Oscar Endicott
Oscar Endicott
(March 27,1737 – January 22, 1831)Thomas is very important in Endicott migration history because he moved a branch of the family from Kentucky to Indiana, thus creating a col...
Branches & Units
Burials (0)
No burials linked.
Wars
Battles
Awards
Medals
Service
Categories
Categories
Categories
Notes
Show / hide narrative
(March 27,1737 – January 22, 1831)
Thomas is very important in Endicott migration history because he moved a branch of the family from Kentucky to Indiana, thus creating a colony that exists to this day. The fact that his son, Moses, fought in the American Revolution is also well documented.
Documentation exists for Thomas himself contributed to the American cause during the Revolution although the exact nature of his service is unclear.
After the end of the Revolutionary War, efforts were made by the government to reimburse those who provided support to the troops in the course of the war. From the Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History for the State of North Carolina, the following information is recounted in a manuscript entitled, “Revolutionary Army Accounts” (Volume A, Page 249), “The United States of America to the State of North Carolina for sundries furnished the Militia of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina as allowed by the Auditors of the Morgan District as per report No. 44. Number 7848; Number of Voucher: 262. Eleven pounds was paid to Thomas Endicott. Report number 42-45 are not dated. However, Report #41 is dated April 1782 on page 208 and Report #46 is dated June 1783 on page 274.”)
The conclusion is that not only did Thomas Endicott have a son in the Revolutionary War, but he and the family were in support of the Revolutionary cause.
Migration of Endicott family
Thomas Endicott plays an even more pivotal role in the migration of the Endoicott family because it is possible to trace his branch through several generations down the east coast. And from there in 1783 he went through the famed Cumberland Gap with Daniel Boone as a guide and settled first in Kentucky and then in Indiana.
While some Endicotts got into shipping and stayed in Massachusetts, other Endicotts who wished to remain farmers, moved out of Massachusetts. The first record of an Endicott moving out of Massachusetts was Joseph Endicott (1672-1747). He was Governor John Endecott’s grandson, the fifth son of Zerubbabel, and his grandson was Thomas.
We know that Joseph married a Quaker in 1706 and moved to a farm in New Jersey. The first thing that strikes you is the Quaker connection. New Jersey was the first colony founded by Quakers. So, it’s another example of an Endicott moving for religious reasons.
It’s also the second bout between the Endicotts and the Quakers. First, we have Governor John Endecott hanging Quakers. Now we have Joseph marrying a Quaker, which is ironic, to say the least.
It seems likely this move was made in part to secure better farmland. New Jersey was much better than Massachusetts for farming. At any rate, Joseph established a colony of Endicotts in New Jersey that exists to this day.
Moving to Virginia
But Joseph's son, named Joseph, Jr. (1711-1748), married a non-Quaker –– and touched off the third religious bout between the Endicotts and the Quakers. So much so, that Joseph, Sr. practically disinherited Joseph, Jr. for “marrying out of meeting.” This may have had something to do with Joseph Jr.'s son, Thomas (1737-1831) moving from New Jersey to Virginia.
In 1763, according to Teddy Sanford and Gordon Harmon, Thomas went to southwestern Virginia, where he founded Endicott, Virginia, which is 43 miles from Blacksburg.
Thomas Moves Again
In 1775, Thomas moved to Endicott Creek in North Carolina where he initially had a farm of 105 acres. Now why did he move there? Well, first of all, North Carolina had good farmland.
And secondly, it was very religiously tolerant.
By 1785, tax lists show Thomas had increased his land holdings to 350 acres –– more than ten times what Professor Bernard Bailyn, perhaps the most noted of colonial American historians, said was the minimum acreage needed to support a family.
Thomas was doing very well and this comports with Professor Bailyn’s contention that simply “wanting more” was a big reason so many people chose to move.
In 1786 Thomas moved again, this time to Kentucky. So, why move?
Was it the Louis Hacker theory that a lot of early settlers simply wore out the land they were on out of ignorance of how to take care if the soil and when that happened, they simply sold out and moved on? We just don’t know.
Goes with Daniel Boone
Just how Thomas got to Kentucky is really interesting because he went with none other than Daniel Boone. The source for this is the passage below on page 19 of an unpublished manuscript by William Clay Endicott, the great, great, grandson of Thomas Endicott, written around 1935. It is presented below just as William wrote it, inconsistencies in spelling and paragraph indentation, and all:
DANIEL BOONE COMPASS
The compass known as the “Daniel Boone Compass” and its companion piece, a sunglass, are heirlooms in the hands of the Endicott family.
Endicotts came from Surry County, North Carolina to Kentucky in 1786. Their guide being their friend and neighbor, Daniel Boone.
It is possible that among the families making this trip was the Miller family, for the Miller homestead in early pioneer days was the last white settlement on the Kentucky-Indiana frontier.
