|
|
Some time prior to 1680, John Pidcock established a trading post on the western shore of the Delaware, on a 505 acre tract of land called by the Lenape Indians Win-Na-Haw-Caw-Chunk. The trading post appears on a 1680 map and William Penn acknowledged and honored Pidcock's prior claim to this land, part of Pennsylvania, granted to Penn by King Charles II in 1681.
Sunlight outlines the oldest portion of the house, a one room cabin with hearth dating to 1702. Architectural evidence indicates the cabin was originally log or clapboard.
Y-chromosome DNA research establishes that many modern Pidcocks and Pitcocks descend from ancestors who lived in Bakewell and Matlock, in central Derbyshire between Manchester and Sheffield near the center of England since the 16th century. Early indications are that descendants of William Pidcock who settled in Burlington, NJ in the 17th century, are among them. We are seeking other descendants of Baker Pidcock to confirm this finding. We have also found that, John Pidcock, the trader who built this original cabin is not biologically, paternally related to them. Testing of male descendants of 4 of his 5 sons who have left uninterrupted male lines indicates they are clearly related to each other, but to no one else so far.
|
