Thank you John for this wonderful and informative article. I wish I had someone important enough to have such a rich history of their lives.
Call me green with envy Marilyn On Fri, Apr 28, 2017 at 9:43 AM, Margaret Vicente <margaretvice...@gmail.com > wrote: > John, > > Wonderful article and so complete. I will take me a while to digest it. > > May I email you privately as you may have the answer for my question with > having all this background on the family? > > Thank you so much! > > Margaret > > > > > > On Fri, Apr 28, 2017 at 10:40 AM, 'John Raposo' via Azores Genealogy < > azores@googlegroups.com> wrote: > >> Margaret, >> >> This is from an article I wrote many years ago. >> >> Yankee Azoreans >> >> >> John Miranda Raposo >> >> >> This is not a work about the thousands of immigrants who have come to New >> England from the nine islands of the Azores. Rather, this work is primarily >> concerned with the descendants of Thomas Hickling, a Boston Yankee who >> settled on São Miguel and became the patriarch of a large clan on both >> sides of the Atlantic. >> >> Thomas Hickling was born in Boston on 21-2-1744 into the prosperous >> merchant family of William Hickling of Nottingham, England and Sarah >> Townsend Sale. At the age of eighteen, his father arranged an >> apprenticeship for him with the prosperous Green brothers and in 1764 he >> married their sister, Sarah Emily Green, fifteen years his senior, in >> Boston's old Trinity Church.[1] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn1> There >> is some speculation that it was a marriage of convenience, arranged either >> for social or economic reasons, or both. In any event Hickling fulfilled >> his marital duty becoming the father of two children by his first wife. >> Catherine Green Hickling was born in Salem in 1768 and William Green >> Hickling was born in 1765. Their father soon left his family and located to >> the Caribbean where he traded in molasses which he shipped back to his >> father's distillery in Boston.[2] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn2> He must >> have been an enterprising sort, for he perceived the commercial >> possibilities in the Azores because in 1769 be was living in Ponta Delgada. >> Thomas Hickling never returned to America and never lived anywhere else. >> >> He became one of the principal developers of the orange trade, the export >> of oranges to England, which became the basis for the colossal fortunes of >> many of São Miguel's socially prominent families and paid for the >> construction of many a *palácio*, those grand manor houses with their >> lovely English and French gardens still seen throughout the island. In 1820 >> Hickling exported nearly 5,700 crates or oranges and 2,000 crates of lemons >> from Ponta Delgada. But the firm of his sons-in-law Ivens & Burnett >> exported over 11,000 crates.[3] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn3> At the >> height of the *orange age *93% of the oranges produced in São Miguel >> were exported. But the Hicklings and many other "gentlemen farmers" >> were brought to financial ruin at the end of the century when the orange >> trade came to an end, victim of a blight that first attacked the orange >> groves in 1834, again in 1860 and finally destroyed the remaining groves at >> the end of the century. The financial ruin resulted in a reduced standard >> of living for these "gentlemen farmers", many of whom could no longer >> afford the upkeep on their lovely homes and gardens. Many can still be >> seen in the suburbs surrounding Ponta Delgada and Lagoa, their >> dilapidated state a silent witness to both the greatness and the misery of >> the age.[4] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn4> >> >> News traveled slowly and it must have been months before Hickling learned >> that Sarah Green, the wife he had last seen twelve years earlier, had died >> in Boston in May of 1774. He could not have mourned her death very much for >> not long after, in February 1778, the young widower married Suzanne >> Sarah Falder of Philadelphia, fifteen years his junior. It must have been >> love at first sight since the young Sarah just happened to be passing >> through Ponta Delgada in the company of her father, Thomas Falder. Between >> the time of their marriage and 1808 they produced 16 children, all born in >> São Miguel, including two sets of twins.[5] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn5> Thus, >> came into being the first generation of Yankee Azoreans. >> >> Throughout his lifetime on São Miguel, the Protestant Hickling was very >> ecumenical; whenever a Protestant minister was unavailable at the frequent >> arrivals of new Hicklings, he had them baptized in the Catholic Church. >> [6] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn6> >> >> In 1776 Thomas Hickling was appointed American Vice Consul in Ponta >> Delgada, a post he held until his death some fifty years later. Hickling >> became socially prominent and popular for his sincerity and friendliness. >> His diplomatic and social positions on the island made him a natural good >> will ambassador who often received and entertained visiting foreigners. >> Over the years his business ventures made him a fabulously wealthy man and >> he built three magnificent estates on the island. In 1792 he was living on >> *Rua >> da Misericórdia*. His first manor house with a curved northern side and >> curved outer steps leading to what must have been a magnificent lawn, was >> built in Rosto do Cão in the parish of São Roque on the outskirts of Ponta >> Delgada.