Tag Archives: Dickinson family

Am I Here Because of Dried Beef? (Joseph Dickinson – 52 Ancestors #41)

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There are some family stories that are so “out there” that you easily dismiss them. Then there are the stories that you desperately want to be true…

Joseph Dickinson, my 6th-great-grandfather, came to America around 1725.1)Alexander Harris, A History of Lancaster County (Lancaster, PA: Elias Barr, 1872), p. 160. In 1732, he married Elizabeth Miller in the Kennett Monthly Meeting in Chester County, Pennsylvania.2)Joseph Dickinson and Elizabeth Miller marriage, Kennett Monthly Meeting marriages 1718-1821, page 56, U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Ancestry.com. Together, Joseph and Elizabeth had nine children, including my 5th-great-grandfather Gaius Dickinson (born in 1737).3)Gaius Dickinson, Genealogy of Berks, Exeter Monthly Meeting, p. 62, U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Ancestry.com.

That part is pretty well documented. (Thank you, Quakers, for being awesome record keepers!) It’s this next part of Joseph’s story that is a bit lacking in documentation. According to A Biographical History of Lancaster County by Alexander Harris (Elias Barr & Co., 1872):

Dickinson, Joseph, emigrated to this country from Cumberland, England, by way of Ireland, about the year 1725. The ship on which he came a passenger having struck upon a rock, causing it to leak so rapidly that it was impossible to keep the vessel afloat, and was about given up as lost, and the passengers were preparing to meet their fate, when Joseph Dickinson volunteered to go down under the water, on the outside of the ship, and stop the leak, which hazardous undertaking he accomplished by inserting pieces of dried beef in the crevices.4)Alexander Harris, A History of Lancaster County (Lancaster, PA: Elias Barr, 1872), p. 160.

Shipwreck, by Ivan Aivazovsky, 1854. From WikiArt.

Shipwreck, by Ivan Aivazovsky, 1854. From WikiArt.

I know how tales get taller as they go on. I know that it’s more likely that Joseph’s ship did have some trouble, maybe even with a crack, and that Joseph (or some other ingenious soul) repaired it. But diving into the water to fill the cracks of a sinking ship with dried beef? My head tells me it likely isn’t true, but I have to admit that I wish it were. Talk about an great story!

And let’s think about this for a moment. For the sake of argument, let’s say that it is true that Joseph saved the ship in the manner described. That occurred around 1725. He didn’t marry until 1732. He didn’t have my 5th-great-grandfather until 1737. If Joseph’s ship had sunk, he wouldn’t have made it to America, wouldn’t have met and married Elizabeth Miller, and my 5th-great-grandfather wouldn’t have been born…

Is it possible that I owe my very existence to dried beef?

References   [ + ]

1, 4. Alexander Harris, A History of Lancaster County (Lancaster, PA: Elias Barr, 1872), p. 160.
2. Joseph Dickinson and Elizabeth Miller marriage, Kennett Monthly Meeting marriages 1718-1821, page 56, U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Ancestry.com.
3. Gaius Dickinson, Genealogy of Berks, Exeter Monthly Meeting, p. 62, U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Ancestry.com.

How I Attended My 3rd-Great-Grandparents’ Wedding: (Stevens/Dickinson 52 Ancestors #25-26)

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They say that genealogy connects us with the past, and I firmly believe that to be true. There are ancestors to whom I feel especially connected. But when I found the marriage record of my third-great-grandparents David Steven(s) and Rebecca S. Dickinson, I felt like I had stepped into a time machine and was at their wedding.

David and Rebecca were both Quakers. I had seen references to their marriage in the Robeson Monthly Meeting in Berks County, Pennsylvania before, but had never seen the record until recently. Many of my other ancestors’ Quaker marriages have been documented in in the certificates of removal, such as when Rebecca’s father, Nathaniel Dickinson, left the Exeter Monthly Meeting to marry Rachel Moore of the Sadsbury Monthly Meeting. But the marriage record itself is truly incredible. I’ll let David and Rebecca’s marriage record speak for itself:

Whereas David Stephen of Robeson Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, son of Samuel Stephen, late of the same place, deceased, and Elizabeth his wife, and Rebecca S. Dickinson daughter of Nathaniel Dickinson of the aforesaid place, and Rachel his wife, deceased, having declared their intentions of marriage with each other, before a Monthly Meeting of the religious society of Friends, held at Robeson aforesaid, and having consent of surviving parents their said proposal of marriage was allowed of by the said meeting.

