Leicester "Lester" WICKHAM ²

  General Notes:

Lester and his wife were both Wickhams but whether/how they were related is unknown. Some information on this family was provided by Raymond Wickham, Bev Kubicek & Buelah Stock.

OHIO MARRIAGE INDEX: 1789 -1850:
Lester Wickham & "Dianne" Wickham married July 10, 1831 in Muskingum Co, OH.

IGI: Lester Wickham & "Dienna" Wickham married Nov. 10, 1831 in Muskingum Co, OH.

OH TAX RECORDS, 1800-1850:
Name: Lecester Wickham
Residence: Newport Township, Washington, Ohio
Taxation Type: Personal
Year: 1840
Digital Folder Number: 4022409
Image Number: 00616
Film Number: 945366

OH TAX RECORDS, 1800-1850:
Name: Lester Wickham
Residence: Newport Township, Washington, Ohio
Taxation Type: Personal
Year: 1842
Page Number: 10
Digital Folder Number: 4022407
Image Number: 00257
Film Number: 945368

Lester Wickham and Nathan Ball came to Butler Co., IA together in 1848 and lived together in the same house. Lester was the first of 3 brothers to come to Dumont area.

1850 IA CENSUS, Linn Co:
"Leicester" Wickham, 42, farmer, $820, b. NY;
Diana, 41, b. NY;
Irving, 15, b. OH;
Elizabeth, 12, b. OH.
(Listed next to them on the census were Nathaniel and Hester Ball, and children.)
Note: There was no township listed, which meant that the Wickhams were living in the unorganized territory of northeast Iowa. Butler County was not formed until Oct 2, 1854.

NOBLE CO, OH LAND RECORDS: in 1852 Lester Wickham sold 80 acres of land to John Still for $80. Records show Lester was living in "Co of Sedar" (probably Cedar Co.) in the state of IA at the time of the sale.

ESTATE OF BENJAMIN WICKHAM: "Lester Wickham" signed his name May 10, 1853 as he received $75 from his father's estate.

1854 IA STATE CENSUS, Linn Co, Franklin Twp:
Lester Wickham -
3 males
3 females
1 voter
0 militia
(Listed next to Nathaniel Ball & Abisha Wickham.)

LAND RECORDS: Lester Wickham bought 40 acres of Butler Co, IA land June 23, 1855 from the US Government for $1.25 per acre and bought 40 more acres on July 28, 1856.
(Note: This land is in what is now Pittsford Twp.)

U.S., GENERAL LAND OFFICE RECORDS, 1776-2015:
Name: Lester Wickham
Issue Date: 1 Oct 1855
Place: Butler, Iowa, USA
Land Office: Fort Des Moines
Meridian: 5th PM
Township: 92-N
Range: 18-W
Section: 32
Accession Number: IA0850__.243
Document Number: 16218

INFO FROM ROGER GREENOUGH: The nearest land office was located in Des Moines which was considered too far to go to by many of the settlers. Technically Lester Wickham and Nathaniel Ball were squatters until Lester bought this land in 1855 and 1856.

INFORMATION FROM THOMAS DANIEL WICKHAM (grandson of Abisha Wickham): When Lester bought his first land, he hired a man to break (plow) the land, using oxen. Then he planted it in rye, harvested the grain and hauled it to a mill near present day Cedar Falls. He sold the grain for enough to get his money back the first year.

1856 IA STATE CENSUS, Butler Co, West Point Twp:
Lester Wickham, 48, married, in IA 8 yrs, b. NY, farmer;
"Dina", 47, married, in IA 8 yrs, b. NY;
"Ervin", 22, in IA 8 yrs, b. OH, laborer.
5 acres of corn; 100 bushels of corn; 1/2 acre of potatoes; 75 bushels of potatoes.
(Lester's brothers, Benjamin and Abisha Wickham, were listed on the same census page, living separately.)

1860 IA CENSUS, Butler Co, Pittsford Twp., P.O.: Franklin Ridge, Franklin Co:
Abisha Wickham, 39, farmer, $200 real estate, $400 personal property, b. OH;
Margaret, 29, b. OH;
Lester, 3, b. IA;
Thomas, 9/12, b. IA:
Lester Wickham, 52, farmer, $400 real estate, $170 personal property.
(Listed next to them on the census were Nathaniel & Esther Ball.)

1870 IA CENSUS, Butler Co, Pittsford Twp, Butler Center:
Abisha Wickham, 49, farmer, $1000 real estate, $200 personal property, b. OH;
Margaret, 39, b. OH;
Thomas B., 10, b. IA;
Mary, 2, b. IA, Ann Sweeney, 6, b. WI;
Margaret Sweeney, 4, b. WI;
Lester Wickham, 62, farm laborer, $600 real estate, b. NY.

1880 IA CENSUS, Butler Co, Pittsford Twp.:
Abisha Wickham, 59, wd, farming, b. OH, parents b. OH;
brother Lester Wickham, 72, single, farming, b. NY, parents b. NY;
son T. B., 20 single, farming, b. IA, parents b. OH;
boarder T. J. Matheny, 50 single, mason, b. OH, father b. OH, mother b. US.

1885 IA STATE CENSUS, Butler Co, Pittsford Twp:
"Abisaha" Wickham, Section 32 SW of NW 1/4, 49, wd, farmer, b. OH;
"Luster" Wickham, 77, wd., farmer, b. NY;
Thomas B. Wickham, 25, married, farmer, b. IA;
Hallie Wickham, 18, married, b. IL;
Thomas A., 3, b. IA;
Irvin C., 1, b. IA.

HISTORY OF BUTLER CO, IA, published 1883: The Wickham's, Lester and Abisha, together with their wives and children, came, perhaps, in 1855. Lester and his wife and two children - a daughter named Hetty and a son named Irwin. Hetty married Nathan Ball before coming here, and they accompanied the Wickhams. Abisha and his wife raised one son, Thomas, who is now married and a respectable citizen. Irwin, Lester's son, died in early manhood. The wives of both Lester and Abisha are dead, and both men are now widowers and stay with Thomas. The Wickhams are good, honest, civil citizens. They located south of the South Fork, and were almost isolated for some time, not having any near neighbors; but of late years quite a number of Germans and others have improved farms near by, and now there is quite a settlement.

DUMONT CEMETERY RECORDS, Butler Co, IA: Lester Wickham Dec 8, 1807 - Feb 9, 1891 Section B, Row 3

Leicester married Diana WICKHAM, daughter of Sir William Johnson WICKHAM and possibly Sarah (---), on 10 Jul 1831 in Muskingum Co, OH.¹ (Diana WICKHAM was born on 12 Feb 1809 in NY,^{3 4} died on 18 Apr 1858 in Dumont, Butler Co, IA ