Receiuing strangers & forreiners into theire houses & lands, without lycence of the Gour or Assistants, or acquainting the towne of Scittuate therewth.” (Plymouth Colony records Vol I p 106)

Strangers could have been Quakers or followers of other religious dissenters like Roger Williams. The charges were dismissed in May of 1639. There were numerous laws against Quakers.

Pratt, in his book The Early Planters of Scituate, describes a dispute that arose in Reverend Lothropp’s church in Scituate concerning baptism. One faction insisted on baptism by immersion in water and another insisted that it was by the laying on of hands. Apparently due to this disagreement, the Reverend and most of his congregation moved south to what is now Barnstable. Samuel and his family moved with him and arrived on the 21st of October 1639. (It is unclear if Samuel was associated with the Reverend in England however he settled in the same town as Lothropp upon his arrival in Plymouth Colony. Much has been written about the Reverend’s activities in England, his jailing and requirement that he leave for the new world, but that is another story). Samuel filed a lawsuit against the man he bought lands from and court records show that it was settled in Samuel’s favor September 7, 1642. (Plymouth colony records Vol 2 p 44)

Early settlers were required to be skilled in several areas in order to survive. Samuel’s will indicates he was a farmer and court records list him as one of the surveyors of roads in the county. He was once fined for keeping various swine “unringed” which indicated they had escaped from an enclosure.

Samuel had 16 children from his first wife. Nine of them died in infancy. His first wife died August 18, 1656. He married his second wife, Bridget Bodfish, widow of Robert of Sandwich, on December 15, 1657. He died on October 31, 1662 at Barnstable.

(Additional sources of information include: Genealogical notes of Barnstable Families, Reverend Sinnett’s, Hinckley Family History, Marcham’s, A History of England, Deyo’s, History of Barnstable County.)

Thomas Hinckley (1619-1706) (Governor of Plymouth Colony)

(Thomas Hinckley’s grandson kept a copy of much of the correspondence of Thomas Hinckley during his years of service as Assistant Governor and Governor of Plymouth Colony. These letters include both personal letters and public letters. They include letters to and from the Kings of England, men such as Roger Williams and leading ministers of the day. They are found in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society Vol V Fourth Series. {CMHS} These letters bring out a deeper understanding of the man. In addition, the Plymouth Colony Court Records and Judicial Orders contain considerable material concerning Thomas in carrying out his elected duties.)

Thomas was born at Hawkhurst England in March of 1619. It is approximately 40 miles Southeast of London. He was christened on the 19th of March 1619. Later siblings were christened at Tenterden, England about 10 miles away from Hawkhurst. He was 16 when his father, mother and sisters emigrated to Plymouth. Thomas’s name does not appear on the ship passenger manifest. I am unable to find a record of him coming to Plymouth. It is possible he worked his way over as a member of a crew but that is speculation on my part.

While I do not know when he came to Plymouth there is a marriage record dated December 6, 1641 wherein he married Mary Richards who was from Dorchester, Barnstable County Plymouth. They had 8 children. Mary died June 24, 1659. On March 16, 1660 he married Mary Smith. they also had eight children and she died on July 29, 1703.

Thomas was involved in the political and governing process from an early age. In 1645 he was a deputy of the town of Barnstable. He was instructed by the town council to negotiate land purchases from the local Indians and his witness is found on early deeds. In 1653 he was made a sergeant and he served as a member of the military council of Plymouth Colony for most of his adult life. They were responsible to create and enforce regulations for the safety of the settlements. One such regulation reads:

“6. It is determined, that Duch and French be looked vpon as our comon enimie whiles see to our nation, and shalbe resisted, opposed, and expelled by the forces of this jurisdiction to theire vtmost power, and that all advantages shalbe vsed to that end.” (Plymouth Colony Records, vol 4 p 145)

Thomas was 38 when he was first elected as an assistant to Governor Thomas Prence. There was considerable conflict between the Puritans and the Quakers. Quakers did not have ministers as in the general sense of the position. When a couple wanted to marry they stood up at church and promised to live faithfully as man and wife and the congregation considered them married. In 1660 Thomas was a member of a court that found a couple guilty and fined them 10 pounds and sent them to jail. A civil law passed in 1658 was called Hinckley’s Law:

“If any neglect the worship of God in the place where he lives and set up a worship contrary to God and the allowance of this government to the Publick profanation of God’s Holy Day and ordanances, he shall pay 10 schillings.” (Pratt, The early Planters of Scituate, pp142-143)

In a letter dated October 4, 1678, Roger Williams wrote to Thomas to complain that his town should not have to pay the new tax to support Puritan ministers. The dispute of tax money to support Puritan ministers reached England and the King’s representative wrote Thomas as follows:

“Perhaps it will be as reasonable to move that your colony be rated to pay our minister of the Church of England who now preaches in Boston and you hear him not, as to make the Quakers pay in your colony.” (Deyo p 173)

He also had an interest in education. He wanted a system of free schools established and in 1672 the first school was established by law. Thomas was appointed steward of the income set apart for the school’s support.

He fought in the first major Indian war, known as King Phillip’s war. This war lasted from 1674 to 1676. The colonies lost nearly 600 men in this war. In addition to local threats, changes in England continued to cause problems in the Colonies. James II became King in 1685 and he wanted to consolidate all the colonies of New England into one political body. He appointed a Mr. Andros as President of New England. His rule was considered quite despotic. Thomas stayed on as a member of the government and constantly petitioned the King for redress from Mr. Andros’s activities. James II rule was not received well at home and a revolution deposed James. The people of Boston armed themselves and arrested Mr. Andros and sent him back to England in 1689. Thomas became Governor and remained so until 1692 when Plymouth was merged into Massachusetts Colony. He was the last elected Governor as with the merger, future Governors were appointed by the Crown. He was one of the four councilors sent from Plymouth to Boston to govern in the new combined colony. He died in 1706. the following is written upon his tombstone:

“Beneath this stone, erected A.D. 1829, are deposited the mortal remains of Thomas Hinckley. He died A.D. 1706, aged 85 years. History bears witness to his piety, usefulness, and agency in the public transactions of his time. The important offices he was called to fill, evidence the esteem in which he was held by the people. He was successively elected an assistant in the government of Plymouth Colony, from 1658 to 16891,and governor, except during the interruption of Sir Edmund Andros, from 1681 to the junction of Plymouth Colony with Massachusetts.” (Moore, Governors of New Plymouth, p 231).

(Additional resources include Kitttredge, Cape Cod, Its people and their History; Freeman, The History of Cape Cod.)

Samuel Hinckley (1653-1697)

Samuel was born in Barnstable and married Sarah Pope in 1676. Below is his last will and testament. The will and its accompanying list of specific bequeaths can be found in “Hinckleys of Maine” by Marlene Hinckley Groves. There is not much written specifically about Samuel.

His name appears as a soldier in the company of Capt. John Gorham, in King Phillip’s, or the Narragansett War, 1675. This sanguinary Indian battle, the hardships and casualties of which have few parallels, was fought December 10, 1675, Old Style; the place was in South Kington, R. I., on an island of about five acres in a swamp called Pattyswamscott, where the Indians had a fortified town. Gorham was under the command of Benjamin Church who the creator of the first Rangers in the colonies. They were trained to fight in the Indian manner and not the European manner and the Rangers had the most success against the Indians in this war. For Samuel to be a soldier in Gorham’s company meant that he was skilled in frontier fighting.

“I Samuel Hinckley of Barnstable in ye county of Barnstable in New England being now very ill and weake and every day expecting my great and ladt change through ye mercy and goodness of God of disposing min and memory am desirous according to my duty to sett things in order before I goe hence and therfore do make this my last will and testament In manner and form following. First I committ my soul to God in Christ who give it me and my body to decent burial when God shall please to call me hence. And as tuching my worldy estate which God hath beyon my deserts bestowed on me my will it to dispose of it as followeth. Imprimo. I will and bequeath unto Sarah my wife ye one half of all my lands and housing to be at her free and sole disposing. It. I will and bequeath unto my son Thomas Hinckley ye other half of all my sd lands and housing to him his heirs and assigns forever, provided that he shall confirm ye conveyances of ye lands which I have sold of his unto Samuel Cob and Henry Cob which wear given to my sd son by his Uncle Thomas Hinckley in his last will and testament and that my sd son Thomas shall have all ye money now due me from Richard Childs, Elijah Crocker and Jonathan Crocker being part of ye money which I sold his land for. It. my will is that my personal estate shall be at ye dispose of Sarah my sd wife for ye paying of my debts and bringing up my children. And then if anything shall be left to be by her disposed of amongest all my children as she shall see cause. It. I constitute and appoint Sarah Hinckley my sd wife to be sole executrix to this my last will and testament and desire my trusty friend and brethern Capt. Seth Pope and Josiah Crocker to be overseers to advise her and to see that this my will be preformed. In witness whereof I have hereiunto sett my hand and seal this 12th day of March 1696 Alias 7. Samuel S. Hinckley (seal) His mark. Signed sealed and declared to be his last will and testament in presnce of: William Bassett, Shubal Smith, Tho. Smith. April ye 7th 1697 then william Bassett and Shubal Smith whose hands are herto set as witnesses appears and made oath that they did see Samuel Hinckley above named sign seal and declare ye above written instrument to be his act and deed and that Thomas Smith was present at ye same time and sett his hand to this instrument as a witness before Barnabas Lathrop Judge of Probate and granting administration. Examined and duly compared with ye orginal and entered April ye 13th day 1697. Attest Joseph Lothrop, Register. – – – Samuel Hinckley b. 14 Feb 1652 Barnstable, Mass bapt. 20 Feb 1652/3 d. 19 Mar 1697 age 46 years; m. 13 Nov. 1676 Barnstable, Mass”

