William Stickney, our immigrant ancestor, was the ancestor of nearly all the Stickneys in America. It is inferred from records in England that he was the son of William Stickney of Frampton who was baptized, 30 December 1558, and married, 16 June 1585, Margaret Peirson, and the grandson of Robert Stickney of Frampton who made his will October 3rd and was buried 18 October 1582. St. Mary's Church parish register contains many records of baptisms, marriages and burials of Stickney's from 1558 to 1609. The name does not appear on these records after this date. Tradition and information obtained in England infer that the family moved to Hull, England, or its vicinity. His son, Samuel, in a deposition in 1698, named some of the passenters on the ship with them who settled in Rowley, but nothing further.

The first record of William Stickney in New England is found in the records of the First Church in Boston,

"The 61 of ye 11th moneth 1638
William Stickney a husbandman & Elizabeth his wife,
Margaret Crosse a Widdowe
Michaell Hopkinson servant to our brother Jacob Elyott &
Richard Swanne a husbandman"

"The 24th day of ye 9th Moneth 1639 Our brethren Mr. Henry Sandys, William Stickney, Richard Swanne & Michaell Hopkinson by ye Churches Silence were dismissed to ye gathering of a Church at Rowley if the Lord so please."

William Stickney and his wife, Elizabeth and their children Samuel, Amos and Mary (who were baptized in England) were among the original settlers of Rowley, Massachusetts. His lot was one and one-half acres and here he built a house on the corner of Bradford and Wethersfield Streets. He brought with him to this country a quarto copy of King James' translation of the Bible, first edition, printed 1611. The old homestead and this Bible descended from father to son to Deacon Nathaniel Stickney of Dracut who in 1868 owned the Bible which was still in good condition. This Bible was used at the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of Rowley.

In various records, we find the following:

"On the seventh of October 1640, Mr. Samu. Dudley, Josias Cobbitt, Edmond Gardner, James Barcker, Henry Sands, Rob't Hunter and William Stickney were admitted Freemen." (Colonial Records.)

"William Stickney was a member of a committee in 1652 to draw up a covenant and agreement between the town of Rowley and the first settlers of the Merrimack lands, now Bradford. (See Rowley Records.)

William was Clerk of the Market, and on Jury of Trials in 1653, Selectman 1656 and 1661, also in 1661 styled Lieutenant.

"The ancient possession books of Rowley contain frequent grants of land to him. Because of the loss of a part of the early business records of the town, the amount of land he and his sons were entitled to and some of the offices they held are unknown. There was granted to him land in "Bradford Streete field," "Batcheler's Meadow," "Rough Meadow," and "Pollipod field."

Town records show that he was buried 25 January 1664/5. He left a will, the original was still preserved in 1869 (folded and filed) in the Essex Probate Office at Salem. The total inventory of his estate amounted to 416 pounds. Elizabeth Stickney survived her husband several years as she made a deposition on behalf of her daughter, Mary, and Mary's husband, James Barker, that is on file at the Essex Probate Office. In the deposition in September, 1678, she referred to herself as "aged about 70". The date of her death is not known.

On the two hundredth anniversary of the death of William Stickney, a granite obelisk was erected on his grave which my parents saw in 1989 when they visited the cemetery.

William and his wife, Elizabeth (Dawson) Stickney, had thirteen children, the six oldest born in England and whose baptism records are found in the parish register of Cottingham, Yorkshire, England; the rest born in Rowley, MA:

• John, bpt. 30 Aug. 1629. Probably died young, as there is no record of him coming to America with his parents.
• Samuel, bpt. 6 March 1630/1; m. (1) Julian Swan; m. (2) Prudence Gage.
• Daniel, bpt. 7 Oct. 1632; buried 9 Oct. 1632.
• Mary, bpt. 28 Dec. 1633; m. James Barker, Jr.
• Amos, bpt. 6 March 1635/6; buried 12 Jan. 1637/8.
• Amos, bpt. 11 Feb. 1637/8; m. 24 June 1663, Sarah Morse.
• John, b. 1 m. 14 da. 1640; m. 9 June 1680, Hannah Brocklebank.
• Faith, b. 12 m. 4 da. 1641; m. Samuel Gage.
• Andrew, b. 3 m. 11 da. 1644; m. (1) Ednah Lambert, m. (2) Elizabeth Jewett.
• Twins:
  • Thomas, b. 1 m. 3 da. 1646; m. Mehitable Kimball.
  • Elizabeth, b. 1 m. 3 da. 1646; d. 4 Dec. 1659 according to Rowley records, 7 Dec. 1659 according to Court records.
• Twins:
  • Mercy, b. 11 m. 4 da. 1648; d. 14 Jan. 1676.
  • Adding, b. 11 m. 4 da. 1648; d. 17 Sept. 1660.

Samuel came to New England with his parents from England, first to Boston, then to Rowley, and lived with them until he was twenty-one years old, when he received his portion of his father's estate and married Julian Swan. Soon he purchased land, dwelling-house and barn on Holmes St. near his father-in-law, Richard Swan.

He rented land with his father on a seven year lease. He was poundkeeper 1662-67. A lot was laid out to him in the division of Hog Island Marsh in 1667. In 1670, a lot was laid out to him in the Merrimack lands. He bought and sold other land including his home and, in 1669-70, he and his wife, Julian, moved to the Merrimack lands where his wife died before 1673.

The settlement of the Merrimack lands, a part of Rowley, was started by Rowley people in 1649. At a meeting in 1668-9, the place was called Merrimack. It was voted to call the town Bradford in 1672-3 and it was incorporated about 1675. The part where Samuel settled was set off from Bradford in 1850, and called Groveland.

