MY 5x GREAT-GRANDFATHER

"Ancestry of Major Tertullus Dickinson
Examination of the
Ancestry and Descendants of
Amos Dickinson, Loyalist"

Since this article was written, a decade ago, it is understood that the Mayflower Society have accepted Amos Dickinson, Loyalist, and his proven descendants, as members of the Society, based on proven descent from Capt. John and Elizabeth (Howland) Dickinson. The lineage was reputedly published in two parts in the Mayflower Quarterly, but these have not been seen by this writer.

At the close of the American Revolution, several Loyalist Dickinsons came to what is now New Brunswick from New York State. In The Loyalists of New Brunswick, Esther Clark Wright lists:

Amos Dickinson, from New York
Darius Dickinson, tailor, Long Islad, N.Y.
Gilbert Dickinson, Dutchess County, N.Y.
Hannah Dickinson
Isaac Dickinson, tailor
James Dickinson, merchant, Dutchess County, N.Y.
Lt. Nathaniel Dickinson, Massachusetts, Commissary-General's Department
Samuel Dickinson, Dutchess County, N.Y.
Tertullus Dickinson, Dutchess County, N.Y., Barrackmaster-General's Department.

In his Early Loyalist Saint John David G. Bell fleshed out the Loyalist Dickinsons to some extent, and his tabulated data are worthy of reference.
To add a small measure of complexity, there were two Dickinsons bearing the name Tertullus in New Brunswick. Wright indicates that he of the Barrackmaster-General's Department eventually settled in Carleton County, which is incorrect. Major Tertullus Dickinson appears to have returned to the United States. A younger Tertullus did, indeed, settle in Carleton County, but his parentage remains obscure.

In a preliminary study of the Loyalist Dickinsons of New York, Norris Margeson Whiston, Brookfield, Colchester Co., Nova Scotia, in addition to his own research, corresponded to some extent at least, with Ruby Dickinson of Hartland, N.B., Harold Dickinson of Houlton, Maine, and a number of other Dickinson researchers. Much time and effort has been lavished on the Dickinson family and at least two genealogies published.

The consensus of opinion is that all the Loyalist Dickinsons from Dutchess County, New York State, were related, and it seems to be generally accepted that they had earlier removed from Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, to Dutchess County.

There would seem to be some justification for supposing that Amos Dickinson, the Loyalist, late of Dutchess County, was a descendant of Capt. John Dickinson of Oyster Bay, who married Elizabeth Howland. Should that connection be proved, it would make many Dickinson descendants eligible for membership in the Mayflower Society, important for those who care about that sort of thing.

Among the other children of Capt. John and Elizabeth (Howland) Dickinson, two deserve particular mention:

6. Samuel Dickinson, born 26 January 1665, died before 1733, married Lydia ____________, resided at Oyster Bay, Long Island. His son:

2. John Dickinson, born at Oyster Bay, died after 14 April 1748 in Putnam (Dutchess) County, New York. John Dickinson married, first, Freelove Coles Wright and, second, before March 1736/7, Sarah McCoune. John and Sarah (McCoune) Dickinson had one son, John, a saddler, who died before 14 April 1748, and possibly other children.

Note that Wesley Baker, in his Descendants of Philemon Dickerson and Long Island Descendants of Capt. John Dickinson, disputes the notion that John and Sara (McCoune) Dickinson removed to Putnam County, citing a petition by John Dickinson of Queens County, farmer, dated 26 October 1748, for 700 acres of vacant land between the townships of Oyster Bay and Hempstead. There is no mention in the Oyster Bay records of the petition being granted, so it is conceivable that, his petition denied, John Dickinson did remove to Putnam County, and is the John Dickinson mentioned in the affidavit of Timothy Shaw, below.

9. James Dickinson, born 27 May 1675, died at Smithtown, Long Island, in 1737. His wife's name is unknown. His children were:

1. James Dickinson Junior who married Sarah Underhill. She was born about 1713, daughter of Abraham and Sarah (Townsend) Underhill. In 1748 James Jr. and wife Sarah, of South Precinct, Dutchess County, New York, "late of Oyster Bay," sold a double house, owned by Abraham Underhill, to Jacob Townsend and William Butler. Notes on a land transaction in the Thorne family genealogy indicate Abraham Underhill was residing, or at least owned property, at White Plains, Dutchess (Putnam) County, New York.
2. Amos Dickinson, married Hannah _____________.