Thomas Hinckley (1680-1710)

Thomas was born in Barnstable and married a woman named Mercy. I cannot verify which Mercy. Family Search identifies a Mercy Bangs born in 1692 as his wife but that would make her 10 on their wedding date. Ancestry.Com indicates there is a Mercy Bangs with a birth date of 1682 which would seem more plausible. There is also a microfilm record referencing a Mercy Prence as a possible name for his wife. And who knows, maybe his wife was Mercy Bangs Prence? Older Family records and Lorin Hinckley’s book only refer to a Mrs. Mercy Hinckley with no maiden name known. The Massachusetts Town and Vital records that recorded her children’s birth record her as Mercy Hinckley. I have been unable to find a marriage record.

Thomas Hinckley (1708/09-1769)

Thomas was the youngest of two sons born to Thomas and Mercy. He married Ruth Myrick (Merrick) in March 1730. Genealogical notes of Barnstable families states “He is called a blacksmith and resided near Hinckley’s pond in H(arwich)” I am unable to find much more about him.

Nathaniel Hinckley (1738-1790?)

Nathaniel breaks the line of Hinckleys to live and die in Massachusetts. He married Mercy Nickerson in 1761. His first four children were born in Barnstable county. His fifth was born in Rhode Island, his sixth and seventh in Vermont, with the last in 1783. He lived in the Lake Champlain region of Vermont and New York. Nathaniel’s family was very much affected by the revolutionary war. British armies probed this region during the war. One of the more serious raids is known as the Carlton raid. In 1778 a large British force came down the Lake and burned towns and farms and carried off captives including Nathaniel and his family. They were released and in January 1780 were given flour and pork by the Vermont Treasury to aid them in resettlement. This was short lived however as he was again caught up in the Loyalist raids of October 1780. (For more on these look up information on the “Burning of the Valleys”.)

Nathaniel served in the Vermont militia in October and November 1780 at the time of these later raids. He served in Ebenezer Allen’s Regiment, Captain Samuel Williams Company. (He is listed on page 309/310 of the State of Vermont, Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War)

Sometime in 1780 he petitioned for acreage near Fort Crown Point, New York and eventually moved his family to the other side of Lake Champlain and settled in Elizabethtown, New York. I am not sure when he moved there because his last child was born in 1783 in Vermont. Though he could have lived in New York at the time of this birth. I have not been able to find a definite death date.

(Information obtained from family records, “Our Patriot Ancestors” and sources cited above)

Nathaniel Hinckley (1769-1849)

Nathaniel traveled with his family as a youth to Vermont and then to New York. I have not been able to find much history about his life but I have discovered several connections that may be him. In 1791 he married Rhoda Barber. There are census records in Essex county New York from 1800 to 1840 showing a Nathaniel Hinckley and family with the last one in 1840 showing two adults over 50 years of age. One writer on Family Search has a posting that Nathaniel worked with his brother on steamboats on Lake Champlain but I believe that is incorrect because I cannot find a brother named Silas. However Nathaniel had two sons who were named Silas, with the first one dying young and then his last son was also named Silas.

The commercial success of steam boats was made on the Hudson river in New York in the early 1800’s and soon thereafter steam boats were working on Lake Champlain. In records of Steam boats on Lake Champlain I came across a steam boat named Boston that was captained by Captain Silas Hinckley. The 1850 census shows a Silas Hinckley as a Dock Master. He was 39 at the time which would be the same age as Nathaniel’s son Silas. I would suggest that Nathaniel was raising his family in this area and they were engaging in commercial activities of the day. So it is possible he worked with his son, though he also had a son named Nathaniel who could have worked with Silas on the boats. Unfortunately the census of 1840 did not give an occupation like 1850 and Nathaniel died the year before the latter census.

