Sackville Tribune Post: Hickman family boasts rich = history in Dorchester


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Feature::

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Back row, left to right, = John=20 Hickman, Robert Hickman, Judy Hickman Morison = and Joseph=20 Hickman. Front row, left to right, John Spencer = Howell=20 (II) and his wife Susan, Claire Howell and John = Spencer=20 Howell (I). All the people in this picture are = direct=20 descendants of Joseph Hickman. (Shiretown Image=20 = Maker/Dorchester)

Hickman family boasts rich history in = Dorchester

Reunion draws family members from = across=20 North America

By=20 Katie Tower
Sackville Tribune Post

Descendants of John Hickman, an = Irishman=20 who settled in Dorchester nearly 200 years ago, = gathered in=20 the tiny village this past weekend to pay homage to = their=20 family history.

About 50 Hickman ancestors = from as far=20 away as Florida, Kansas, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec=20 congregated at the Hickman home on Main Street, a home = that=20 has been in the family for five generations. =

=E2=80=9CThey=20 weren=E2=80=99t the original people that came after = the expulsion but=20 they were there at the beginning when the community = was=20 prospering,=E2=80=9D explained Marlene Hickman. =

Marlene and=20 her husband Robert Hickman, a direct descendant of = John=20 Hickman, currently live in the Hickman family home = that was=20 built in 1834.

=E2=80=9CBasically they came = here about the=20 same time that Dorchester was developing=E2=80=A6so = there was 100=20 years of prosperity in the village and 100 years of = prosperity=20 in the Hickman family. The family and the community = grew=20 together and then waned together at the end.=E2=80=9D =

The=20 Hickman story starts back in 1817 when Irishman John = Hickman=20 arrived in the area. He soon settled on Dorchester = Island and=20 several years later, in 1820, he relocated to the = =E2=80=98village=20 proper=E2=80=99 to what became known as Dorchester = Corner.

He=20 took over ownership of the Dorchester Hotel and lived = there=20 for the next 25 years, where he was married and raised = nine=20 children, said Marlene.

She notes that John = and his=20 wife must have been very happy because all of his = children,=20 with the exception of one that died, =E2=80=9Cmarried = into prominent=20 families or created prominence themselves.=E2=80=9D =

One of=20 John=E2=80=99s sons, William, became known as one of = the most famous=20 of the region=E2=80=99s builders of wooden ships. =

=E2=80=9CHe became=20 famous as a shipbuilder, even though he had a lot of = personal=20 tragedies in his life, including children that = didn=E2=80=99t live and=20 four wives that died,=E2=80=9D explained Marlene. = =E2=80=9CHe built and=20 maintained a fleet of ships and he had in the vicinity = of=20 about a dozen ships sailing all over the world, as far = away as=20 Martinique in the Caribbean and to Brimmen in = Germany.=E2=80=9D=20

Joseph, another son, was a merchant and a ship = owner=20 in the area; James moved to Amherst and made his = fortune there=20 as a merchant, a ship owner and a lumberman; oldest = son John=20 was the =E2=80=98corrector of customs=E2=80=99 at the = village=E2=80=99s port, managing=20 the imports and exports coming in and going out of the = wharf=20 in Dorchester; while the youngest son married an = innkeeper in=20 Sackville.

John=E2=80=99s daughter Mary = married a Weldon, one=20 of the original founding families in Dorchester. =

=E2=80=9CAnd=20 they can be tied into the Shediac Inn, which was just = recently=20 torn down,=E2=80=9D said Marlene.

The couple = first owned=20 Weldon House, an inn in Dorchester, and then moved to = Shediac=20 and developed the Shediac Inn. They again relocated, = this time=20 to Moncton, and owned a hotel where the Brunswick = Hotel now=20 sits, on the corner of Highfield and Main. =

Second=20 daughter Susan married the head of the telegraph = office in=20 Sackville, one of the first of its kind in the region = in the=20 1850s.

=E2=80=9CSo, as you can see, these were = some pretty=20 prominent people,=E2=80=9D she noted.

