Holbrook line: John VIckery-1653-1698

I've found very little information about this ancestor, but because not many of our ancestors had this kind of background, I want to share what I've learned.  Our New England ancestors are fairly well documented (most of them) but when we get to the mid-Atlantic states, finding information seems to be more challenging.  I suspect that if I were able to spend weeks at each of the locations where I know our ancestors lived, more could be uncovered, but that is not likely to happen.  So even though this glass is mostly empty, I'm going to write a little about the small amount of information we do have.

John Vickery was born in England sometime around 1655.  The most likely set of parents I've found for him are John and Mary Vickary.  If their son John is our John, then he was baptized October 26, 1653 at St Decumans church in Watchet, Somerset, England.   Two clues make this idea worth pursuing.  The older John named this son John, and our John named his land in Maryland "Bristol", which is 37 miles from Watchet.  Our John could easily have lived in Bristol, or at least passed through there, on his way to life in America.  

John arrived in Maryland as an indentured servant in 1681 or 1682.  I've not yet found the name of his master, but the odds are that John served an indentureship of 4 to 7 years, and the most likely scenario is that he worked clearing land and planting crops for his master.  He probably married in England, because the dates we have for his children are about 1680-1683.  It's unlikely that his master would have given him permission to marry early in the indentureship.  

When John bought 200 acres of land in 1696 (at least, that's when it was recorded), it was located in Dorchester County, Maryland.  John probably either served his indentureship there or had reason to have visited the area.  This is on the eastern shore of Maryland, across Chesapeake Bay from areas where our Amos and many other families lived.  The main crop was tobacco, which was eventually replaced by mixed farming.  It's likely that John's land was on the Choptank River or one of its tributaries, as a fresh water source would have been needed.  

If I've located the correct records, John was baptized in the Church of England and would have attended Anglican services in Dorchester County.  It may be that attending church services was required as an indentured servant.  There are two Anglican churches in the area.  One is at Church Creek, Old Trinity Church, which bills itself as the oldest church building still operating as a congregation in the United States.  It was established and built in 1674.  Christ Church in Cambridge was founded in 1675 but has burials in its cemetery dating from 1675.   

It is thought, but not proven, that John's wife, the mother of his three known children, was named Margaret.  That is all that is known about her.  The three known children are John, Mary, and Hezekiah.  The Vickery family stayed in Dorchester County for some years, as Marmaduke, Hezekiah's son, was born there in 1715.  I've not found a will for John, who is thought to have died in 1698.  (There is a will for a John Vickery who died in 1711, but his wife was Ann and his only named heir was Robert Stevenson Vickery.  It appears that our John may have had other relatives in the area.)

Clearly, there is much more to be done to research this ancestor.  I'd like to know much more about him.  I'd love to find his will and inventory.  I'd love to know how the area he lived in related to the native American population.  Were there conflicts?  Did the natives get pushed out, succumb to epidemics, or what?  And most of all, why did he come to America?  The search continues.

The line of descent is

John Vickery-possibly Margaret

Hezekiah Vickery-Merci Holland

Marmaduke Vickery-Elizabeth Nation

Jerretta Vickery-Joseph Nation

Elizabeth Nation-Christopher Myers

Phoebe Myers-Adam Brown

Phoebe Brown-Fremont Holbrook

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants