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Dear Relative: This portfolio has been prepared with the view in mind, first, to give members of the family the authentic information as to our name’s origin and family beginning, and secondly, to acquaint as many of the family as possible with the scope and success attained in collecting and preserving the genealogical history of the family over the past seventy-five years. Our family genealogy was compiled and prepared by Stephen Farnum Peckham, a high ranking professor at Brown University, and the University of Maine, and published after his death which occurred in 1918, and then only a limited number of volumes came off the press. The results are that there are no family genealogies for sale now, however, there is much data, along with much unpublished data is available to any one of the family who is interested and will write and ask for it. Naturally, the women of the Peckham family marry and change their names, but they are still members of the clan and hold their status in the family. They, with their families are recorded in our permanent records. Children grow up – marry – raise families of their own, and the name of Peckham goes on forever. As a descendant of John Peckham who settled at Newport, Rhode Island in 1638, and a member of our common family, we shall be pleased if we may help you to a greater knowledge of the early history of our branch of the family. This may be more easily done than you now think, for our records cover many hundreds of individuals, and there are many who at present are “lost, strayed, or misplaced”, and your bit of information may be the means of helping others as well as yourself. This service is free. No charges, fees, nor even an obligation. A postage stamp may bring you the most unexpected and pleasing returns. We urge you to try it. There are perhaps hundreds of the family who may not have seen the Peckham Genealogy, nor the colorful Coat-of-Arms, that was so proudly worn by our Anglo-Saxon ancestors. You may do a good deed, help them and help us if you will pass the word along, and keep in mind that we are always glad to hear, and to serve any of the tribe. Any inquiry, however trivial, will have our most careful attention, and prompt reply. Fraternally Yours, Wallace S. Peckham
A Study in Ancestry
Wallace S. Peckham
When I was a youngster and was walking behind a team of mules, and what was commonly called a walking plow, or cultivator, I used to wonder about many things. And among them, family names – how they came about – the name – Peckham – its significance – when it came to America. My father had informed me that the name – Peckham – was of English origin. A lot of research was done in recent years on family history and these family traditions must be kept, and must be passed on to our posterity. The Peckham Family Genealogy, which was compiled and edited by Stephen Farnum Peckham and associates about the year 1912, gives us a detailed and comprehensive study as to the historical data on the original Anglo-Saxon people who first proudly carried the name Peckham, and the colorful and picturesque Coat-of-Arms, from almost pre-historic times in England, to the early New England Colonies in America, and the United States of today. From this record we have this information of the past, and which we quote: “In a dim and unremembered past, and of which no record remains, an Anglo-Saxon reared his dwelling on the crest of a hill on the North Downs, in southwest Kent and called it ‘Peac Ham’, for which the English equivalent is ‘Peak House, or House on the Peak’.” “This remote period was before the Norman Conquest and before families and persons had surnames. John, or James, or Reginald were born to him to live in the ‘Peac-House’ and were known as John, or James, or Reginald de Peak-Ham, and after time – de Peckham. But there is no reason to doubt that the family had not been permanently seated and prosperous for several centuries before anything had been recorded of them.” “Hugo de Peckham was Constable of Tunbridge Castle in the reign of John I. His sons, John, and Peter de Peckham went on the 3rd Crusade and came home with Richard Cour de Leon, from the Seige of Acre in 1191. It was there that the brothers won their Coat-of-Arms by their valor and bravery. The families of the brothers have bourne Arms since that date. Peter de Peckham is regarded to be the ancestor of the Denham Peckham branch, while John de Peckham is considered to be the ancestor of the Yaldham Peckham branch. The Denham Peckhams were ardent Catholics, while the Yaldham Peckhams seem to have been reformers, and were mixed up, in one way or another, with all the rebellious fomentation of southwest England. In the early 1550s, according to the Peckham Genealogy, there were two Henry Peckhams. One Henry, being a member of the Denham Peckham branch, and the other a Yaldham Peckham. Both were young men of high social standing and of very honorable prestige. Both had been elected, and were holding high office as Members of Parliament, and each was described as being a “Gentleman of the Household of the Princess Elizabeth”. Both these gentlemen were involved in conspiray, and both were convicted and sentenced to the gallows, at Tyburn. This was in the year 1556. This act was considered to be a sort of Church affair, wherein by one faction it was considered a felon, where by the