Boone in his travels often stopped at the Miller home, staying a week or two at a time. A son of the family, Abraham, became quite a favorite of Boone. He was allowed to accompany him on many hunting trips in the vicinity, and Boone taught him the proper way to load a rifle without wasting powder and the use of the compass and sun-glass.
The Miller family had several head of cows, and it was young Millers duty to drive them up at milking time in the evening. One evening the boy was going down the path after the cows. On nearing a large tree he saw something lying on a limb over his path. He was unable to tell whether the object was an Indian or an animal. However without hesitation he raised his rifle and took careful aim and fired. He did not wait to see the results of his shot but ran immediately to the house.
His father had heard the shot and was on the way to meet him. He investigated and found that Abraham had killed a large panther.
The animal was skinned and the hide was stretched on the side of the house. It was in the process of tanning when Boone stopped at the house. When he was told of the foregoing he was so proud of young Abraham that he gave him the compass and sun-glass.
On reaching manhood, Abraham Miller married Elizabeth Endicott and his sister (Jane Miller) married James Endicott, children of Moses.
The compass is now in possession of Claud E. Hensley, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Moses Sr., in his application for a pension for Revolutionary service, stated he was well acquainted with John Miller and Col. Isaac Miller, the former making a deposition in behalf of Moses Sr. In as much as the Endicott homesteads were in the near vicinity of the Miller settlement, it is problematical whether it was the son and daughter of Moses Sr., that married the son and daughter of John Miller.
Thomas’s holdings in Kentucky
In Kentucky in 1789 Thomas bought a farm of 100 acres. Then, in 1792 he bought an additional 192 acres, and in 1798, 50 acres more. And finally in 1809, he was deeded an additional 285 acres. It is unknown whether he sold any of this land during the period. But even if he did, he certainly seems to have accumulated a lot of land. No need to move any more now, it would seem.
Thomas Looks To Move Again
In 1811, Thomas started looking for new land yet again. He traveled to what is today Posey County, Indiana, to scout out land. Somehow what he had already wasn’t good enough. Again, was it because the land he was on wore out? We don’t know.
The War of 1812, in which several of Thomas’s descendants fought, prevented Thomas from moving to Posey County at the time. In 1815, remembering Thomas’s reports about the fertile land in Indiana, some of Thomas’s descendants did move to Posey County.
In 1817, Thomas, now 80 years old, also moved to Posey County, IN. He was described as a “major land owner in Posey County,” but it is not known exactly how much land he owned. He died in 1831 in Posey County, at age 94.
From Posey County, a large colony of Endicotts started in the Midwest and is there to this day. Others moved into Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, Oregon, Colorado, Oklahoma and California.
The Endicott clan that started in Massachusetts is now represented in other states much more than it is in Massachusetts or even New England where they originally came from.
Thomas is very important in Endicott migration history because he moved a branch of the family from Kentucky to Indiana, thus creating a colony that exists to this day. The fact that his son, Moses, fought in the American Revolution is also well documented.
Documentation exists for Thomas himself contributed to the American cause during the Revolution although the exact nature of his service is unclear.
After the end of the Revolutionary War, efforts were made by the government to reimburse those who provided support to the troops in the course of the war. From the Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History for the State of North Carolina, the following information is recounted in a manuscript entitled, “Revolutionary Army Accounts” (Volume A, Page 249), “The United States of America to the State of North Carolina for sundries furnished the Militia of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina as allowed by the Auditors of the Morgan District as per report No. 44. Number 7848; Number of Voucher: 262. Eleven pounds was paid to Thomas Endicott. Report number 42-45 are not dated. However, Report #41 is dated April 1782 on page 208 and Report #46 is dated June 1783 on page 274.”)
The conclusion is that not only did Thomas Endicott have a son in the Revolutionary War, but he and the family were in support of the Revolutionary cause.
Migration of Endicott family
Thomas Endicott plays an even more pivotal role in the migration of the Endoicott family because it is possible to trace his branch through several generations down the east coast. And from there in 1783 he went through the famed Cumberland Gap with Daniel Boone as a guide and settled first in Kentucky and then in Indiana.
While some Endicotts got into shipping and stayed in Massachusetts, other Endicotts who wished to remain farmers, moved out of Massachusetts. The first record of an Endicott moving out of Massachusetts was Joseph Endicott (1672-1747). He was Governor John Endecott’s grandson, the fifth son of Zerubbabel, and his grandson was Thomas.
We know that Joseph married a Quaker in 1706 and moved to a farm in New Jersey. The first thing that strikes you is the Quaker connection. New Jersey was the first colony founded by Quakers. So, it’s another example of an Endicott moving for religious reasons.
It’s also the second bout between the Endicotts and the Quakers. First, we have Governor John Endecott hanging Quakers. Now we have Joseph marrying a Quaker, which is ironic, to say the least.
It seems likely this move was made in part to secure better farmland. New Jersey was much better than Massachusetts for farming. At any rate, Joseph established a colony of Endicotts in New Jersey that exists to this day.
