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Freeman Nickerson

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Freeman Nickerson
Military career
War of 1812
AllegianceUnited States
UnitVermont infantry
Personal details
Born(1779-02-05)February 5, 1779
South Dennis, Massachusetts
DiedJanuary 22, 1847(1847-01-22) (aged 67)
Along the banks of the Chariton River in Iowa
Baptism DateApril 1833
Known ForEarly Mormon missionary
MonumentsMarker in Chariton Cemetery

Freeman Nickerson (February 5, 1779 – January 22, 1847)[1] was an early missionary in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and a member of Zion's Camp.

Life

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Nickerson was born in South Dennis, Barnstable County, Massachusetts. He moved to Vermont in 1800 and shortly after that married Huldah Chapman. During the War of 1812 he served as a lieutenant in the Vermont infantry. After the war, Nickerson moved to Springville, Pennsylvania.

In 1824, Nickerson moved to what was then part of Perrysburgh, New York (in what is now the village of South Dayton). He later worked on the construction of the Erie Canal.

Nickerson was baptized a member of the Latter Day Saint church in April 1833 by Zerubbabel Snow. That fall, he served a mission in western New York and Upper Canada with Joseph Smith, Jr. and Sidney Rigdon. On 12 October 1833, Smith received a revelation at Nickerson's home in Perrysburgh, New York.[2] Smith, Rigdon, and Nickerson travelled to Mount Pleasant, upper Canada, to the home of Nickerson's son.[3]

In 1834, Nickerson was a member of Zion's Camp. In 1835, he served as branch president in Perrysburgh, New York. In the winter of 1835–1836, Nickerson served as a missionary on Cape Cod. In 1839 he and his family moved west: they spent the winter in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he baptized about 40 people and established the first branch of the church in that city. In 1840 he settled in Nauvoo, Illinois. In 1841, he served a mission to Peoria, Illinois. In 1842 he served a mission in Boston. One of his converts, Abijah Tewkesbury, offered his shipping office located at 82 Commercial St to be used as the meeting place of the first branch of Mormons in Boston, which had about 30 members.[4]

Nickerson died in 1847 along the banks of the Chariton River in Iowa as the Latter-day Saints were moving west. He was the first known non-native to die in Chariton, Iowa.[5]

Personal life

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Nickerson married Huldah Chapman (19 August 1780–22 March 1860) on 9 January 1800 in Cavendish, Vermont. They had nine children.

Nickerson was additionally married to Huldah Howes (16 August 1786–8 November 1846) in August 1845; and Eliza Becket Kent (died 28 December 1846) in 1846.[6]

References

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  • Rasmussen, Maxine, ed. (2008). A Ripple in the Pond: the Life Story of Freeman Nickerson and Huldah Chapman. M. Rasmussen.[7]
  • "The Story of the Church — Missions to Canada and the East". centerplace.org. Retrieved 6 September 2021.

Notes

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  1. ^ "Freeman Nickerson – Biography". www.josephsmithpapers.org. The Joseph Smith Papers. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  2. ^ Doctrine and Covenants section 100 (LDS Church edition). The revelation is section 97 in the Community of Christ edition. A manuscript copy in the handwriting of Sidney Rigdon is housed at Brigham Young University.
  3. ^ "Toronto East Mission, 1829–1837". mission.recordaudio.net. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
  4. ^ May, Dean (November 1973). "Boston's Mormon Landmark: Abijah Tewkesbury's Office". Ensign. 3 (11). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  5. ^ "A Brief History of Chariton". www.chariton.org. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Freeman Nickerson (1778?–1847)". saintswithouthalos.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012.
  7. ^ "Who was Freeman Nickerson?". freemannickerson.org. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
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