About us
The overall goals of our project are:
> To determine how many ancestral lines exist for Bickford ancestry in the US and Canada. Most of the American Bickfords seem to descend from John Bickford (ca. 1603-1676) of Dover, NH. He is usually shown with about nine sons. Do all of the sons belong to his line or do some belong to other, as yet undetermined families?
>To determine the origin of the Canadian and Australian lines. Do both these lines connect with the American line and descend from the same ancestral family in England?
> To determine if those with the Beckford surname are a branch of the Bickford family. Both spellings were interchangeable in colonial Massachusetts.
The project is currently looking for descendants (male or female, we start with atDNA testing) of the following Bickford lines to join us,
Thomas3 of Oyster River b. 1660 d. circa 1706. Thomas is the first born son of John2 #1 of Oyster River.
Benjamin4 1690-1767; married Deborah Babb. Benjamin4 is the grandson of John2 #2 of Bloody Point - or is he? We need to get this line tested for a definitive answer.
"Loose End" lines. These seven Loose Ends listed here are interconnected to a larger Bickford mystery Heather and I are working on. Spoiler alert - they probably all descend from John2 #1 and perhaps Lt. John4. We need to atDNA and YDNA test for answers. atDNA is very useful, but gets complicated because of the 1st cousin marriages that were common in this time period.
William and Lydia (Tucker) Bickford. William was b. in New Hampshire in 1788. He's most probably of grandson of Benjamin5 of Porterfield and therefore a great grandson of Lt. John4.
James and Ann (Arling) Bickford. James was b. Barrington, N.H. April 1798. James ties in with Benjamin5 of Porterfield.
Elizabeth Priscilla Bickford 1810-1874 m. George Robert Mercer.
George Bickford b. 1862 Pennsylvania
Philena Minerva Bickford b. 8 Jull 1852 Westfield, Chautauqua, N.Y.
Gilman Bickford b. circa 1819 Maine. Parents Joseph and Mary (unk) Bickford. Joseph b. 1784 Newfields, York, Maine
John and Elizabeth (Pearl) Bickford. John was b. Newington, N.H. in 1759. We have good reason to believe this line goes back to Lt. John, but Elizabeth's mom is a Bickford too. Stay tuned!
The project is also looking for certain Bickford lines to target YDNA test to identify the SNP Progenitor. You can read about SNP Progenitors on the news page of this website.
A descendant of Henry4 of Madbury. Descendants of Benjamin5 of Belgrade are in the project. A different son of Henry4 is needed.
A descendant of Thomas2 of Scarborough. The project is looking for descendants of his son Henry3 of Portsmouth. John3 of Dover Neck is represented in the project.
The project also wants to mtDNA test matrilineal descendants of Joanna (Bickford) Fall. Is Joanna the daughter of Benjamin and Lydia (Stanton) Bickford as proposed in the Bickford Newsletter? mtDNA would be a nice piece of additional DNA evidence to add to Mahlon's excellent proof argument on Joanna
Also on our most wanted list is mtDNA from a matrilineal descendant of Sarah Barsham. Sarah is on a first name basis (you know, like Cher) around here. Heather and I are determined to correctly place her where she belongs in our Bickford history.
I also want to profusely thank those of you who have collaborated and joined the project. I deeply appreciate all of you. A project of this scope is not possible without you.
Your Bickford cousin,
Nita
> To determine how many ancestral lines exist for Bickford ancestry in the US and Canada. Most of the American Bickfords seem to descend from John Bickford (ca. 1603-1676) of Dover, NH. He is usually shown with about nine sons. Do all of the sons belong to his line or do some belong to other, as yet undetermined families?
>To determine the origin of the Canadian and Australian lines. Do both these lines connect with the American line and descend from the same ancestral family in England?
> To determine if those with the Beckford surname are a branch of the Bickford family. Both spellings were interchangeable in colonial Massachusetts.
The project is currently looking for descendants (male or female, we start with atDNA testing) of the following Bickford lines to join us,
Thomas3 of Oyster River b. 1660 d. circa 1706. Thomas is the first born son of John2 #1 of Oyster River.
Benjamin4 1690-1767; married Deborah Babb. Benjamin4 is the grandson of John2 #2 of Bloody Point - or is he? We need to get this line tested for a definitive answer.
"Loose End" lines. These seven Loose Ends listed here are interconnected to a larger Bickford mystery Heather and I are working on. Spoiler alert - they probably all descend from John2 #1 and perhaps Lt. John4. We need to atDNA and YDNA test for answers. atDNA is very useful, but gets complicated because of the 1st cousin marriages that were common in this time period.
William and Lydia (Tucker) Bickford. William was b. in New Hampshire in 1788. He's most probably of grandson of Benjamin5 of Porterfield and therefore a great grandson of Lt. John4.
James and Ann (Arling) Bickford. James was b. Barrington, N.H. April 1798. James ties in with Benjamin5 of Porterfield.
Elizabeth Priscilla Bickford 1810-1874 m. George Robert Mercer.
George Bickford b. 1862 Pennsylvania
Philena Minerva Bickford b. 8 Jull 1852 Westfield, Chautauqua, N.Y.
Gilman Bickford b. circa 1819 Maine. Parents Joseph and Mary (unk) Bickford. Joseph b. 1784 Newfields, York, Maine
John and Elizabeth (Pearl) Bickford. John was b. Newington, N.H. in 1759. We have good reason to believe this line goes back to Lt. John, but Elizabeth's mom is a Bickford too. Stay tuned!
The project is also looking for certain Bickford lines to target YDNA test to identify the SNP Progenitor. You can read about SNP Progenitors on the news page of this website.
A descendant of Henry4 of Madbury. Descendants of Benjamin5 of Belgrade are in the project. A different son of Henry4 is needed.
A descendant of Thomas2 of Scarborough. The project is looking for descendants of his son Henry3 of Portsmouth. John3 of Dover Neck is represented in the project.
The project also wants to mtDNA test matrilineal descendants of Joanna (Bickford) Fall. Is Joanna the daughter of Benjamin and Lydia (Stanton) Bickford as proposed in the Bickford Newsletter? mtDNA would be a nice piece of additional DNA evidence to add to Mahlon's excellent proof argument on Joanna
Also on our most wanted list is mtDNA from a matrilineal descendant of Sarah Barsham. Sarah is on a first name basis (you know, like Cher) around here. Heather and I are determined to correctly place her where she belongs in our Bickford history.
I also want to profusely thank those of you who have collaborated and joined the project. I deeply appreciate all of you. A project of this scope is not possible without you.
Your Bickford cousin,
Nita