This part of the country was also involved in the war of 1812. The New York payroll abstracts for the state Militia from 1812-1815 shows a Captain Nathaniel Hinckley from the county of Essex as being paid as a member of the militia. I do not know what military action he may have been in if any but it shows he followed in his father’s footsteps. He died and is buried in Port Jackson, Clinton , New York.

Erastus Nathaniel Hinckley (1794-1831)

He married Lois Judd in 1821. He was 27 and Lois was 16. Erastus moved to Leeds Canada at some point and there married Lois Judd whose family was living in Canada. Diary records of his son Arza state that he remembers his father as being of ill health and that he was sent to live with his mother’s parents due to his father’s health. He certainly could have worked on the lake prior to moving to Canada but not the Nathaniel mentioned as assisting his brother Silas in shipping on Lake Champlain as his brother was born in 1811 and would have been too young.

I have found reference to a Sergeant Erastus Hinckley in Capt. Ives company, U.S. volunteers in the war of 1812. He would have been 18 at the start of the war so this could be him. I have not been able to find the full record so it is not verified. Arza was five when his father died so there is not much time frame for his memories.

(There are notes in Family Search that indicate he worked on the lake prior to his moving to Canada and that he died from tuberculosis)

The below quote is from a posting on Family Search that is from a letter written by Gordon B. Hinckley concerning the possible burial spot for Erastus Nathaniel.

“I may have told you before that three or four years ago I was in Ontario, Canada. A member of the stake presidency told me that he thought he had located the place of burial of our great-grandfather. We were in Ottawa, and I determined that we would go down there and look it over. It was raining and this made things a little more difficult. We arrived at the farm which belonged to Lois Judd’s father. We had the owner’s permission and walked over through his corrals to a place some distance from the road where there were five stones in a row and the remaining fragments of an old headstone. It is thought, and I felt, that this was a burial place with those stones lined up in a row. I am rather convinced that this is where he died and was buried, leaving his wife a widow and his sons fatherless. Great-grandfather was born in New York and traveled up to Ontario where he married. It was here also that he died. I have some maps and two or three photographs as well as some journal notes concerning this place. For me it was a rich and rewarding experience. You know the story of his widow coming down first to Ohio and then to Illinois, and of Arza and Ira going to Nauvoo where they were baptized.” Excerpt of a letter from President Gordon B. Hinckley to Mrs. Preston P. Nibley, April 22, 2002.

Arza Erastus Hinckley (1826-1901)

It seems we know more about the Hinckley’s who up and moved to new lands that about subsequent generations. Arza is one of those who moved and due to his diary and recollections of children there are considerable records of his life.

He married three times, Amelia Woodhouse (1853), Temperance Ricks (1857) and Mary Christina Heiner (1861).

Arza went to live with his grandparents due to his father’s early death. while living with his grandfather he was introduced to Mormon missionaires. His grandfather was baptized in 1836 and he was in 1838. Arza’s grandparents took Arza and with a number of converts left Canada and traveled to Missouri. At that time Missouri was not a friendly place for Mormons and Arza states: “We landed in DeWitt in time for the me and the boys who were old enough to take part in the battle.” Arza and his grandparents moved on to Clay county where there continued to be fighting between Missourians and Mormons.

The family joined others in the exodus to Illinois. Arza settled near Springfield and in 1841 was reunited with his mother and other siblings. His mother died in Springfield. During the next five years Arza moved between Nauvoo and Springfield working mostly as a laborer. In 1845 he returned to Nauvoo and helped finish the work on the Mormon Temple. As Mormons were preparing to move west, Arza reunited with his brother Ira and they left his grandparents with an Uncle. they teamed up with another Uncle, Benjamin Boyce and headed west. Uncle Benjamin died a few days into the journey and they helped his wife travel to the Nebraska-Iowa border.