[7] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn7> In >> 1812 he began building the *Palácio de São Pedro*. Built in the Georgian >> colonial style, it cost Hickling nearly $30,000.00, a huge fortune at the >> time and it was considered the grandest private residence on the island >> well into the second half of the 19th century.[8] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn8> It >> still stands today at the water's edge in the eastern end of Ponta Delgada >> as the Hotel São Pedro, the *grand dame* of hotels, lovingly preserved >> and filled with period furniture, by its late proprietor, Vasco Bensaúde. >> >> But it is Hickling’s *Terra Nostra* park and botanical gardens in Furnas >> that stands as a perpetual monument to his memory. Hickling chose the >> Furnas valley to build his summer home in 1782, which he appropriately >> named *Yankee Hall*. Furnas is blessed with thermal springs of warm >> water and Hickling built his home on high land facing *o* *Tanque*, a >> natural pool fed by these warm springs. All around the house Hickling began >> developing what eventually became a magnificent botanical garden, planting >> many specimens from America and from other lands where he maintained >> commercial interests. For the rest of his life, Hickling divided his time >> among his three estates. >> >> Thomas Hickling died in Ponta Delgada on 31 August 1836 and lies buried >> in the protestant Cemetery. He was succeeded as vice-consul by his son >> Thomas, Jr. (1781-1875). Sarah Falder died in 1849 and was buried beside >> her husband. >> >> In 1848, with the financial crisis caused by the first attack of blight >> to the orange groves, *Yankee Hall* and the gardens were sold to the >> Marquês da Praia who restored and expanded Hickling’s masterpiece.[9] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn9> So >> grand an estate did it become, that his descendant put the house and estate >> at the disposal of the King and Queen during their visit to the island in >> 1901. >> >> In 1970 the island's government formally recognized Thomas Hickling’s >> place in Azorean history and horticulture by erecting a monument to his >> memory close by the entrance of his beloved *Yankee Hall*. >> >> >> >> The Azorean Hicklings: the descendants of Thomas Hickling >> >> >> *§1* >> >> >> 1 - Thomas Hickling was born in Boston on 21-2-1744 to William Hicking >> and Sarah >> Sale. He was married in Boston on 22-8-1764 to Sarah Emily Green, >> daughter of >> Rufus King and Katherine Stanbridge, who died in 1774. In February >> 1778 in Ponta >> Delgada, he married Sarah Falder, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth >> Falder. He was >> Vice Consul of the United States in Ponta Delgada from his >> appointment in 1776 until >> his death on 1 Sept 1834. Sarah Falder died in Ponta Delgada in >> 1849.[10] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn10> >> >> By his first wife he had: >> >> 2 - Catherine Green Hickling (1768-1852) , visited her father and >> his estates in São >> Miguel from 1786 to 1788 and it is from her diaries, portions >> of which were >> published in *Insulana*[11] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn11> that >> we know about her father's activities and his projects >> as well as what the island's gardens looked like in 1786. She >> married William >> Prescott and they became the parents of several children, >> three of whom survived >> infancy. Among them was the celebrated author and historian >> William Hickling >> Prescott (1796-1859) who visited with his grandfather in 1815. >> [12] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn12> >> >> 2 - William Hickling was born in Boston on 14 June 1765. He >> died in 1794. >> >> Thomas Hickling and his second wife Sarah Falder were the >> parents of[13] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn13>: >> >> 2 - Mary Hickling (c. 1778-1805) married John Anglin of County >> Cork. After her >> death, John Anglin married his sister-in-law Ana Joaquina. >> >> 2 - Elizabeth Flora Hickling (1783-1832) married William >> Breakspeare Ivens, an >> armigerous English gentleman, in 1805, who was in the >> Azores with his friend >> William Shelton Burnett on a business venture. George III >> granted him a coat of >> arms in 1816. Both men fell in love with Hickling sisters. >> By the time he died >> in 1851, the orange blight and a financial scandal left >> him and his family in >> financial ruin.