Thomas Chick of Kittery, Maine, a Griffin Ancestor

Thomas Chick a Griffin ancestor. -------- Albert Bailey Griffin-Abigail Varney / Paul Varney / Moses Varney-Esther Chick / Moses Chick / Thomas Chick / Thomas Chick of Kittery Maine. --------- Thomas Chick is the original Chick ancestor in America. What documentary history that has survived places him in Kittery, Maine. Those histories, quoting the Chick family transcript, write of him, Thomas Chick baptized Ottery St Mary, Devon, England 27 Dec 1641 died after 1683. Son of Richard Chick and Johan or Alice Chick. Found in the Maine vital records is his marriage to Elizabeth Spencer May 12, 1674. -------- The area surrounding Kittery was a destination for investors and immigrant companies in the second wave of colonist to enter America. The area of Portsmouth, Kittery and Berwick share of good deal, of common history. Originally one community as they grew in size they divided into separate entities. Starting in 1630 the area witnessed the arrival of groups organize around the idea of economic opportunity rather than the notions that drew the first sellers to arrive in the New World. Those men and women who founded these new communities are celebrated as community founders and the heads of great American families. The result is that there are the subject of both community histories and family histories. It is from these histories that we inherit our knowledge of Thomas Chick. --------- We do not have a record of when Thomas arrived in America. We do have a reference to his service on a coroner’s jury in 1668. To be so chosen indicates that by 1668 he was an established member of the community. As a later arrival Thomas did not receive the literary attention afforded to many of his Kittery neighbors. What information we have is due to his wife, Elizabeth Spencer. Elizabeth’s father, Thomas Spencer and grandfather, William Chadbourn, are two of the more celebrated of the founding fathers. --------- What information we have relating to Thomas Chick comes to us from three primary sources; 1- Old Kittery and her families by Everett Stackpole. 2- The Maine Spencers. A history and genealogy, with mention of many associated families by William Daniel Spencer. 3-The Chadbourn family in America; A Genealogy by Elaine Chadbourn Bacon. All three to these books can be found in the open library on the Internet. These sources reference a “Chick family transcript”. What is contains and where it is found is an unknown. ---------- Each of those histories contains a slightly different look at the Chick family. Their small errors and inconstancies are a hint of a lack of a detailed family history for the family of Thomas Chick. ----------- In summation they note the marriage of Thomas Chick to Elizabeth Spencer May 12, 1674. Most records note the existence of two sons, Thomas Jr and Richard. There is reference, made to records relating to the Indian wars and compensations paid to its victims. Those records note that the war effected Thomas Chick and his “three” children. The Chadbourn history lists two girls, Margaret, who married John Bruxton and a Mary, who married J (John) Randall. --------- There is a documentary trail for Margaret and her brothers Thomas and Richard. There is no such trail for Mary, which casts some serious doubt on her existence. -------- Based on a surviving family tradition the story of Mary has taken on a life of its own. Any number of historians have added it to a number of variations in the Chick family history. Mary Randall is listed as a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth, and as a daughter their son Thomas Jr. The fact of the matter is that Thomas Chick Jr married a women first name Mary. On his early death she remarried taking John Randall as her second husband. That marriage is found in the Maine vital records. Listed as Mary Randall in the deed records she leaves property to her children Moses, Aaron and Mary Chick. Mary married David Boyce.