Some of the highlights of Arza’s life include:

He enlisted in the Mormon battalion. He marched to Santa Fe, New Mexico before he became ill and was sent back to Pueblo to be with other sick soldiers. From there he walked to Salt Lake and arrived on July 27, 1847.
He was sent back to Winter Quarters to assist others in moving west and travelled west again.
While in Salt Lake he was on the police force and was a body guard for Brigham Young. He also worked for General Wells and handled his stables, horses, mules and teamsters.
He was one of the first to arrive in the rescue of the Martin Handcart Company.
Arza was Probate Judge of Summit County and helped build the transcontinental railroad as it passed through Echo Canyon.
In 1877 he was called to manage the church ranch at Cove Creek and to take over running Cove Fort that his brother Ira had built and managed for ten years. He remained at the fort until 1882.
In 1882 he served a mission among the Indians in Arizona. this was during the years the federal government was arresting Mormons who practiced polygamy. He spent 18 months on his mission and kept a daily diary of his efforts.
In 1884 he moved his family to Rexburg, Idaho where his brother-in-law Thomas Ricks had been called to establish a settlement. He lived there until his death in 1901.

Ira Nathaniel Hinckley (1857-1919)

(There is a great family picture of Ira, many of his brothers and sisters with Arza and Temperance on Family Search.)

Ira married Elizabeth Rock in 1878 and they stayed at cove fort where the 1880 census shows him as a laborer at the Fort his father managed. Family notes indicate he moved to Rexburg in 1885 and settled in Hibbard west of Rexburg near his father. In 1900 and 1910 census he is shown as moving around the Snake River Valley but close to Rexburg and as either a farmer or rancher.

Family recollections indicate that he served the role of new settler to the area which was just sage brush when he moved there. He worked on building irrigation canals and from 1891 to 1896 was a trustee of the Consolidated Farmers’ Canal Company. He assisted in building the local school and was one of the trustees of the school district for many years. The canals and schools were a great benefit to those who came later to settle this region.

There were health issues with the new settlers and he survived the diphtheria epidemic that hit the region and it is said he was one of the men who prepared the dead for burial and then buried them. He died in 1919 and his death certificate states he had “fatty degeneration of heart”.

(as info the indexer of the death certificate in the records section of FS identifies him as Ira W and his father as Arira. This is common among indexers who have a difficult time reading script and the arbitrator did not catch it. I have made a note on FS to correct it.)

William (Vance) Hinckley (1901-1937)

I include the name Vance because it is found in a few references to William including a note in Lorin Hinckley’s book stating : “Also known as William Vance Hinckley later in life”. I have found him in the 1910 census as Willie, on his marriage certificate as William and on his death certificate as William. Find a grave has him under William Vance Hinckley but his headstone does not include Vance.

He married Alice Myrtle Holcomb in 1921. He was a farmer in the Hibbard area west of Rexburg. Like two other Hinckley men before him he died in his 30’s. He had a cancer on his lip for a number of years and I have seen a picture of him wearing a mask to hide lower face. He enjoyed working with horses and supported his family on the small farm they lived.

William Russell Hinckley (1923-1989)

Born in Rexburg Idaho he married Helen Jane Harris in 1945. She passed away in 1969 and in 1971 he married Jane Cherrington Norton. He was a prolific writer in journals and as those have survived him we are able to have considerable detail of his life. Events include:

He grew up “rural poor” without electricity or running water in the house. As the only son and also due to his father’s health and early death he was responsible for the kindling for the stove and the water pot in the house every day.
He was a hard worker and as a young man hoed sugar beets, milked cows and took care of other farm chores from an early age.
He loved the sport of basketball and that would define part of his life until his death. He played high school, college, semi pro and always “church ball”. He played against such teams as the Harlem Globetrotters and The House of David touring teams. On the afternoon after the funeral service many of those who attended went to a local gym and played several memorial games in tribute to his love of the sport.
He served with citations in World War II and spent 30 months overseas in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany. He kept a diary almost every day of the war and that has been transcribed with several family members having copies. He was involved in four invasions. He was in the Army Air Corp.
He obtained a college education and while in college worked for the Boys Club of Washington DC and that start would become his career. (He is the first Hinckley to earn a Bachelor’s Degree or a Masters) He worked about 11 years for the Grenville Baker Boys Club in Locust Valley, New York and the rest of his Career the Omaha Boys Club in Omaha Nebraska. (Both clubs have since added girls and are known as the Boys and girls Clubs)
His work in Locust Valley introduced him to very wealthy families in the area and he had many great interactions with them. One, Mr. Sherman Pratt allowed Bill to run a fishing camp in Canada for many years at one of his vacation lodges. He would take Boys Club youth to the camp every summer for a month of trout and salmon fishing and other outdoor activities. They would have a fund raising dance at one of the estates and there he met the Duke and Duchess of Windsor who attended.
He was on several national committees and held several high offices in the national organization.
He became active in the Mormon Church in the 1950’s and eventually became Stake President In Omaha for 10 years with several Apostles and Prophets staying in his home.