In various records, we find that Samuel in March, 1671 purchased from Rowley two gates, he being then of Bradford. He was selectman of Bradford several times between 1671 and 1695 and a constable in 1676. He was one of eighteen males to sign a Covenant on 27 December 1682 to organize a church in Bradford. He was surveyor of highways and fences three times, a representative from Bradford and was styled a Lieutenant in 1691.

Lieutenant Samuel Stickney died in Bradford, MA in 1709. He gave by Deeds of Gift in 1703 and 1704 to his sons Samuel and William the homestead, William to have the house.

Samuel and his first wife, Julian (Swan) Stickney had four children, all born in Rowley, MA:

• Elizabeth, b. 9 May 1661; m. Daniel Tenny.
• Samuel, Jr., b. 5 Feb. 1663; m. Mary Haseltine.
• William, b. 21 Aug. 1665; died young.
• Sarah, b. 20 Oct. 1667; d. 5 April 1689.

Samuel and his second wife Prudence (Leaver) Gage Stickney had three children, all born in Bradford, MA:

• William, b. 27 Jan. 1674; m. 4 Sept. 1701, Anna Haseltine.
• Thomas, b. 19 March 1676/7; drowned in the Merrimack River, 12 June 1689.
• Jonathan, b. 11 Feb. 1679; died unmarried.

In 1684, Samuel Stickney, Jr. was chosen one of the town committee to meet with John Perle and Richard Holmes about setting up a corn-mill in Bradford. It was erected on Johnson's Creek and was the first of its kind. He was assessor in 1694, constable 1699, surveyor 1707, 1708, and was selectman five times between 1686 and 1703.

He received, 28 January 1703/4, by Deed of Gift, his portion of his father's estate which consisted of 6 score acres of land in Bradford, one-half of his father's mowing ground and all of his father's right of land in Rowley.

Samuel Stickney, Jr. died 30 December 1714, aged 51. His widow was admitted to full communion, 17 March 1716 in the Bradford church where her children were baptized. She was dismissed 26 May 1723, to the church in Lexington where she moved after her second marriage.

Samuel, Jr. and his wife Mary (Haseltine) Stickney, had twelve children, all born in Bradford, MA:

• Sarah, b. 9 Dec. 1690; m. 17 June 1717 Samuel Spofford.
• Mary, b. 29 Sept. 1692; m. 29 June 1715-16 Richard Kimball, Jr.
• Thomas, b. 23 Aug. 1694; m. (1) Mary Mullicken; m. (2) Dorothy Munroe.
• Elizabeth, b. 20 Aug. 1696; d. 2 April 1756; m. Benjamin Mullicken.
• Amos, b. 31 Oct. 1699; d. before 1716.
• Samuel, b. 24 Aug. 1701; m. (1) Elizabeth Hardy; m. (2) Susanna Johnson.
• Abraham, b. 16 Oct. 1703; m. 20 Feb. 1727/8 Abigail Hall.
• Ebenezer, b. 25 July 1705; d. 2 Aug. 1705.
• Jonathan, b. 19 Jan. 1707; m. 21 Jan. 1734, Alice Symonds.
• Richard, b. 9 May 1709; m. (1) Mary -----; m. (2) Susannah Tucker.
• Dorothy, b. 18 March 1711/2; m. 31 July 1731, Joseph Tidd.
• Benjamin, b. 27 Oct. 1714; d. before 1716.

Amos came with his father and mother from England to Rowley, MA, when he was a child. As a young adult, Amos was trained as a weaver by his father. His father, by giving him a part of his own estate, helped Amos get established in the weaving trade in the adjoining town of Newbury, MA. Amos took the oath of Fidelity there on "25 of ye 3 mo. 1669," (which would likely be 25 May 1669, according to the calendar then in use) was given grants of land, and bought buildings and land for his own use throughout the years.

Amos and his wife Sarah (Morse) Stickney had nine children, all born in Newbury, MA. A hand written note in the margin of page 22 in a book written in Salem in 1869 by Matthew Adams Stickney titled Genealogical Memoirs of the Stickney Family and found in the library of the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, said, "Mary, b. 1678, was not born when her father's will was made. She married Nov. 13 1699 Daniel Pettingill." It is not known who wrote this note or in which year the note was written. We have not found any evidence to prove this information correct. However, the dates seem to fit the age of the Mary Stickney who married Daniel Pettengill, so we have included her with the family of Amos and Sarah (Morse) Stickney. Her birth would make ten the total number of children born to this couple:

• Sarah, b. 3 April 1664; d. 26 Sept. 1675.
• John, b. 23 June 1666; d. 13 Aug. 1727; m. 10 Dec. 1689, Mary Poor.
• Andrew, b. 9 Dec. 1667; m. (1) Rebecca Somerby; m. (2) Elizabeth Chute.
• Amos, b. 3 Aug. 1669; named in his father's will, probably died young.
• Joseph, b. 14 April 1671; d. unmarried.
• Benjamin, b. 4 April 1673; d. 5 March 1756; m. in Rowley, MA, 16 Jan. 1700/1 (1) Mary Palmer; m. (2) Widow Mary Morrison.
• Hannah, b. 19 Oct. 1674; named in her father's will, probably died young.
• Sarah, b. 31 March 1676; m. 27 Oct. 1701 Nathaniel Weed.
• Moses, b. 26 Nov. 1677; m. 7 Sept. 1707, Sarah Wardwell.
• Mary, b. in 1678; d. in Newbury, MA 7 March 1706/7; m. 13 Nov. 1699, Daniel Pettengill.