Moving to Virginia
But Joseph's son, named Joseph, Jr. (1711-1748), married a non-Quaker –– and touched off the third religious bout between the Endicotts and the Quakers. So much so, that Joseph, Sr. practically disinherited Joseph, Jr. for “marrying out of meeting.” This may have had something to do with Joseph Jr.'s son, Thomas (1737-1831) moving from New Jersey to Virginia.
In 1763, according to Teddy Sanford and Gordon Harmon, Thomas went to southwestern Virginia, where he founded Endicott, Virginia, which is 43 miles from Blacksburg.
Thomas Moves Again
In 1775, Thomas moved to Endicott Creek in North Carolina where he initially had a farm of 105 acres. Now why did he move there? Well, first of all, North Carolina had good farmland.
And secondly, it was very religiously tolerant.
By 1785, tax lists show Thomas had increased his land holdings to 350 acres –– more than ten times what Professor Bernard Bailyn, perhaps the most noted of colonial American historians, said was the minimum acreage needed to support a family.
Thomas was doing very well and this comports with Professor Bailyn’s contention that simply “wanting more” was a big reason so many people chose to move.
In 1786 Thomas moved again, this time to Kentucky. So, why move?
Was it the Louis Hacker theory that a lot of early settlers simply wore out the land they were on out of ignorance of how to take care if the soil and when that happened, they simply sold out and moved on? We just don’t know.
Goes with Daniel Boone
Just how Thomas got to Kentucky is really interesting because he went with none other than Daniel Boone. The source for this is the passage below on page 19 of an unpublished manuscript by William Clay Endicott, the great, great, grandson of Thomas Endicott, written around 1935. It is presented below just as William wrote it, inconsistencies in spelling and paragraph indentation, and all:
DANIEL BOONE COMPASS
The compass known as the “Daniel Boone Compass” and its companion piece, a sunglass, are heirlooms in the hands of the Endicott family.
Endicotts came from Surry County, North Carolina to Kentucky in 1786. Their guide being their friend and neighbor, Daniel Boone.
It is possible that among the families making this trip was the Miller family, for the Miller homestead in early pioneer days was the last white settlement on the Kentucky-Indiana frontier.
Boone in his travels often stopped at the Miller home, staying a week or two at a time. A son of the family, Abraham, became quite a favorite of Boone. He was allowed to accompany him on many hunting trips in the vicinity, and Boone taught him the proper way to load a rifle without wasting powder and the use of the compass and sun-glass.
The Miller family had several head of cows, and it was young Millers duty to drive them up at milking time in the evening. One evening the boy was going down the path after the cows. On nearing a large tree he saw something lying on a limb over his path. He was unable to tell whether the object was an Indian or an animal. However without hesitation he raised his rifle and took careful aim and fired. He did not wait to see the results of his shot but ran immediately to the house.
His father had heard the shot and was on the way to meet him. He investigated and found that Abraham had killed a large panther.
The animal was skinned and the hide was stretched on the side of the house. It was in the process of tanning when Boone stopped at the house. When he was told of the foregoing he was so proud of young Abraham that he gave him the compass and sun-glass.
On reaching manhood, Abraham Miller married Elizabeth Endicott and his sister (Jane Miller) married James Endicott, children of Moses.
The compass is now in possession of Claud E. Hensley, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Moses Sr., in his application for a pension for Revolutionary service, stated he was well acquainted with John Miller and Col. Isaac Miller, the former making a deposition in behalf of Moses Sr. In as much as the Endicott homesteads were in the near vicinity of the Miller settlement, it is problematical whether it was the son and daughter of Moses Sr., that married the son and daughter of John Miller.
Thomas’s holdings in Kentucky
In Kentucky in 1789 Thomas bought a farm of 100 acres. Then, in 1792 he bought an additional 192 acres, and in 1798, 50 acres more. And finally in 1809, he was deeded an additional 285 acres. It is unknown whether he sold any of this land during the period. But even if he did, he certainly seems to have accumulated a lot of land. No need to move any more now, it would seem.
Thomas Looks To Move Again
In 1811, Thomas started looking for new land yet again. He traveled to what is today Posey County, Indiana, to scout out land. Somehow what he had already wasn’t good enough. Again, was it because the land he was on wore out? We don’t know.
The War of 1812, in which several of Thomas’s descendants fought, prevented Thomas from moving to Posey County at the time. In 1815, remembering Thomas’s reports about the fertile land in Indiana, some of Thomas’s descendants did move to Posey County.
In 1817, Thomas, now 80 years old, also moved to Posey County, IN. He was described as a “major land owner in Posey County,” but it is not known exactly how much land he owned. He died in 1831 in Posey County, at age 94.
From Posey County, a large colony of Endicotts started in the Midwest and is there to this day. Others moved into Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, Oregon, Colorado, Oklahoma and California.
The Endicott clan that started in Massachusetts is now represented in other states much more than it is in Massachusetts or even New England where they originally came from.