Bickmore History

1. A Brief Bickmore History

[The following brief history was prepared, as near as I can tell, in 1959, and it was presented around that time to a gathering of descendants of David Newman Bickmore which took place in Cache Valley (probably Wellsville), Utah. I was not alive at the time, and I've gotten mixed accounts from family members so far, so I'm not trying to be any more specific. I believe it was prepared by Danford M. Bickmore of Logan, Utah. Anyone with more information on this is invited to share it with me so that I can make this record more accurate and complete. --Rick Bickmore]

The name Bickmore is undoubtedly of English origin, and is [also] spelled in the early records of this country "Bigmore" and "Beckmore". The name is found in Sussex and Essex Counties in England, and is the name of a street in London.

Alexander de Bykmore was elected Archbishop of Dublin in 1310. Sir Thomas de Bykemore was of Kent (1300). Many of the Bickmores of England and also of early America were sea-faring people. John Bickmore of St. Dunstans was a mariner in 1638. Some of the Bickmores who lived in Massachusetts and Maine owned their own ships and sailed the sea.

The first Bickmore that we can find record of in America was Thomas Bickmore or Bigmore, proved to be in New England in 1635, aged 34. This is the fifth great-grandfather of David Newman Bickmore. We know little about his son Samuel or his grandson Samuel Jr., but George, son of Samuel Jr., married Elizabeth Andrews April 2, 1730. Their son John was born at Milton, Maine, March 25, 1731. John moved to Meduncook, later Friendship, Maine.

David, son of John, was born December 18, 1768, at Friendship, Maine. He married Margaret Dickey and they became the parents of Isaac Motor Bickmore, who was the first Bickmore to join the LDS church.

Isaac Motor Bickmore was born at Friendship, Maine, January 6, 1798, and came to Brown County, Illinois, when a young man. He married Martha Harvell in 1828. They became the parents of:
John Jackson Bickmore
Mary Jane Bickmore Abbott
Isaac Danford Bickmore
Mary Ann Bickmore Hardy
Elizabeth Bickmore Gunnell
David Newman Bickmore
Daniel Marion Bickmore (died in infancy)

Isaac and his wife Martha joined the LDS church and started with their family to Utah. He and his mother were stricken with cholera and died the same day, July 6, 1852, and were buried by the roadside in Illinois.

Martha and most of her family came on. Some of the party turned back, including John Jackson, and some went on to California. She and four of her children settled in Wellsville, where she married Timothy Parkinson. David Newman and Isaac Danford later made homes in Paradise.

David Newman Bickmore and Elizabeth McArthur were married January 12, 1865. They lived in Wellsville, where all but two of their children were born. They moved to Paradise in 1877. They were the parents of:
Martha Elizabeth Bickmore Shipley born February 19, 1866, died October 1949;
David McArthur Bickmore born July 8, 1867, died November 27, 1890;
James Isaac Bickmore born August 15, 1868, died November 27, 1890;
John McArthur Bickmore born February 23, 1871, died April 10, 1871;
Florinda Bickmore Peterson born July 29, 1872;
Danford McArthur Bickmore born January 2, 1875;
Elizabeth Dickson Bickmore born December 13, 1876, died November 1877;
William McArthur Bickmore born October 13, 1878;
Ellery McArthur Bickmore born Aug. 15, 1880, died February 16, 1951.

David Newman Bickmore died October 9, 1881, at Paradise, Utah. Elizabeth McArthur Bickmore died September 21, 1918, at Paradise, Utah.

Early Bickmore History
The name is undoubtedly of English origin.  A large number bearing the Bickmore name came from Keddermecter County, Gloucester, England.  They were prominent as clergymen in the Episcopal church.  The name is also known in Essex and Sussex counties and is the name of a street in London.

The earliest record of this family in America is Thomas Bigmore, aged 34, living in New England - "Fether Seller."  There is no doubt of the connection between this Thomas and the Massachusetts line as the name is so uncommon, though the records show nothing of two generations between the dates.  They may have been engaged in traffic with other countries which makes it more difficult to trace them.

Thomas Bickmore, born in England in 1601 lived in Massachusetts in 1635.  He was a "Fether Seller" and left New England in 1635 for Amsterdam.

George Bickmore, probably great grandson of Thomas, was recorded in Milton, Massachusetts July 13, 1739.  He owned the covenant July 13, 1739.  George Bickmore, adult, by virtue of owning the covenant, was baptized by Reverend John Daylor.  He married Elizabeth Andrews, April 2, 1730 at Dorchester, Massachusetts, the marriage being performed by Robert Sput, Esp.JP.  Their children: *1 John, born March 31, 1731 at Dorchester; 2. George, born June 6, 1733 at Milton, Massachusetts; 3. Elizabeth, born March 9, 1736 at Milton.

In the Boston records of 1738, we find George Bickmore June 24, 1738, recommended as a Porter "to appear at Town Clerk's office to give bond."  In 1760, in Boston, among losses sustained by fire Elizabeth Bickmore was allowed 18 pounds 13 shillings for loss of personal estate:  "1 bed, 1 oval table, 1 brass kettle, 1 scilit, other small articles."

