In “The Wineland of Leif the Lucky,” Nickerson relates a composite story of Viking sagas from the original sources. In this work, Nickerson tries to prove that Leif’s predecessor, Biarni, landed lit Cape Cod. The date of composition is unknown, but the idea was clearly fixed in his mind in 1921. As far as sources or notes go, Nickerson starts his account by writing, “It is based on the authorized Greenland and Icelandic versions of the original Sagas as they are still preserved in theGroenlendinga Pattrand the “Saga of Eric the Red” in theFlatey Bookwhich itself...

“First Blood: The Death of the Carpenter of St. Malo” is an account of the earliest authentic record of the killing of a white man by a Cape Cod Native American. Nickerson left no notes on “First Blood,” except for the internal reference toVoyages of Sieur de Champlain. I have added all notes from the primary source and silently corrected all errors. Ihave combined two articles, what was possibly the original effort (which is undated) with the one printed 18 June 1959, in the Cape Codder.

The earliest authentic record of the killing of a white man by...

Nickerson left no notes for “The Fight at Fortuné,” but three sources are apparent: Marc Lescarbot,The History of New France;W. L. Grant, ed.,Voyages of Samuel de Champlain 1604-1618;and William C. Smith,A History of Chatham Massachusetts.I have freely and silently edited this piece. The date of composition is unknown, probably after 1930.

Tucked away under the crazy-bone of the ragged elbow of Cape Cod lies a little, landlocked cove known as Stage Harbor. As we pause near the stage or wharf which gives the Harbor its English name and read the tablet marking the spot...

Nickerson left no notes for this piece except for internal references such as or “the Port Books show” and a second letter to Paul Haney, American Broadcasting Co., written 22 February 1954, about the Thanksgiving Day broadcast where Paul Haney named Tom Jones, the Pirate, as the captain of the Mayflower. In the letter, Nickerson lists eleven arguments that Christopher Jones was the captain, drawing on the High Court of Admiralty Records, the London Port Books, the Somerset House Prerogative Court Records, and the Rotherhithe Parish Register. An excellent argument for his position is in the “Somerset House Prerogative Court...

W.Sears Nickerson, a Mayflower descendent, discussed in his book,Land Ho!—1620: A Seaman’s Story of the Mayflower, Her Construction, Her Navigation and Her First Landfall,the controversial questions as to just what part of Cape Cod the Mayflower first sighted and where she spent her time between that first sighting and her final anchoring in Provincetown Harbor. He warns readers that one must allow for the change in the calendar when studying data on that first landing; to the Pilgrims they first saw land on 9 November 1620; by today’s calendar, it was November 19. Nickerson left no...

Nickerson, who was descended from Governor Bradford’s second wife and her first husband, draws on public records to support family tradition concerning the fate of Bradford’s first wife.

Much Pilgrim lore never recorded in the archives of any society ofMayflowerdescendants was common table talk on Cape Cod. Probably seventy-five percent of the pioneer settlers on the Lower Cape were ofMayflowerextraction, and they not only brought along to their new homes their religion and customs but also much of their unwritten family histories. One of the skeletons in the closet ofMayflowerheritage was the love story...

Nickerson’s only information on his source for disagreement with the placement of the First Encounter follows: “This committee may have had information on which to base its choice of the particular spot which I have never run across in my many years of research into the lives and times of the Lower Cape Cod Indians. However, I have made a careful study of the events leading up to and including the fight as told inBradford’s Historyand other sources by the men who were there and did the fighting. I regret to say I can find no evidence whatever...

Afamily named Sparrow settled in the vicinity of Old Ship Harbor in 1675. Mr. James L. Sparrow, a descendant, in 1863 stated that according to family tradition a vessel dating from the early days of the colony lay buried in the sands of Potanunaquut Harbor and that its name was Sparrow-Hawk. Nickerson left no notes on this article which I have revised from a clipping from the Cape Codder. His primary source is obviously Bradford.

The earliest recorded shipwreck on the Back Side of Cape Cod was that of theSparrow Hawkin the fall of 1626¹ Governor William...

Nickerson left no sourcesfor his Mary Corliss Neff story, but there are numerous options from the storehouse of material on Mary’s companion, Hannah Duston (also spelled Dustin, Dustan, and Dustun). The primary sources for this are Cotton Mather and Samuel Sewall who interviewed Hannah Duston. Of the three times Mather set pen to this account, I recommend Cotton Mather,Magnalia Christi Americana,volume 1, 4th book, 550-52 and Samuel Sewall “Diary,” 1: 452-53.

Among the scholars who have reviewed the primary, secondary, and literary sources on Hannah and her two companions, see Robert D. Arner, “The Story of Hannah Duston:...