other, a martyr, and neither sacrificed their friends. Tories in the United Colonies were considered a burning disgrace, but none met death because of this. A John Peckham was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1279 until his death in 1292. He was born in Lewes, England in 1210. His tomb is in Canterbury Cathedral. There are numerous “Memorial Brasses”, and Monuments to the Peckhams at the Churches at Wretham,and at Saleshurst, and the other Church-yards of southwest England. And the old ancestral house of Sir Henry Peckham at Chichester, England has the traditional Ostriches on the gate-posts. At the death of Queen Mary, a new queen, Queen Elizabeth came to the throne of England, and through her influence the name of Henry Peckham, the son of Henry Peckham, who was hung for treason, in 1556, was changed to Edward Peckham. This Henry Peckham, alias Edward Peckham was the great-grandfather of our American ancestor, John Peckham, who settled at Newport, Rhode Island in 1638. Our ancestor, John Peckham, was born on April 8, 1595 on the old Peckham Manor of East Hamptett and was christened in the Parish Church of Boxgrove, Sussex County, England. The next record we have of John Peckham, he was Chaplain to the Earl of Hertford in 1634. According to English tradition and custom in the old Shakespearian days, the title of “Sir” was conferred on the Clergy. However, there is no mention in our history of this title having been conferred on our John Peckham, contrary to our introduction and belief. From all probability he became estranged from his family, and his patron, the Earl of Hertford on matters of religion, went to London, and emigrated to America. Our records in America begin in 1638, although John Peckham may have been in Massachusetts Colony from one to four years. In the history of Rhode Island is found this information: “The first settlement on the Isle of was made at Pocasset, near Portsmouth in April of 1638 by a group of colonists who had been exiled from the Massachusetts Colony because of their liberal religious sympathies. Rapid growth of the community coupled with political differences led to the establishment of the Town of Newport, one year later. The name of the Island was changed to Isle of Rhodes in 1644”. John Peckham, in all probability, came to Boston, Massachusetts with Sir Henry Vane. They came on the ”Griffin”, a sailing ship which could carry as many as 200 passengers. He, being a Baptist Lellard, with other members of his group, were persecuted, banished, and driven out of the Massachusetts Colony, and by invitation he joined with Roger Williams in the Rhode Island Colony and made a settlement in the area of Newport. Later – in succeeding generations many of them became Quakers. Sir Henry Vane, later became Governor of the Massachusetts Colony. As the identity of this Sir Henry Vane, who was the younger, it will be well here to go back and pick up a little of the historical setting in the family genealogy. This Sir Henry was the son of Sir Henry Vane, the elder, who was Comptroller of the Household of Charles I, and who as a consequence, was the king’s trusted counselor. The name originally was Fane, and the family lived on the old Manor of Peckham, which his great-grandfather had purchased or inherited from the heirs of William Peckham who was Cup-bearer to the Archbishop, Thomas Bourchier. Sir Henry Vane, the younger was born and reared there, which Manor was the Manor of Hadlow in Kent. It was Alice Peckham, daughter of William Peckham who was Cup-bearer to the Archbishop, Thomas Bourchier, who married Sir Henry Fane. Which name, Fane, somewhere and sometime during the 16th century, was changed to Vane and made illustrious in English History. John Peckham, without doubt, met and married Mary Clarke in Boston. And sometime after her death, date of which is not known, he married as his second wife, Eleanor, of whom research has settled without a doubt was Eleanor Peckham and was a cousin to her husband. John Peckham, and his sons and grandsons, appear to have been large land-holders in the Rhode Island colony, having received a grant of land about the middle of the Island of Aquidneck, and later acquiring other tracts, at Little Compton, at Westerly, and at Greenwich, all in Rhode Island, and their holdings stretched across Rhode Island from the Connecticut line all the way to New Bedford, Massachusetts. John Peckham was the second son of the family of Henry and Elizabeth (Badger) Peckham, and was born April 8, 1595 on the Manor of East Hamptnett, in the Parish of Boxgrove, Kent County, England. The Coat-of-Arms is a pictorial history of the family, started centuries ago, and before the printed page, when knights emblazened their emblems on armour and shields for identification. Each tells the story of the family with new signs and symbols added as a notable deed was performed by some member of the family before it was passed on to the next generation. All the Coat-of-Arms are still registered in the College of Arms (Heralds College), in London, England. The colors are of prime importance. Each color signifies something different in the family history, just as do the crest and shield, which together make up the Coat-of-Arms. Even the colors speak a language all their own, with gold described as “or/”; silver is “argent”, and green is “vert”, etc. The Peckham Coat-of-Arms is described as: - Ermine, a