[14] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn14> >> >> They were the parents of eight children, among them: >> >> 3 - Robert Breakspeare Ivens was born in Ponta Delgada on >> 9 Mar 1822 and >> died in Lisbon on 20 Feb 1889. He was married to >> Luisa Soares Borralho by >> whom he had two children. >> >> By Margarida Júlia de Medeiros Castelo Branco, born >> in Água de Pau in >> 1832 to José Jacinto Raposo do Rego Castelo Branco >> and his wife Ana >> Jacinta Matilde, he had two illegitimate children: >> [15] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn15> >> >> 4 - Roberto Ivens was born in Ponta Delgada on 12 >> June 1850 and died in >> Lisbon on 28 Jan 1898. He was a famous >> geographer and explorer of the >> African continent. The expedition to the >> African continent by Ivens and >> Brito Capelo, ranks with the exploration of the >> Louisiana Purchase by the >> Americans Lewis and Clark. A monument to his >> memory stands in Ponta >> Delgada near the Esperança Convent. >> >> 4 - Duarte Ivens was born in Ponta Delgada on 31 Aug >> 1852. >> >> 2 - Sarah Clarissa Hickling (1783-1849) married her >> brother-in-law's friend, >> William Shelton Burnett. >> >> 2 - Ana Joaquina Hickling (1785-1824) and John Anglin have >> descendants in the >> United States as well as in the Azores. A grandson, Dr. >> João Hickling Anglin, >> was the rector of the local lyceum and was a respected >> researcher who published >> many scholarly works. >> >> 2 - Charlotte Sophia Hickling (1787-1877) married Jacinto Soares >> de Albergaria. >> >> 2 - Frances Hickling (1789-1867) married Joaquim António de >> Paula Medeiros, a >> local physician. They have many descendants in São Miguel, >> some of whom >> have married into the local nobility. >> >> 2 - Frederick Hickling was born on 1 Oct 1791 and died in August >> 1794. >> >> 2 - Harriet Frederica Hickling (1793-1853) married John White >> Webster, a Harvard >> professor. He met Harriet while doing some research on the >> geological formation >> of the island.[16] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn16> The >> salary of a Harvard professor was more an honorarium in >> those days, than a decent salary. Harriet aspired to social >> prominence and >> entertained lavishly at their Cambridge, Massachusetts >> home, spending well >> beyond her means. Professor Webster went into debt to >> support his wife's >> lifestyle. One of his creditors, Professor George Parkman, >> pressed Webster for >> repayment and threatened to take legal action which would >> have ruined Webster. >> Professor Webster murdered Parkman and dismembered and >> incinerated the >> body. Nevertheless he was discovered, tried, condemned and >> was hanged in >> August 1850. *Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. John White >> Webster*, became >> one of the most famous cases in American jurisprudence >> because of the missing >> * corpus delicti*.[17] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn17> >> >> Two of their daughters went on to marry Dabneys from Faial, >> another Yankee >> family established in the Azores. Harriet Wainright Webster >> married Samuel >> Wyllys Dabney, who was United States Consul in Horta.[18] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn18> The >> Consulship of >> Horta passed on to succeeding Dabney generations, as did >> the Vice-consulship of >> Ponta Delgada to succeeding Hickling generations. The >> Dabneys resigned their >> consulship in 1891 when a new State Department rule >> prohibited consular >> officials from engaging in commercial enterprises in their >> posts. Wyllys and his >> family returned to the United States and established Fayal >> Ranch in California.[19] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn19> >> >> 2 - Samuel Hickling (1795-1799). >> >> 2 - Amelia Clementina Hickling (1796-1872) married Hugh Chambers >> in 1822 and >> settled with her husband in New Bedford where he died in >> 1823. She was >> pregnant and returned to the Azores where her daughter >> Emmeline was born in >> 1823. Amelia then married Thomas Nye in New Bedford in 1827 >> and had several >> more children. >> >> 3 - Emmeline married Edward Coffin Jones of Nantucket >> in 1844 and they >> lived in the magnificent Rotch-Jones-Duff >> mansion, today a house and >> garden museum open to the public in New Bedford. >> >> 2 - Mary Anne Hickling (1800-1888) married her brother-in-law, >> William Ivens, in >> 1833 in the Protestant Chapel in Ponta Delgada. They had >> several children. One >> daughter, Catherine (1836-1933) married Ricardo Júlio >> Ferraz and they are the >> ancestors of a very numerous Ivens-Ferraz family, including >> Generals, Admirals, >> Finance Ministers and a Prime Minister of Portugal.[20] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftn20> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Senator John Forbes Kerry: the Hickling Connection >> >> Edward Coffin Jones and Emmeline Hickling Chambers were the parents of >> Sarah Coffin Jones (1852-1891) who married John Malcolm Forbes (1874-1904), >> a railroad company executive and a great-grandson of the Reverend John >> Forbes (1740-1783) and Dorothy Murray. They had several children. After >> Sarah’s death, John Malcolm Forbes married Emmeline’s cousin Rose Dabney >> (1864-1947) and they had three children. Rose Dabney was the granddaughter >> of Harriet Frederica Hickling and the ill fated Professor John White >> Webster. >> >> Senator John Forbes Kerry (1943- ) is the son of Richard Kerry and >> Rosemary Forbes, maternal grandson of James Grant Forbes (1879-1955), >> and great grandson of Francis Blackwell Forbes (1839-1908). Francis >> Blackwell Forbes is also a great-grandson of the Reverend John Forbes and >> his wife Dorothy. Thus, Thomas Hickling’s descendants by his great >> granddaughters Rose Dabney and Sarah Coffin Jones, and the descendants of >> Francis Blackwell Forbes and his wife Isabel Clark, are cousins. Former >> presidential candidate Senator John Forbes Kerry, like his Hickling >> cousins, is a great-grandson of Francis Blackwell Forbes. >> >> If there is an after life, Thomas Hickling must have an enormous grin on >> his patrician face. >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> [1] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref1> >> José Manuel Bela Morais, “Descendants of Thomas Hickling”, MS, Lisbon, n.d. >> >> [2] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref2> >> Isabel Soares de Albergaria, *Quintas, Jardins e Parques da Ilha de São >> Miguel*, Lisbon, Queluz Editores: >> 2000. >> [3] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref3>Sacuntala >> de Miranda, *O Ciclo da Laranja e os *gentlemen farmers* da Ilha de S. >> Miguel: 1780-1880, *Ponta Delgada: Instituto Cultural de Ponta Delgada: >> 1989. >> [4] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref4>Sacuntala >> de Miranda. >> [5] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref5> >> Francis >> Millet Rogers, “Boston Brahmins in the Azores” *Atlantic Islanders of >> the Azores and Madeiras*, >> North Quincy: The Christopher Publishing House: 1979. >> [6] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref6> >> Bela Morais,“Descendants of Thomas Hickling”. >> [7] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref7> >> Francis Millet Rogers, “Boston Brahmins in the Azores” *Atlantic >> Islanders of the Azores and Madeiras*, >> [8] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref8> >> Bela Morais,“Descendants of Thomas Hickling”. >> [9] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref9> >> Isabel Soares de Albergaria. >> [10] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref10> >> José Manuel Bela Morais, “Descendants of Thomas Hickling”, MS, Lisbon, n.d. >> Francis Millet Rogers, “Boston Brahmins in the Azores” *Atlantic >> Islanders of the Azores and Madeiras*, >> North Quincy: The Christopher Publishing House: 1979. >> [11] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref11> >> Catherine Green Hickling, *Diário: 1786-1789* in *Insulana*, Ponta >> Delgada, Instituto Cultural de Ponta >> Delgada: 1993. >> >> [12] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref12>Author >> of *The Conquest of Mexico*, *The World of the Aztecs*, *The World of >> the Incas*, *History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the >> Catholic*, *The Conquest of Peru*, *The Rise and decline of the Spanish >> Empire*. >> [13] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref13>These >> are the children which this author has been able to document. >> [14] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref14> >> José Manuel Bela Morais, et al, *Ivens Ferraz: Origens e sua >> Descendência*, Lisbon: 1999. >> [15] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref15>Francisco >> de Simas Alves de Azevedo, in *Centenário: Hermengildo Capelo e Roberto >> Ivens, Conferências e Comunicações. *Comissão das Comemorações do >> Primeiro Centenário da Travessa da África por Hermengildo Capelo e Roberto >> Ivens, Academia Portuguesa da História. Lisbon: 19-6-1985. >> Carlos Maria Machado, *Genealogias**, *MS, Biblioteca e Arquivo Regional >> de Ponta Delgada, n.d. >> >> [16] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref16>John >> White Webster, *A description of the island of St. Michael, comprising >> an account of its geological structure. *Boston: 1821. >> [17] >> <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref17>Helen >> Thomson, *Murder at Harvard*, Boston, Houghton Miffin: 1971. >> Robert Sullivan, *The Disappearance of Dr. Parkman*, Little, Brown, >> Boston: 1971. >> [18] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref18> >> He was the son of the second consul, Charles William Dabney and grandson of >> the first consul, John Bass >> Dabney. (see Joseph C. Abdo, "The Dabney Family of Faial" and >> Francis Millet Rogers, “Boston >> Brahmins in the Azores”) >> [19] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref19> >> Bela Morais, “Descendants of Thomas Hickling”. >> [20] <https://mg.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=8hm7pjej0es4g#_ftnref20> >> *Ibid.* >> >> >> On Friday, April 28, 2017 9:18 AM, Margaret Vicente < >> margaretvice...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> >> Hello, >> >> Does anyone in the list have a complete list (including deceased >> children) of the well known - Thomas Hickling and of his 2nd wife Sarah >> Faldes? who lived and died in Ponta Delgada, island of S. Miguel? >> >> Mr. Hickling was from Boston, USA. His 2nd wife was from Philadelphia. >> Because they were not Catholics their marriage is not in the Church >> records. Hoping some savvy research may be able to help. >> >> I'm also looking for a correct timeline of when his first wife died in >> Boston. Trying to reconcile the the two marriages. >> >> Thank you. >> >> -- >> Margaret M Vicente >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Azores Genealogy" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores. >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Azores Genealogy" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores. >> > > > > -- > Margaret M Vicente > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Azores Genealogy" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores.