In 1743 a small settlement was made at Medumcook (which is the Indian plantation name for Friendship, Maine) by English people, who had come from Plymouth and western parts of Massachusetts.  A fort was erected in southern part of town, which served as a protection from the Indians.  Many people from Dorchester and Boston went to Medumcook.  There were about twenty-two families residing there in 1754.  Among them was * John and George Bickmore.  This confirms the family tradition that the family lived there on the coast of Maine.  It is probable that the elder George Bickmore lived there with his two sons, as in 1774, when the petition to the general court of Boston was signed, Elizabeth Bickmore, the mother's name, appears.  The Petition follows:

"This being a day pitched upon by the general courts of Boston, under the advice of the Governor for a day of fasting and prayer throughout the Province, on account of our present dangerous situation with regard to our liberties.  We of the inhabitants of Meduncook, met at the minister's house and after our religious services, the following covenant, composed at Boston and sent to us, was signed, as follows, viz:

"We the people of Medumcook, having taken into consideration the precarious state of the liberties of New England and more especially the present disturbed condition of this Province, do, in the presence of God, solemnly and in good faith, covenant and engage with each other; that: From henceforth we will suspend all commercial intercourse with the said Island of Great Britain until the said act for blocking up said harbor be repealed.  We will not buy, purchase, or consume or suffer anyone else to do so, any goods, wares, or merchandise that shall arrive from Great Britain from and after the last day of August 1774.  We agree to break off all commerce, etc., with all persons who continue to import goods from Great Britain or shall purchase from those who do import.  We, further, agree to purchase no article from those who have not signed this covenant.

"I, _____________, of __________________ in the company of _____________ do solemnly swear that the goods on hand have not been imported from Great Britain since August 1774, and will not import or purchase of any persons importing any goods, as aforesaid until the harbor of Boston shall be opened and we are fully restored to the free use of our constitutional rights and charter, and lastly, we agree that after this or a similar covenant has been offered to any person and they refuse to sign it or produce the oath, above said, we will consider them as contumacious importers and withdraw all commercial relations with them, so far as not to purchase of them any articles whatsoever, and publish their names to the world."
                             Signed - July 14, 1774
                             Witness our Hand"
                             John Bickmore and wife, Anna
                             Elizabeth Bickmore
(These names were included in the list of people who constituted the town of Meduncook, Maine (Friendship).

Any descendants of John Bickmore and Anna, his wife, or of Elizabeth, his mother, is eligible to the Society of the Daughters of American Revolution (or sons of American Revolution, if male descendants).

Medoncook or Meduncook was incorporated into the present town of Friendship, Maine on February 27, 1807.  It is now a town of wealth and importance.

Reference for covenant signed by John, Ann and Elizabeth Bickmore was taken from the history of Friendship, Maine.

John, son of Elizabeth Bickmore, was born March 25, 1731, in Dorchester, Massachusetts.  He went to Medumcook, Maine, with his friends and parents about 1750.  His name appears there among the list of early settlers in 1754.  In 1774 with his wife Ann, he signed the petition of protest against Great Britain.  In 1790 his name appears on the census roll of Maine as a resident of Medomcook.  He married Ann February 1756.  Children: 1. John, born May 13, 1758; 2. Marcha, born January 20, 1763; 3. Sedate, born October 3, 1766; 4. *David, born December 18, 1768; 5. Samuel born July 13, 1771; 6. Elisha, born June 18, 1774; 7. Solomon, born June 1775; 8 Abraham, born September 1, 1778.

No record of the date or place of John and Ann Bickmore's deaths.  Her maiden name is also missing.  Indian fires and wars prevented the keeping of Bible and town records.

David, the son of John and Ann Bickmore, was a mariner.  He is on record of buying thirty acres of land on Swan's Island in 1790.  This island is near the coast of Maine.  He resided in Friendship, or Medoncook, in 1800 and used the spelling Bigmore.  He married Margaret Dix (Dicky) of Thomaston at Cushing, Maine, August 31, 1793.  His name is on the census list of Meduncook, Maine, 1800.  David and Margaret Bickmore had ten children: 1. Thomas, born June 6, 1798*; 2. Isaac Motor, born June 6, 1798; 3. David, born 1802; 4. Samuel, born 1805; 5. George, born 1807; 6. Jacob, born 1810; 7. Eliza, born 1812; 8. Jane, born 1815; 9. Martha Jane, born 1818; 10. Annie, born 1813.

Isaac Motor Bickmore came to Madison County, Illinois.  He married Martha Harville about 1828.  Isaac and Martha had seven children: 1. John Jackson, born 1829; 2. Martha Jane, born January 24, 1832; 3. *Isaac Danford, born September 24, 1837; 4. Mary Ann, born February 1, 1840; 5. Sarah Elizabeth, born May 31, 1842; 6. David Newman, born August 1, 1844; 7. Daniel Marion, born March 10, 1847.

Isaac Danford married Ellen Oldham.  Isaac was a Civil War soldier.  John Bickmore, son of John, was a Revolutionary soldier.  Joined January 1776 in Captain Fuller's Company.  Served until January.  Discharged for "sickness."  Allowed pension April 28, 1818.
Taken from Book of Remembrance in possession of Beth Schow Stagge.