John Rickard, Jr.

Do not confuse with Deacon John Rickard who married Mary Rickard

John Rickard Jr.

• AKA Ricard
• Born 24 Nov 1657 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony
• Died 25 Mar 1712 at age 54 in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Province of Massachusetts Bay
• Son of John Rickard Sr. and Hester (Barnes) Rickard
• Husband of Mary (Cooke) Rickard — married about 1678 in Plymouth Colony [uncertain]
• Father of John Rickard, John Rickard, Mercy (Rickard) Cushing, Mary Rickard, Ester Rickard, Elizabeth (Rickard) Doggett and James Rickard

John Rickard Jr. is a part of Massachusetts history.

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Rickard-98
Profile last modified 4 Aug 2021 | Created 29 May 2011

John Rickard, Jr., was a son of John Rickard and Hester (Barnes) Rickard. He was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts on 24 November 1657.[1]

There were other men named John Rickard living in Plymouth at the same time. To help distinguish them, records commonly refer to this man as John Rickard Jr., John Rickard the son of John, or (after his father's death) John Rickard the son of John Rickard deceased.

John married Mary Cooke in about 1678. There has been some uncertainty as to whether Mary Cooke married this John Rickard, the son of John Rickard, or his first cousin John Rickard, the son of Giles Rickard. Both men had wives named Mary. In an article entitled "Which John Rickard married Mary Cooke?" in the August 1983 Mayflower Quarterly,[2] Eugene Stratton presented evidence that Mary Cooke's husband was John the son of John. Stratton based this conclusion on several bits of evidence, including a comparison of signatures. There are three known surviving signatures for these two men. The earliest of these is the signature of John Rickard on a 1701 guardianship document for Josiah Doty. The orphan Josiah Doty was the son of Mary Cooke's sister Elizabeth, a strong indication that the John Rickard who adopted Josiah Doty as the John Rickard who was married to Mary Cooke. The signature on the will of the John Rickard who died in 1712 (i.e., this man) is similar in style to the 1701 signature, and these two signatures are distinctly different from the signature of the other John Rickard on a document he signed in 1714 (after this man's death) as administrator for the estate of his unmarried sister, Mercy Rickard. The similarity of the former two signatures identifies them as belonging to the same man, and guardianship paper identifies that man as the John Rickard who was married to Mary Cooke. Thus, this man is the John Rickard who married Mary Cooke.[2]

Children

John Rickard and Mary Cooke are recorded as the parents of seven children. All but the last two named are listed in Plymouth Vital Records:[3]

1. John Rickard, born 26 February 1679.[4] He apparently died before February 1684.
2. Mercy Rickard, born 3 February 1682. [5]
3. John Rickard, born 3 February 1684. [6]
4. Ester (or Hester) Rickard, born 1 April 1691.
5. James Rickard, born 25 or 26 September 1696.
6. Elizabeth Rickard; not in Vital Records, but named in her father's will.[7]
7. Mary Rickard; not in Vital Records, but named in her father's will.[7] Mary, daughter of Mary Rickard, was baptized in Plymouth in 1688.[8]

Death

John Rickard's will is dated 20 April 1711. The estate was inventoried 20 June 1712. His will provided bequests to his wife Mary, sons John and James, and daughters Mercy [married name not legible], Mary Rickard, Hester Rickard, and Elizabeth Rickard. [7]

John Rickard died on 25 March 1712 and was buried at Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Only part of the gravestone is intact.[9] In 1892, Kingman reported that the the inscription read "Here lyes buried | ye body of | JOHN RICKARD | Aged about 55 years | Decesd March ye | 25th 1712."[10]

References

1. WikiTree contributors, "John Rickard Jr. (1657-1712)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Rickard-98 : accessed 07 December 2024). cites
   1. Plymouth Vital Records, p. 662 (accessed at AmericanAncestors.org): "John the son of John Rickard born the 24th day of Nov 1657."
   2. Stratton, Eugene. "Which John Rickard married Mary Cooke?", Mayflower Quarterly, v. 49, p. 122, August 1983.
   3. "Vital Records of Plymouth," transcribed at Descendants of Stephen Hopkins - Mary Cooke
   4. Plymouth Vital Records, Page 670. "John Rickard, son of John Rickard Jr. was born on the 26th day of February 1679."
   5. Plymouth Vital Records, Page 671. "Mercye, the daughter of John Ricard, the son of John Rickard deceased was born the 12th of Feb 1682."
   6. Plymouth Vital Records, Page 671. "John Rickard, the son of John Rickard deceased, was born the 12th of Feb 1684."
   7. Will and probate papers of John Rickard, in Plymouth County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1686-1881, from New England Historic Genealogical Society
   8. Plymouth, MA: First Church Records, 1620-1859 from the Plymouth Church Records 1620-1859. CD-ROM. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society; Colonial Society of Massachusetts, c2003. (Online database. NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) page 332.
   9. Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 14 September 2020), memorial page for John Rickard (24 Nov 1657–25 Mar 1712), Find A Grave: Memorial #84440695, citing Burial Hill, Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by CWSam (contributor 46803167) Gravestone picture
   10. Kingman, p. 9
   11. Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2010). Vital Records of Plymouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, compiled by Lee D. van Antwerp, edited by Ruth Wilder Sherman; Picton Press, Camden, Maine; 1993.
   12. Kingman, Bradford. url=https://archive.org/stream/epitaphsfromburi00king. Epitaphs from Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, from 1657 to 1892. Brookline, Mass.: New England Illustrated Historical Publishing Company, 1892. [ Internet Archive]
   13. Harlow, Florence. Rebecca, Wife of Reverend Isaac Cushman, The American Genealogist (1950) Vol. 26, Page 146.
   14. Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Dec 7 2024, 3:30:47 UTC
2. Kinship found in Mayflower through Five Generations vol. 12 p. 86 The kinship and evidence for the relationships in this family can be found in sketch 20 of MF 12:86 as follows: ...
3. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LYFM-PFJ
4. https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:John_Rickard_%2815%29
   1. Plymouth Colony Vital Records", in Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants. Mayflower Descendant: An Illustrated Quarterly Magazine of Pilgrim Genealogy, History and Biography 17:72. John the son of John Rickard Born the twentyfourth Day of November 1657.
   2. Kingman, Bradford. Epitaphs from Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, from 1657 to 1892: with biographical and historical notes. (Brookline, Massachusetts: New England Illustrated Historical Pub., 1892, c1892) 9. Here lyes buried / ye body of / JOHN RICKARD / Aged about 55 years / Deces'd March ye / 25th 1712.

[Birth about 1657.]

1. #Stratton, Eugene A. "Which John Rickard Married Mary Cooke?", in General Society of Mayflower Descendants (Plymouth, Massachusetts). Mayflower quarterly. (Boston, Massachusetts, United States: General Society of Mayflower Descendants) 46:122. Based on comparison of signatures this is the John Rickard who married Mary Cooke. Will of John Rickard, s/o John, will [Plymouth Probate #16907] dated 20 Apr 1711, proved 20 Jun 1712, mentions wife Mary, sons John (oldest) and James; daughters Mary Rickard, Hester Rickard, Elizabeth Rickard and Mercy Cushing. [Author's comment: Other son John d. young.]