Joseph Atkins, the Story of a Family by Francis Higginson Atkins
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JOSEPH AIKINS THE STORY OF A FAMILY •by- FRANCIS HIGGINSON ATKINS. "Itis indeed a desirable thing to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our an cestors." \ i -^ftsfftn. DUDLEYATKINS,SOOK AND JOB PRINTER. 1891. & r° t> «« "0! tell me, tell me, Tam-a-line, 0! tell, an' tell me true; Tellme this nicht, an' mak' nae lee, What pedigree are you?" —Child's Ballads. "Suppose therefore a gentleman, fullofhis illustrious family, should, in the same manner as Virgilmakes iEneas look over his descendants, see the whole line of his progenitors pass in a review before his eyes, with how many varying passions would he behold shepherds and soldiers, statesmen and artificers, princes and beggars, walk in the procession of five thousand years! How would his heart sink or flutter at the several sports of fortune in a scene so diversified withrags and purple, handi craft tools and sceptres, ensigns of dignity and emblems of dis grace; and how would his fears and apprehensions, his trans ports and mortifications, succeed one another, as the line of his genealogy appeared bright or obscure?" —Addison's Spectator. 38 0 tbt Sfantt These unpretentious notes concerning sundry very respectable people, and not a FEW OF EXTRAORDINARY MERIT, ARE AFFECTION ATELY DEDICATED BY THE WRITER TO HIS MOST AMIABLECOUSIN MARY RUSSELL CURSON. TO WHOM HE IS GRATEFUL FOR TWENTY YEARS OF UNFAILING COURTESY ANDASSISTANCE INHIS WORK. TO THOSE OF KIN. This collection of notes is not put forth as a model genealog ical work, nor yet is itmoulded upon any form offamily history the writer has ever seen. Many laugh at the poor genealogist, who, ifhe secures a missing date, feels an elation he may hard lyexpect to impart to the readers ofhisDryasdust Memoirs, but this one, knowing his lack of skill,both as a genealogist and as a former of literature, only hopes to afford in a little less dessi cated condition some of the facts and opinions he has gleaned from a thousand fields concerning a very excellent lot of peo ple. Equipped only with an innate interest in his ancestors, re gardless of their estate; curious as to the English origin of Jos eph Atkins; early acquiring esteem for the highly respectable intermingled branches of Tyng, Dudley, Gookin, Kent, Searle, Eliot and Higginson, he has for thirty years gathered data and studied the story of these several ancient families with never fading pleasure. Although the material now presented is very incomplete and nowise elegant in structure, as indeed the writer's quarter cen tury of isolation in the Far West must render it,he is satisfied that no other descendant of Joseph Atkins has gotten together so much information of the various older generations and their surroundings. The discovery in 1888, during a flying visit to the east after more than a score of years' absence, of the origin of Joseph Atkins in Sandwich, Kent, England, was adequate compensation for all his labors and outlay, and he is pleased now in offering a few plates showing old St. Clement's Church in Sandwich where many of this kindred were baptized. Considerable attention has been given to the social environ ment of these our worthy progenitors, for the company he keeps marks the man for our respect or our indifference, and nothing has been more delightful in these labors than to observe con stantly the high grades of associates entertained by the subjects of these biographical sketches. Should the younger readers catch from these pages the im pression that neither high birth, nor exceptional advantages of education, nor yet the presence of wealth, is essential to the for mation of gentle character and the insuring of that success whose sign is a good name, an enduring reputation for integrity and kindliness, the best lesson the record of a respectable family has to teach willhave been justly learned. Atno point has the merit of noble character impressed this recorder so deeply as in the history of Sarah Kent, whom he esteems the most noteworthy figure in his family picture, and hence the apparently disproportionate space he has devoted to her in matter chiefly drawn from Miss Lucy Searle's elaborate manuscript. Mr. Dean Dudley has kindly lent his plate of Governor Jos eph Dudley's portrait, as well as the Dudley arms, and the writer is indebted to a host of persons, kinspeople and other wise — all longsuffering to a degree — for generous assistance given these many years. The lamentable death of our excellent cousin, Bessie Newton, while this is in process of printing, has laid upon the writer a great disappointment, as he had for long pleasurably anticipated her genial comments on the personal notes now presented. The ampler space accorded Dudley Atkins Tyng and his de scendants is due to easier access to abundant materials rather than to greater importance of this branch. In conclusion, itis hoped each reader willduly appreciate the amiable vein in which every detail, whether of the dead or of those still with us, has been written. Las Vegas, New Mexico. August, 1891. GENERAL CHART. Arnold Gookin Time ofHen. VII Thomas Gookin. John Gookin.* Thomas Atkyns Roger Dudley, Richard Kent, Daniel Gookin. fVt St. Clement's, Sandwich. Time of Elizabeth. from England. Kent, England, 1615. Andrew Adkins Thomas Dudley Edward Tyng. James Kent, Daniel Gookin, from England. from England from England from England! Andrew Adkins=Sara Joseph Dudley. =Rebecca Tyng Joseph Atkins=Mary Dudley, from England, by 1728. """" Dudley Atkins.= Sarah Kent. Mary Russell. Joseph, Rebecca, b. 1753, b. 1755, b. 1757. b. 1758. b. 1760, d. 1829, b. 1767, d. 1836, d. 1787. d. 1771. d. 1829, (Dudley Atkins Tyng) d. 1842. m. George Searle. s. p. s. p. m. Samuel Eliot ¦ ]U.I*.Sarah Higginson.Higgins s. p. m Tii:,,.ik,^i-,T]!.^:,, d. 1796 get. 44. 1739 1820. 111.Ul> (2.in Elizabeth Higginson. Issue: Issue: By S. 11. Issue: George, 1780-87. Mary Harrison in. Dwight. „ . \l.Head. Catherine, 1781-1818. 1788-1846. Issue. Sarah "inslow,Winsilnw m.m j£ Manjuind. Frances, 1783-1851. Elizabeth, in. Guild, 1794-1880. issue. Mary, 1785-1787. 1790- , Issue. Susannah Cleveland in. Newton. Margaret, m. Curson, Charles, 1792-1813. 1795-1882. issue. 1787-1877. Issue. Catherine, m. Norton. Dudley, m. Bowman, jIstPerkins, 1793-1879, Issue. Resumed name of Atkins. (reorgem.Georwm -j 2d Hooper# WilliamHavard m. Bradford 1798-1845. Issue. 1788-1858 s. p. Higglnaon n, Mary, 1796-1807. SaS^nTm. Lyman. Btol-» jJ gfcld. Sarah, 1792-1881. 1798-1862, Issue. 1800-1885. Issue. Anna, Lucy, 1794-1863. m. Ticknor. /^«.i M.Aji Thomas, m. Noble, 1800-1885. Issue Charles n>. )}¦ jggj^ 1795-1 843."*Issue. 1801-1879. Issue. George. 1803-1823. Mary Cabot, m. Cross 1804 1849. Issue. *See curious antiquity with whom John James Higginson, in. Degen. detail of great of the Denes 1808-1879. issue. Gookin intermarried—in section on the GookuVs. History of the Atkins Family. ATKINS OE ADKINS;ITS ORIGIN. The name was quite commonly spelt Adkins inEngland and America in the 17th and 18th centuries, and Mr. Chichester says itchiefly occurs withthe "d"inSt. Clement's records, Sand* wich. In the Hale (Newbury, Mass.) diary the name of liam A., son of Joseph, often occurs, but is always spelt Adkins; Dudley's family, however, used the "t",as did the not* aries inconstructing the wills ofJoseph and his sons. The A's of Connecticut in the last century used the "d", bnt later lost it. In the Southwest of the United States the name occurs fre quently as Adkins. Ihave some doubt of the letter being a "dv in the name of Andrew Atkins—fac simile given elsewhere. The employment of "y" in the hist syllabic, so pleasant to our eyes to-day, seems to have been chiefly in the famous jurist family, and retained nowhere in England now. As to the origin of the name, M. A.Lower inhis "English— Surnames," after deriving the kin or kyn from the Flemish ¦ with a diminutive significance, obtains from Arthur, At-kins, as it were little Arthur, or the son of Arthur.— Tn a later edi tion, Lower gives "Atkins—see Arthur Christian name. Other surname from it,Atty— Atkins." Elsewhere he suggests Adkins as from Adam — a far cry to Eden! OTHEK ATKINSINUNITED STATES. A book much larger than this would be needed to hold any fair account of other Atkins families in this country. Ihave frequently engaged in correspondence with members of several of them, but inno instance have they been able to state of what English stock they sprang.