Nickerson gave no sources for this undated story about his great grandmother. I have edited and included additional information from the sources that I located in researching the subject. Most of the material on the massacre comes from Everett Stackpole, Lucien Thompson, and Winthrop Meserve,The History of the Town of Durham, New Hampshire (Oyster River Plantation),which draws heavily on Rev. John Pike’s Journal (A. H. Quint, ed.,Journal of the Rev. John Pike of Dover, New Hampshire),and Jeremy Belknap,The History of New Hampshire.

In the days of the French and Indian Wars, the lovely, old, college...

This account is a combination of oral tradition and genealogical research. Nickerson writes, “I have never attempted to prove or disprove its historical accuracy, but I know it persists in other branches of the family besides my own.” I found his source from another branch of the family with his note, “The above was sent me by a descendant of Elizabeth Vickery, & although I believe Elizabeth was the daughter of Rev. Jonathan, instead of granddaughter, the essential facts of the tradition are as I knew them from my branch of the family.” I have silently corrected spelling and punctuation...

This is one of the few articles where I found any notes or sources. Notes clearly indicate that Nickerson used the following sources: Francis Parkman, France and England in North America; Mary Rogers Bangs,Old Cape Cod The Land: The Men The Sea;Charles F. Swift,History of Old Yarmouth;Charles F. Swift,Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, Being a Reprint of the Amos Otis Papers;andHerbert Milton Sylvester, Indian Wars of New England.

“The Indian Rangers” appeared in theCape Codder,26 November 1959.

There is an ancient drinking toast which runs something like this: “Claret for boys,...

This was written about 1925, before Elnathan Eldredge’s house was moved to West Yarmouth. Although I have freely cut this piece and edited the mechanics, I have otherwise left it in Nickerson’s words, believing that part of its charm rests in his first person point of view and in his addressing the reader in the second person, thereby creating a cozy ambience for his exploration of a significant form of colonial architecture, the Cape Cod home.

Uncle Elathun’s house was built just previous to the Revolution while yet Cape Cod was a part, and a very important part, of the...

The Wading-Place Path” was published in a local newspaper, the Cape Codder, on 5 October 1961, but it is clear from Nickerson’s correspondence with Cleon Stanley Crowell (1891-1961) that he had worked on it for decades. Cleon Crowell and his father, Anthony Elmer Crowell (1862-1952), were master decoy makers of East Harwich, Massachusetts. Elmer Crowell painted The Wading Place Bridge in 1890, probably as a wedding present to his wife, Laura. The scene depicts the buggy of Dr. Charles Burtel Worthing crossing the bridge on the end of Pleasant Bay Cove on the Chatham town line. The man waving in...

Nickerson attempts in “Pompmo and the Legend of Paw Waw’s Pond” to fuse legend to historical fact. He fails to acknowledge the legend as it existed in the area, which he surely must have known. A historical marker at the pond (I have seen a picture of it published in 1976) which according to William Quinn, caretaker of historical markers in the town of Orleans, washed out in a storm read as follows: “pau Wah Pond, named for Pau Wah, Chief of the Potonamequoits who drowned herein after Chief Quanset refused marriage to his daughter Wild Dove. Fable says—Cast...

Nickerson was familiar with several versions of the Maushope legend. In his papers I found one sheet with nine legends listed, with only three of them described. Under Maushope’s Smoke, Nickerson notes,

Also a tradition that Nantucket was unknown until agreat bird carried off in his talon little children & the giant Maushope waded out and followed him to the island & found the children’s bones under a tree. Whereupon he sat down to smoke & the smoke was carried across to the mainland[.] The true origin of fog is the sound.

Another legend had it that Nantucket was formed...

Nickerson left about seventy notes for “The Praying Indians of Lower Cape Cod.” I have silently and freely edited this article, adding additional notes. Almost all of Nickerson’s quotations in this article are paraphrases (occasionally with factual errors), making a silent editorial practice necessary to avoid numerous, awkward editorial notes. Since the quality varies significantly from the articles published in theBulletin of the Massachusetts Archeological Society,I assume it is a rough draft. A very brief account, drawn from this article and carrying the title “The ‘Praying Indians,’” appeared on 11 December 1958 in theCape Codder.

The term...

Nickerson had two articles published in a scholarly journal, theBulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society;“The Old Sagamore)” was published in July 1958 and “Micah Raft)” in January 1961. Since Nickerson saw these two articles as completed and since the Bulletin is available to scholars, I have decided to reprint the two pieces as they appeared. Reflecting the period in which the two articles were written, the language is occasionally pejorative to both African Americans and Native Americans. Believing that the two articles should be reprinted as they originally appeared, I have made no changes. All of the other...

See introductory note for “The Old Sagamore” for editorial practice for these two articles. “Micah Rafe” was published in theBulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Societyin January1961.

It is with mingled feelings of reverence and hesitation that I attempt the story of Micah Rafe, the last full blooded Indian on Lower Cape Cod; reverence, because he stands alone at the journey’s end of his people; hesitation, because all we have learned about any Cape Cod Indian is, at best, but fragmentary and incomplete. The Indians kept no written records; and it is only from old deeds, old court...