The = family history,=20 which Marlene has been gathering for many years, also = details=20 the story of one of Joseph Hickman=E2=80=99s grandsons = who was killed=20 in the Kinmel Park Riots at the end of the First World = War.=20

Two of the grandsons had gone overseas and one = was=20 killed during the riots as they were waiting to return = home.=20 On an evening in March, 1919, trouble broke out = amongst 20,000=20 disease-ridden, war-weary troops stationed at Kinmel = Park in=20 Rhyl, North Wales. Many of these soldiers had been = involved in=20 the great battles of World War I, including the battle = of the=20 Somme. They thought the fighting was over. But by = morning=E2=80=99s=20 light, 21 of them were wounded and five dead - killed = by their=20 own countrymen. One of those soldiers killed was the = Hickman=20 family member.

=E2=80=9CHe was an innocent = bystander and was=20 killed in his tent,=E2=80=9D said Marlene. =

Many of the Hickman=20 descendants served in both the first and second world = wars and=20 were decorated, she said.

Marlene said her = family also=20 recently discovered another Hickman descendant, who = was able=20 to provide more information for her genealogy = research, and=20 who arrived in Dorchester this weekend to visit the = home that=20 was built by his ancestors.

John Howell is = from=20 Florida and is the descendant of Alma Hickman, = granddaughter=20 of Joseph Hickman, who married a Davidson from = Bridgewater.=20 Alma was said to have died in childbirth and her = daughter was=20 raised by another family and didn=E2=80=99t maintain a = close=20 connection with the Hickmans and they eventually lost = touch.=20

=E2=80=9CSo by chance, this gentleman (John = Howell) discovered=20 that his grandmother (Alma=E2=80=99s daughter) was a = Hickman and that=20 perhaps she came from Dorchester and that=E2=80=99s = all he knew.=E2=80=9D=20

While doing research on-line, John Howell = discovered=20 the Keillor House and contacted the staff there to see = if they=20 had any information about the Hickman family in = Dorchester. He=20 soon came to find out that the Hickmans still lived in = Dorchester, still in the original family home.=20

Although it=E2=80=99s been great discovering a = new branch on=20 the =E2=80=98family tree,=E2=80=99 Marlene said there = are still branches that=20 the family has yet to discover. Many of the = Hickmans=E2=80=99 died at=20 a young age, leaving behind children that were soon = orphaned.=20

Doing the research for the family tree has = been a big=20 job, Marlene notes, but has been a lot of fun. Although she has been filing papers and = gathering=20 information on the Hickman history for nearly 25 = years, she=20 only recently started pulling it all together. =

Her=20 husband, she says, has always been aware that there = was a rich=20 history in the family but he didn=E2=80=99t have all = the details.=20

=E2=80=9CHe just had random facts. Somebody = was a shipbuilder,=20 somebody owned a store=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D

Last = summer, after a=20 suggestion by one of the older Hickman cousins to have = a=20 family reunion, Marlene decided that she better get = all the=20 facts straight about the Hickman history. =

=E2=80=9CI thought=20 =E2=80=98I better find out what this history is about = because I=E2=80=99ve=20 lived in this house for almost 30 years. I=E2=80=99ve = been living in=20 the same walls as four other generations=E2=80=A6they = lived here, they=20 died here.=E2=80=9D

Marlene and = Robert=E2=80=99s two daughters were=20 the fifth generation to grow up in the house and will = probably=20 be the last.

=E2=80=9CThe Hickman name in = Dorchester will end=20 with my husband,=E2=80=9D said Marlene. =E2=80=9CThere = are a lot of Hickman=20 males, but they won=E2=80=99t be living in this house = in Dorchester.=20 This will be the end of the era.=E2=80=9D =

Learning about the=20 history of her husband=E2=80=99s family has brought = about a greater=20 appreciation of what the Hickmans=E2=80=99 = accomplished over the=20 years.

=E2=80=9CThey were not the = Kings,=E2=80=9D said Marlene, =E2=80=9Cbut=20 they were the backers and they were the supporters. = And if=20 some of them hadn=E2=80=99t been dealing with so many = personal=20 tragedies in their lives, who knows what they could = have=20 accomplished?=E2=80=9D

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