chief, quarterly, gules, et or/. Crest: an ostrich; proper; passant. Motto: Tentanda Via Est. Ermine – was emblem of purity. Gules – red, for courage. Or/ - symbol for gold, and representing character. Crest: the ostrich: proper – erect; passant – walking stance. We do not know any reason as to why the ostrich was selected as the crest of the Peckham shield of the Coat-of-Arms. There is no reason given – we must only conjecture. It might be – it was a symbol of swiftness and speed – swirtness in getting to the aid of an ally or friend. Records of the family reveal that a large number of Peckhams served in the Revolutionary War. They were for the most part, ardent Patriots, with the exception of one, John Peckham in the 4th generation, who married into the family of a notorious Tory, who was obnoxious to the Peckhams. Complete records of this John Peckham family are lacking, but it is known that one of his sons was in the Patriot army and later applied for a pension. Another son was known to have been the Captain of an English vessel, and supposedly piloted a British ship into port that bombarded a Connecticut city in the War of 1812. He was captured and sentenced to be hung, but through intercession of friends he was allowed to escape. The question has been asked as to just how much pension did these Revolutionary veterans receive? And it is interesting to note that they received from $100.00 to $200.00 a year, depending perhaps on their number of dependents and their length of service. The widow generally received $8.00 per month. In our great family of Peckham there have been a number of noted professional men and women, which includes doctors, lawyers, statesmen, and naturalists. A Lewis Peckham was a well known botanist, and painted in water colors what he saw. He worked with a group of botanists which included George Hunt, Stephen Olney, and George Trurber. There were a number of physicians of high rank in the 19th and 20th centuries. In one family there was a physician whose father and Grandfather Peckham were physicians, and had a son who was a prominent physician, a daughter who was a leading physician in New York City, another daughter who was a physician, and a third daughter whose paintings had been exhibited in the Paris Salon. In other branches of the family there were also other records. In the early 1900s there were at least five Professors of higher learning who were connected with well-known colleges and universities. The author of our family genealogy, Professor Stephen Farnum Peckham was a Professor of high rank in Brown University at Providence, Rhode Island, and the University of Maine at Orene. And in addition he was author of numerous papers of scientific materials, and was a noted chemist, and considered an authority on bituminous products. Judge Rufus W. Peckham was appointed to the United State Supreme Court by President Grover Cleveland and an Associate Justice, and a descendant of Isaac Peckham, Isaac Peckham Christiancy was appointed to an Associate Supreme Court Judge and later to Chief Justice by President U.S. Grant. John Southwick Peckham, with his brother Merrit J., started a small foundry and manufacturing business in Utica, New York, which grew into an immense stove business over a period of years, and which may still be in operation. The edition of the family genealogy, compiled and authored by Stephen Farnum Peckham is an excellent piece of work. To us this volume would seem a masterpiece of art, and must be rated high among books of this class. His efforts of research and accomplishments to this end are greatly appreciated by the descendants of John Peckham, and this volume will stand as a monument to the memory of Stephen Farnum Peckham, and to the men and women who helped to make it. It has truly been a long procession of this “semblance of a race”, which has emerged from a long and unremembered past. From Hugo de Peckham, and John the Archbishop of Canterbury, down through the years to Judge Rufus W. Peckham who interpreted the laws of this great nation, and on down through the years until the identity of this great race is lost, and scattered to the four winds as it were, to every great city and state and country. Would that this feature might be impressed on the minds and hearts of the generations now, and to follow us, and may not be lost in the obscurity of “which Peckham are you?”. The reality of human life is a legacy of the past and future. We must keep our family tradition. The age of Heraldry is past, but the continued stimulus to the ancestors who bore them (Arms) should remain with us, and imbue us with a desire and ambition to keep our family traditions. – But the age of chivalry has not departed, and in the march of time and progress let us uphold our legacies of the centuries past, and may we let the motto which has thrilled the lives of our ancestors past, sink deeply into our hearts. Sir Edmund Burke once profoundly remarked, that a man who is not proud of his ancestry will never leave after him anything for which his family will be proud of him. We are proud of our ancestry, and of our heritage and it is up to us to keep our family traditions that have been kept so long for us, and we will hand them down to our posterity so that our legacies, and theirs, will not be lost in the rapid flight of time. Tentanda Via Est Wallace S. Peckham
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