Now these are to certify, that for the full accomplishment of their said intentions, this twenty-second day of the fifth month in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty nine, they, the said David Stephen and Rebecca S. Dickinson appeared in a public meeting of the said people held at Robeson aforesaid; and they the said David Stephen taking the said Rebecca S. Dickinson by the hand, did, on this solemn occasion openly declare, that he took her the said Rebecca S. Dickinson to be his wife, promising with divine asistance [sic] to be unto her a loving and faithful Husband until death should seperate [sic] them; and then, in the same assembly, the said Rebecca S. Dickinson, did in the like manner declare, that she took him the said David Stephen to be her husband, promising with divine assistance to be unto him a loving and faithful Wife until death should separate them.

And Moreover, they, the said David Stephen and Rebecca S. Dickinson (she according to the custom of marriage assuming the name of her husband) did as a further confirmation thereof, then and there to these presents set their hands.

/ss David Stephen
Rebecca S. Stephen

David Steven and Rebecca S. Dickinson marriage record (page 1). From Marriages, 1791-1864, Robeson Monthly Meeting, Berks County, Pennsylvania. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1944, Ancestry.com.

David Steven and Rebecca S. Dickinson marriage record (page 1). From Marriages, 1791-1864, Robeson Monthly Meeting, Berks County, Pennsylvania. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1944, Ancestry.com.

Following that are the names of the 61 people who were in attendance at David and Rebecca’s wedding.

David Steven and Rebecca S. Dickinson marriage record (page 2). From Marriages, 1791-1864, Robeson Monthly Meeting, Berks County, Pennsylvania. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1944, Ancestry.com.

David Steven and Rebecca S. Dickinson marriage record (page 2). From Marriages, 1791-1864, Robeson Monthly Meeting, Berks County, Pennsylvania. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1944, Ancestry.com.

I’m happy whenever I can find the marriage record of any of my ancestors. But this particular marriage record makes me feel like I was actually at the wedding.

David and Rebecca eventually moved from Berks County, Pennsylvania to Morgan County, Ohio. Their children include: William, my great-great grandmother Ann (wife of Eber Johnson), Elizabeth, Elwood, Lydia, Rachel, and Deborah. David Stephen(s) died 15 March 1865; Rebecca died 27 June 1874.

Dear Friends: Rachel Moore of Sadsbury Monthly Meeting (52 Ancestors #17)

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There is something about seeing an original record, even if you’ve seen a published abstract. Seeing the handwriting, seeing the exact words… Somehow, it makes the event more “real.”

Ancestry.com just released 11.5 million Quaker records. Actually called the Religious Society of Friends, the Quakers were early proponents of gender and racial equality. It’s cool to think of your ancestors being actively for equality, but for genealogists, it gets even better. The Quakers were excellent record-keepers!

I’ve known for some time that I have Quaker ancestors. Up to this point, I’ve used the standard references, such as Hinshaw’s Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy and I have found good information. (Even more information is in store with these new records!) I just found the certificate of removal of my 4th-great-grandfather Nathaniel Dickinson of the Exeter Monthly Meeting in Berks County, Pennsylvania “to proceed in marriage with Rachel Moore Daughter of William Moore Deceased” of the Sadsbury Monthly Meeting:

Nathaniel Dickinson certificate of removal

Nathaniel Dickinson certificate of removal. From the Certificates of Removal, Exeter Monthly Meeting, Berks County, Pennsylvania. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1944.

“From our Monthly Meeting of Exeter held there the 31st of 10th mo 1787 –
To the Monthly Meeting at Sadsbury
Dear Friends,
Application being made to us by Nathaniel Dickinson for our Certificate in order to proceed in marriage with Rachel Moore Daughter of William Moore Deceased a member of your Meeting. Those may Certify that he has a birthright of a membership with us, and on inquiry we Do not find but that he is clear of marriage engagements amongst us. We remain your Friends.
Signed in & on behalf of said Meeting, By
Thomas Lightfoot Clerk”

There is so much I love about this record. It tells me that Nathaniel Dickinson was of the Exeter Monthly Meeting. (The Philadelphia Yearly Meeting lists Exeter as still being in Douglassville, PA.) He was a birthright Quaker, meaning that his parents were Quakers when he was born.

It’s the details of my 4th-great-grandmother Rachel Moore that I really like, especially since females tend to be so hidden in the records. She is of the Sadsbury Monthly Meeting, near the border of Chester and Lancaster counties, Pennsylvania. Her father was William Moore, who was deceased by 31 October [10th month] 1787.

Nathaniel and Rachel (Moore) Dickinson had several children, including my 3rd-great grandmother Rebecca Dickinson.

There are examples of various types of Quaker records on Ancestry.com’s Quaker Collections page. There is also a free research guide.


Disclaimer: I am a Community Manager for Ancestry.com. I was not asked to write this post, nor did I write it while “on the clock.” I would be excited about these new records even if I didn’t work for Ancestry.