Dakin Immigrants

Dakins Arrive in North America
Now that we know a little bit about the most recent Dakins, let's go back a ways to Henry's roots as the Dakins move across the pond and to the United States. Henry's parents and their people stretch in a line back to those living in the British Isles in the early 1600's. Sorry, no pictures of the folks in England, but when our new computer arrives I'll post pictures of Concord, MA, taken on a visit there. Back in England and into their days in New England, their memory is often summarized in lines of names and places, dates of births, marriages and deaths. So it will not take long to recount that history, though it lasted some 200 years (1635 to 1826). There some interesting twists to it. And here we will also speculate on some odd names, follow the line into, out of and back into the US, and try to account for some strange dates.

Concord, Massachusetts
It is easy to find the beginning point. Thomas Dakin was born at an undisclosed location in England on May 6, 1624. Thomas and his parents, John and Alice (?) came to America in 1635 on the ship "Abigail" and made their home in Concord, MA. It is difficult to tell whether the family came directly to Concord. Concord was established in 1635 by Rev. Peter Bulkley and Simon Willard. It was called Concord in acknowledgement of the peaceful acquisition of the 6 square mile area purchased from local Indians. The soil was rich for farming and the confluence of two rivers, the Sudbury and Assebet Rivers, provided a bounty of fish. "He (Bulkley) was noted even among Puritans for the superlative stiffness of his Puritanism. "

Puritan Settlement
It is likely, then, that the town Bulkley established followed his lead and that the Dakin family were not only Puritans, but that, like the Puritan experiment in Boston, the town was seen as a religous enclave whose market, government and culture were dominated by Puritan directives.

Thomas was 36 when he married Susan in Concord. The two had four children John (named for Thomas' father), Simon, Mary (who died as a child) and Joseph. The entire family continued to live out their lives at Concord, MA. Simon Sr. was born in approximately 1663. Simon's wife, Elizabeth, introduced 7 children to the world, all in Concord, MA. The first of the children was named Simon (born May 20, 1694) in the (almost) universal practice of naming the first son after his father. Simon Sr. was 31. Inexplicably, the next two children, Ebenezer and Samuel are born in "the Carolinas" in 1696 and 1700. Whether the family went on a short busines venture or what is difficult to tell. Since we don't know Simon Jr.'s occupation it is difficult to tell what would have drawn them to live in the Carolinas for 4-5 years.

Simon Jr's mother, Susan, died during this time away on February 26,1698. Simon Jr's father, Thomas lived another 10 years dying at age 84.

Unusual Marriage
Simon Jr married Hulda Cheney from Newbury, MA (some 35 miles to the noretheast and just above Boston) in 1718. Here we run into sa curious and almost unbelievable set of numbers. Hulda, the record says, was born in 1669, about the time that his mother was probably born! Which would make her 49 when she was married (25 years older than Simon Jr) and 54 when the second of 4, Timothy, was born (the last child we have birth records for). But, since there were two live births after, Hudah was pregnant at 56. It seems like a typographical error, except births and marriage of Hulda's parents seem to substantiate her age. Hulda's parents were married in 1663 and she was the 4th of 13 children, making the timing for her birth in 1669 about right.

When I first saw her birth date, I had speculation that numbers had been transposed and she was actually born in 1696, 3o years later. In 1696 her parents would have been 57 and 53 and her father had been dead for 2 years. Oh well.

Loyalists or Patriots
To this point, the Dakins have been in the new world (not yet the United States) for almost 100 years. The whole time (as far as we know) they lived in Concord, MA. All indications are that the clan that came from Thomas & Susan in 1635 would have been sizable in 1723. So far as week know all continued to live in Concord. Concord continued to grow and support adequately its residents and provide the kind of community life for which the will soon fight to protect against the British. It seems all the more likely that if those in Concord including the Dakins were prepared to violently sever relations with the country of their cousins, they were not feeling all that close to Britain in the first place. Perhaps, they still felt the remnant feelings of resentment for religious persecution that motivated their immigration.

We are a 100+ years from our friends Isaac Dakin & Laura Jameson who lived in Soquel. We'll get to them in the next post or two.