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CAPTAIN SIMON SLOCUM (say 1675–after 1725)
ABIGAIL WHEATLEY (1677–1707/8), daughter of Lionel Wheatley and Abigail Matson
Based solely on his name and the plausible date, it is conceivable that Simon Slocum was the son of Nicholas and Jane Slocum, born or baptised on 14 November 1677 in Heanton Puncharden, Devonshire. This Nicholas might be the son of Hugh Slocombe, baptised on 7 March 1645 in Shirwell, Devonshire and also the Nicholas of Heanton Puncharden whose will was proved in the court of the archdeanery of Exeter in 1697. Hugh Slocombe is possibly the Hugh who married Margaret Kempthorpe on 28 January 1631 in Barnstaple, Devonshire.1
Based on his first marriage date, Simon was born say 1675. He was alive in the summer of 1725, when Colonel Westbrook refers to him, but he does not appear thereafter. He was married to Abigail Wheatly on 28 August 1701 by Benjamin Coleman in the Brattle Square church in Boston.2 Simon Slocum of Boston married Elizabeth Casheer of Boston on 6 October 1708 in Boston.3
Abigail Wheatley, the daughter of Lionely Wheatley and Abigail Matson, was born on 9 June 1677.4 She died between 14 January 1707, when her last child was born and 6 October, 1708, when her husband remarried.
In her will of 28 February 1677/8, Amy Chambers mentions, "my grandchild Abigail Wheatly the daughter of my daughter Abigail Wheatly deceased" and leaves money for her upbringing.5
On 5 July 1716 Simon arrived in Boston from Maryland in the Sloop Success, with no passengers.6
Captain Simon Slocum was the master and pilot of the Sloop Sea Flower, a 4-gun, 60-ton transport used in his majesty's service. Militia officer Colonel Thomas Westbrook wrote frequent letters during the Dummers War, a 1722 to 1725 conflict between New England and the Wabanaki confderacy. Simon took part in this conflict and Westbrook's letters frequently refer to Captain Slocum and his sloop.7
In an 8 May 1723 journal entry at Falmouth, Col. Westbrook writes that Capt. Slocum is ashore sick. (44:176) On 16 May he writes that the Slocum sloop came from Bideford. (44:177) In a 30 May 1723 letter from Georgetown he writes that Mr. Slocum had arrived from Casco Bay about noon (44:182) In an 8 September 1724 letter from Falmouth he writes that Capt. Slocum arrived with firearms, blankets, shoes, stockings and other supplies on the 7th. (4:26) In a 16 February 1724/5 letter from Fort Mary he writes that he is despatching Capt. Slocum immediately for "georges". (46:23) In a 22 June 1725 letter from Falmouth he writes that he would have sent Capt. Slocum with the hostages if there had been any wind. (47: 158) In a 28 June 1725 letter from New Castle he writes that Capt. Slocum came into the harbour with two Indians who had news. He wanted to despatch Captain Slocum to Casco Bay as soon as possible. (47:161) In an 8 July 1725 letter from Falmouth he says that he very much wants Capt. Slocum. (47:163) In a 9 July 1725 letter he writes that Capt. Heath has sailed with Capt. Slocum. (47:314–5) In a 25 August 1725 letter he writes that Capt. Slocum arrived from Falmouth, but brought no new. (47:448). A 1 September 1725 entry refers to a copy of a letter from Slocum. (47:449).Children of Captain Simon Slocum and Abigail Wheatley, births recorded in Boston:8
i. Captain Simon Slocum was born on 26 July 1705 in Boston. He died on 12 March 1790 in Templeton, Worcester County, Massachusetts. He married Abigail Metcalf.
ii. Abigail Slocum was born on 14 January 1707. She died on 30 August 1778.9 She married Baruch Pond on 4 December 1728 in Wrentham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts.10 Baruch, the son of Robert (Daniel) and Joanna (Lawrence?) Pond, was born in 1702 in Wrentham.9 Captain Baruch Pond died on 8 March 1765 in Wrentham.11
Abigail Pond was received into full communion in the First Congregational Church in Franklin, Norfolk County, Massachusetts on 17 December 1738; Baruch was received on 26 April 1741.12 On 18 May 1660 the church chose a committee to discourse with Baruch and Abigail about why they had absented themselves from communion.12
In response to a petition by Timothy Metcalf on behalf of Peletiah Man and [the estate of?] Baruch Pond of Wrentham—setting forth that they had billeted several soldiers in the Bay in 1757 and 1759—they were ordered to be paid £10.18.6 on 10 June 1761.13
Baruch Pond made his will on 4 March 1765. He mentioned his beloved wife, but not by name. He divided his property between his wife and children, leaving a negro man called Ceasar to his wife. Simon Slocum, probably Abigail's brother, was a witness. The will was probated on 29 March 1765.14
Children of Captain Simon Slocum and Elizabeth Casheer, births recorded in Boston:8
iii. John Slocum was born on 22 September 1709. He probably died young.
