Person:Richard Sikes (2)

The first record of Richard Sykes in New England was when he joined the Church in Dorchester, Massachusetts the 4 day 9th month 1639, November 4, 1639. It's not known on what ship he arrived. A relation of religious experience or confessions was a necessary prerequisite to church membership in 1639. This would have taken some time so Richard probably arrived in the Spring of 1639 at the latest. The next record showing him is becoming a Freeman, 13th day 3th month 1640, May 13, 1640 at Cambridge Mass. He is included in the list, in sequence, with several other Dorchester men. He would have to have been 21 to become a Freeman so that makes his birth in England before May 1619.

Phebe Sykes joined the church in Dorchester on the 9 day 4 month 1640, 9 June 1640. This is the first record of Phebe in New England, her surname has not been found. It was reported to be ‘Green’ by Elizabeth (Oviatt) Browning (see References), but from other records this has been proved not true.

There is an active investigation that she might be Phoebe Cooley sister to Benjamin Cooley another early Springfield family. In Benjamin Cooley’s will he mentions "my cousen Sikes land ..." and there is a Phoebe Cooley bp. 10 Nov 1609 and a Benjamin Cooley bp. 25 Feb 1615/6 at Tring, Hertford, England.

Richard & Phebe were probably born before 1619 for a couple of reasons: first Phebe had her last child, James, in 1651. If she was in her early 40's that would put her birth about 1610. Richard also asked for release from Training on 24 Sept 1661 due to age and weakness; if he was in his early 60's that would make his birth about 1600.

[HAYNES1583-2004.GED]

Freeman Springfield, MA 13 May 1640. Name designates a small Well.

1.   First Church (Dorchester, Massachusetts). Records of the First Church at Dorchester in New England, 1636-1734. (Boston, Massachusetts: G. H. Ellis, 1891).
2.   Baldwin, Thomas W. Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Year of 1850. (Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1914-15).
3.   Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   4:96.
4.   Chapter IV of Early Springfield and Longmeadow, Massachusetts with Special Reference to Benjamin Cooley, Pioneer, in Wright, Harry Andrew. Early Springfield and Longmeadow with special reference to Benjamin Cooley, pioneer. (Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Antiquarian Books, 1940).
5.   Browning, M. Elizabeth Oviatt (Mary Elizabeth Oviatt). Hendrick--Sykes, and allied families. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1958).

   With a the contention that Phobe is Phobe Green, which she is not. Location: Springfield Historical Library, Springfield, MA, Case X 929.2 H38+B

6.   Did Benjamin Cooley’s Sister Phebe Marry Richard Sikes of Springfield, Massachusetts, proving both born Tring, Hertford, England, by Eleanor Cooley Rue
   2000.

   Paper in possession of the Sikes/Sykes Families Association

7.   Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995)
   p809-10.

   Green Family

8.   Warren, Thomas B. Springfield Families, 1636-1844: A Complete Transcript of the Births, Marriages and Deaths, Showing the Genealogy of All Springfield Families Between the Above Dates : and Including the Present Cities and Towns of Agawam, Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Hampden, Holyoke, Longmeadow, Ludlow. (T.B. Warren, 1898; 1934-1935).

   Complete list of all early Springfield, MA families.

9.   Sikes/Sykes Papers, by George Dimmock, Life time collection
   abt 1930.

   George Dimmock collected genealogy information on many families including Sikes's. Includes a unpublished Sikes genealogy, about 1,200 sheets. NEHGS Library, Boston, Mass.

10.   Sykes/Sikes Papers, by William Sykes
    abt 1960.

    William Sykes from East Cleveland, OH collected 40 notebooks of data on the Sykes/Sikes family before he died, Vol 32 is missing. NEHGS Library, Boston, MA

11.   Burt, Henry Martyn. The First Century of the History of Springfield: The official records from 1636 to 1736, with an historical review and biographical mention of the founders. (Springfield, MA: H.M. Burt, 1899).
12.   Pynchon, William; Joseph Henry Smith; John Pynchon; and William Nelson Cromwell Foundation (New York). Colonial justice in western Massachusetts, 1639-1702: the Pynchon court record, an original judges' diary of the administration of justice in the Springfield courts in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. (Cambridge [Massachusetts]: Harvard University Press, 1961, c1961).

    Many references to Richard Sikes and his family.

13.   The Sykes Genealogy, Descendants of Richard and Phebe Sykes, by Henry M. Sykes.

    Collected data up to his death in 1911. A handwritten Sykes Genealogy in three parts: Richard (male lines only), Increase, & Victory, Connecticut Historical Society Library, Hartford, CT

14.   Index to Hampshire Records of Birth, Marriages and Deaths, 1638 1696, by William & John Pynchon
    1933.

    Privately kept by William and John Pynchon for towns in and around Springfield, Mass.

15.   Probate Records, Hampshire County, by Susan Canney
    1994.

    Transcription of three Sikes wills from the Hampshire County Probate Court Records, Northampton, MA
    RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project "Canney/Peckham Genealogy"

16. ↑ Ancestral Register of Francis B. HAYNES.