Five volumes of The Nickerson Family: The Descendants of William Nickerson (1604-1689) First Settler of Chatham, Massachusetts have been published covering the seven generations that began with William and Anne (Busby) Nickerson.

William Emery Nickerson founded the Nickerson Family Association in 1897 and was assisted in his early genealogical work by Anna Kingsbury and others who corresponded with many, many Nickerson relations between 1897 and Nickerson’s death in 1930. Parts I through IV resulted from the dedicated work of the late Pauline Derick who tapped into resources created by Nickerson and Kingsbury. Pauline’s son Burt carried this work forward after Pauline’s death in 1997. Burt died in 2014.

In 2006, the Nickerson Family Association hired genealogist and historian Laura G. Prescott to manage Part V: Nicholas which had been started by the Dericks but never finished. Under her guidance and with the help of NFA volunteers, Part V: Nicholas was completed in August 2012 and is now available for sale at our website.

In January 2015, genealogist Gail Blankenau began work on Part V: Samuel. This book, based on the descendants of William’s son Samuel, requires an even greater effort than the Nicholas book, as Samuel has many more descendants than Nicholas. If you are a genealogist, amateur or professional, we welcome your assistance. Please contact us either at the “Nick House” at nickersonhouse1@outlook.com or Gail Blankenau, at gblankenau@msn.com. Much of the work can be done via the Internet, or by mail.

The “Genealogy Project” is divided into two sections: The Database Project and the Library Project.

The Database Project involves organizing and ultimately publishing (both in printed and electronic form) the names, dates, events, facts, images, records, and all other pertinent genealogical information formerly or currently in the NFA electronic and physical files, including any additional genealogical and other related information acquired during the project.

Burt Derick established the database by entering 47,000 names from the printed files into a genealogy program. He also compiled a file of additions and corrections relating to the first four volumes as well as the first sixty pages or so of generation eight. The data in the TNG online database now contains the authenticated lineage of over 52,000 Nickersons and their descendants. This database is available to all current members at the NFA website. If you would like access, please contact our database administrator at the “Nick House” at nickersonhouse1@outlook.com for a username and password.

The goal of the Library Project is to physically organize the vast amount of materials currently stored in the Nickerson House as well as materials added to the Nickerson Archives during the course of the project. Most of the Library Project work needs to be done at the Nick House, but anything relating to the Database Project can be done off-Cape and then sent electronically back to headquarters. The following are the broad tasks for which we will need volunteers:

Database Project

  • data entry
  • research (either online or in a particular location)
  • augmenting source citations
  • scanning images and other materials
  • transcribing records

Library Project

  • filing, sorting, organizing records
  • indexing of manuscript binders
  • cataloguing of materials
Genealogy Files

If you wish to volunteer for the database project, send an email to us at the “Nick House” at nickersonhouse1@outlook.com. If you live locally and wish to help with the library project please come to the Nick House any Wednesday between 9 AM & noon.

In addition, we encourage you to send us any and all family information you have pertaining to your Nickerson heritage. We can use data files from your own genealogy program, copies of genealogies your relatives may have compiled, names, dates, places, stories, photos, newspaper clippings, documents – anything is of value to the perpetuation of the Nickerson Family genealogy.

We look forward to meeting many of you at our annual reunion during the weekend after Labor Day each September, and we’re eager to welcome you to the ranks of helpers to ensure that this project runs smoothly and successfully.