iv. Elizabeth Slocum was born on 4 August 1711. She married William Kindrick on 23 November 1738 in the Trinity Church in Boston.2
v. Mary Slocum was born on 19 May 1714. She was baptised on 30 May in the King's Chapel in Boston.2 She married Unknown Thayer.4
vi. Sarah Slocum was born on 7 October 1716. She was baptised on 21 October 1716 in the King's Chapel in Boston.2 She married Obadiah Odell on 3 May 1737 in Boston.15
vii. George Slocum was born on 11 October 1719.
viii. John Slocum was born on 28 October 1722. He died on 2 October 1817 in Shrewsbury.16 He married Experience Healey4 on 18 December 1747 in Wrentham.11 Experience, the daughter of John and Hannah (Titus) Healey, was born on 18 December 1725 in Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts. 16,17
John moved to Franklin. He was admitted to the church on 10 February 1754 and Experience was admitted on 24 February 1754.12
John lived in Wrentham, but late in life he moved to Shrewsbury, Worcester County, Massachusetts.16
Endnotes:
1. "England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975," database, Ancestry (2014), entries for Simon Slocum and Nicholas Slocombe. "England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973," database, Ancestry (2104), entry for Hugh Slocombe and Margaret Kempthorpe. Edward Alexander Fry, Calenders of Wills and Administrations Relating to the County of Devon and Cornwall (Nendeln/Lichtenstein: Kraus Reprint, 1968), 174, digitized by InternetArchive (https://archive.org/details/calendarsofwills35exet/page/n5/mode/2up).
2. “Boston, MA: Church Records, 1630-1895,” database with images, AmericanAncestors (2008), Brattle Square volume, Simon Slocomb and Abigail Wheetly, p. 139. King's Chapel volume: Mary, p. 5, Sarah, p. 7. Trinity Church volume: William Kindrick and Elisabeth Slocum, p. 167.
3. "Massachusetts, United States, Town and Vital Records, 1620–1988," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2495) > Boston > Births, Marriages and Death, image 7690.
4. John Whipple Hill, Genealogical Notes of the Whipple-Hill families: Together with Fragmentary Records of Other Families (Chicago: Fergus Print. Co., 1897), 70, 86.
5. "Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1630," database with images, AmericanAncestors (2010), 1238–1241.
6. "Port Arrivals and Immigrants to the City of Boston, 1715–1716 and 1762–1769," database with images, Ancestry (n.d., https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/48185) > Passenger and Immigration List, image 14.
7. William Blake Trask, "Lettrs of Col. Thomas Westbrook and Others," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 44 (1890): 275–183; 46 (1892): 22–30, 226–233; 47 (1893): 155–163, 314–323; 48 (1894): 436–441; 49 (1895), 183–191. Description of Simon's sloop: 48:439, 49:1895.
8. "Boston, MA: Births, 1700–1800," digitized book, AmericanAncestors (2006, https://www.americanancestors.org/DB27/i/0/1/0), originally Published as: A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston Containing Boston Births from A.D. 1700 to A.D. 1800 (Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers, 1894). Births of first two as children of Simon and Abigail; birhs to the second five as children Simon and Elizabeth. Simon (p. 37), Abigail (p. 51) John 1 (p. 64), Elizabeth (p. 78), Mary (p. 100), Sarah (p. 117), George (p. 139), John 2 (p. 157).
9. Edward Doubleday Harris, A Genealogical Register of Daniel Pond and His Descendants (Boston: William Parsons Lunt, 1873), 13, 28
10. "Boston, Massachusetts: Marriages 1700–180," database with images, AmericanAncestors (2006), vol. 1, p. 318.
11. Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital Records of Wrentham: To the Year 1850, 2 vols. (Boston: Stanhope Press, 1910), vol. 2, p. 484 (death of Baruch Pond), p. 373 (marriage of John Slocum).
12. "Church Records, 1737–1781," images with transcription, Franklin, Massachusetts First Congressional Church, Congregational Library & Archives (https://www.congregationallibrary.org/nehh/series1/FranklinMAFirst4842).
13. Acts and Resolves of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, vol. 17 (Boston: Wright and Potter, 1910), chapter 21, p. 14.
14. "Suffolk County, MA: Probate File Papers," database with images, AmericanAncestors (2017–2019), case 13692.
15. "Boston, MA: Inhabitants and Estates of the Town of Boston, 1630–1822 (Thwing Collection), database with images, AmericanAncestors (2014), p. 16443.
16. "New Englanders in Nova Scotia," database with images, AmericanAncestors (2010), citing Crowell, Fred E., New Englanders in Nova Scotia, Manuscript R. Stanton Avery Special Collections, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 403–4.
17. James M. Arnold, Vital Records of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, 1642–1896 (Providence: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1897), 632.
Last revised: 09-Dec-2023