On 13 August 1702 Adolphe Philipse obtained a deed from the Indians to a quantity of land in the southern part of Dutchess County (later to become Putnam County), adjoining the "Northernmost part of Westchester County." Title to that land was again confirmed on 6 March 1765 by the Lieutenant-Governor and Council at New York, in response to an attempted Indian claim to the land.

On 6 March 1767, one Timothy Shaw deposed in an affidavit that he was a tenant under Adolph Philipse, "now deceased," the land "being the land now claimed by Beverly Robinson, Roger Morris and Philip Philipse," and was well acquainted with all the settlements made in the Upper Patent "within the last twenty-five years." He further deposed that when he first became acquainted with the Upper Patent, a number of persons were settled there, including John Dickenson, James Dickenson and Amos Dickenson.

The 1777 Tax List of Philip Philipse Patent listed, in the Fredericksburg Precinct, James Dickenson estate, John Dickenson, Gilbert Dickenson estate, Samuel Dickenson, Nathaniel Dickerson's widow, Tertullus Dickenson, James Dickenson Junior, and John Vermilya "on Dickinson's farm."

The History of Putnam County by W. S. Pelletreau, published 1886, reveals that James Dickerson lived "a little south of what is known as Sodom Corners, in Southeast," and that John Dickerson was at Southeast Center or Sodom. The history also mentions a road laid out in 1752 from Amos Dickenson's to Jeremiah Jones, and another beginning at John Dickenson's mill to the highway "that leads to the meeting house."

Pelletreau lists Tertullus Dickenson as a supervisor of South Precinct in 1770-71; James Dickenson as an assessor in 1754, 1755-56, 1760, and from 1761 to 1765; Tertullus Dickenson as an assessor from 1767 to 1769, and James Dickenson Jr. as an assessor in 1771.

He lists Samuel Dickenson as a clerk in 1763 and Eleazer Baker as clerk in 1767. In 1768 James Dickenson appears as a Justice of the Peace for Dutchess County and Tertullus Dickenson as one of the poor masters of the South Precinct "of said County." The South Precinct was divided into the three Precincts of Fredericksburg, Philipse, and South East, apparently in 1772.

The Philipse family rarely sold land, instead leasing sections, often on long term leases. In his affidavit, Timothy Shaw estimated there were as many as 300 families settled on the Patent before the year 1756.

Amos Dickenson was among those listed as insolvent debtors in "An Act for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors within this Colony" passed 8 March 1773 by the Governor and Council of the State of New York. He is listed again in a similar act passed 19 March 1774, this time as a resident of Dutchess County and in gaol. Creditors who insisted that debtors be confined to gaol were ordered to pay a weekly sum of three shillings, six pence, to the debtor, presumably for his maintenance while confined.

Vital records of the various Dickinsons in Dutchess County have not been found, but that may not constitute an insurmountable barrier. Documenting the ancestry and descendants of all Dickinson males in Dutchess County is not the ultimate aim of this exercise, nor does it seem to be necessary for the purpose at hand.

Amos Dickinson, resident in Philipse Patent, Dutchess County, was son of James Dickinson, who, in turn, was the son of Capt. John and Elizabeth (Howland) Dickinson. While the opinion that all the Dickinsons in Dutchess County were somehow related seems to be generally held, that, too, is irrelevant.

Amos Dickinson, Loyalist, who arrived at Saint John, N.B., with the Spring Fleet, is listed as having a family of one adult male, one adult female, five children over the age of 10, and one servant at New York. It would seem incredible that a man not long out of debtor's prison, presuming he is that Amos Dickinson, would employ a servant. A non-family member, residing in a household, may possibly have been recorded as a "servant" even though not actually employed in that capacity. His family is listed, on arrival at Saint John, as having one adult male, one adult female, two children over the age of 10 and 1 child under that age.

The difference in Amos' family at New York and Saint John may be due to a variety of circumstances. Perhaps a child aged just 10 years, or barely short of that age, was listed in the "over 10" classification at New York and in the "under 10" class at Saint John. Possibly two, or even three, of the children over 10 at New York declined to make the voyage to Saint John; perhaps they died at sea, or possibly they went elsewhere.

The "servant" at New York may have been the younger Tertullus Dickinson, although he is listed by himself at New York, and again, by himself at Saint John. While the younger (to differentiate him from Major Tertullus Dickinson, who may or may not have been his father) Tertullus seems to have attached himself to Amos and his known sons in New Brunswick, nothing has been found to indicate that Tertullus was actually a son of Amos.

Added on Jun 05, 2012 12:58 AM

He served with the British in the American Revolution

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I am searching for the burial areas of the descendants of this man