{{Short description|17th century New England settler}} '''Francis Chickering''' was an early settler of Dedham, Massachusetts who served in the Great and General Court of Massachusetts<ref name=Whittemore/> and on that town's Board of Selectmen for 15 years.{{sfn|Worthington|1827|p=79-81}}<ref name=lockridge/> He was also a teacher in the first public school in America, today well known as the Dedham Public Schools.{{sfn|Smith|1936|pp=120-121}}
He arrived in Dedham in 1637 from Suffolk, England with his wife, Ann, and admitted as a freeman in 1640.<ref name=Whittemore/>{{efn|Neiswander places his arrival in 1638.{{sfn|Neiswander|2024|p=48}}}} Together they had Elizabeth in 1638, Bethia in 1640, and Mercy in 1648.<ref name=Whittemore/> He was possibly the brother of Henry Chickering, with whom he served in the General Court.<ref name=Whittemore/> He was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.<ref name=Whittemore/>
Chickering was a part owner of a mill on Mother Brook, the first man made canal in America. The Town was displeased with the "insufficient performance" of the mill under Nathaniel Whiting's management{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=53}}<ref name=hub/> and so, in 1652, Whiting sold his mill and all his town rights to John Dwight, Chickering, Joshua Fisher, and John Morse for £250.{{sfn|Worthington|1900|p=3}} Whiting purchased it back the following year, however.{{sfn|Worthington|1900|p=3}}
Though the schoolhouse was still standing, in 1661 school was kept in Chickering's home.{{sfn|Smith|1936|pp=120-121}} He signed the Dedham Covenant.
He was an ancestor of Jabez Chickering and Hannah B. Chickering.{{sfn|Neiswander|2024|p=51-55}}
==Notes== {{noteslist}}
==References== <references>
<ref name=hub>{{cite podcast | url =http://www.hubhistory.com/episodes/episode-59-corn-cotton-condos-378-years-mother-brook/ | title= Episode 59: Corn, Cotton, and Condos; 378 Years on the Mother Brook | website= Hub History | host= Sconyers, Jake and Stewart, Nikki | date= December 18, 2017 | access-date= December 26, 2017 }}</ref>
<ref name=lockridge>{{cite book | title = A New England Town | last = Lockridge | first = Kenneth | year = 1985 | publisher = W.W. Norton & Company | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-393-95459-3 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/newenglandtown00lock/page/43 | page = [https://archive.org/details/newenglandtown00lock/page/43 43] }}</ref>
<ref name=Whittemore>{{cite book|last=Whittemore|first=Henry |title=Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers of America: With a Brief History of Those of the First Generation and References to the Various Local Histories, and Other Sources of Information where Additional Data May be Found|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSrlHHj2AFcC&pg=PA337|access-date=17 November 2019|year=1967|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com|isbn=978-0-8063-0378-9|page=86}}</ref>
</references>
==Works cited== *{{cite book|last=Worthington|first=Erastus |title=The history of Dedham: from the beginning of its settlement, in September 1635, to May 1827|url=https://archive.org/details/historydedhamfr01wortgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/historydedhamfr01wortgoog/page/n37 29]|access-date=November 8, 2019|year=1827|publisher=Dutton and Wentworth}} *{{cite book| title = Dedham, Massachusetts, 1635-1890| first = Robert Brand | last = Hanson| year = 1976| publisher = Dedham Historical Society}} *{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Frank |title=A History of Dedham, Massachusetts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8EMAAAAYAAJ|access-date=21 July 2019|year=1936|publisher=Transcript Press, Incorporated}} * {{cite book| title = Historical sketch of Mother Brook, Dedham, Mass: compiled from various records and papers, showing the diversion of a portion of the Charles River into the Neponset River and the manufactures on the stream, from 1639 to 1900| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zUMlLghlcGoC&q=Historical+sketch+of+Mother+Brook,+Dedham,+Mass| first = Erastus| last = Worthington| year = 1900| publisher =C.G. Wheeler| location = Dedham, MA}} *{{cite book|last=Whittemore|first=Henry |title=Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers of America: With a Brief History of Those of the First Generation and References to the Various Local Histories, and Other Sources of Information where Additional Data May be Found|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSrlHHj2AFcC&pg=PA337|access-date=17 November 2019|year=1967|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com|isbn=978-0-8063-0378-9}} *{{cite book | title = Mother Brook and the Mills of East Dedham | last = Neiswander | first = Judith | publisher = Damianos Publishing | year = 2024 | isbn = 978-1-941573-66-2}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chickering, Francis}} Category:Dedham, Massachusetts select board members Category:Educators from Dedham, Massachusetts Category:Businesspeople from Dedham, Massachusetts Category:Members of the colonial Massachusetts General Court from Dedham Category:Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts Category:English emigrants to pre-Confederation Canada Category:Signatories of the Dedham Covenant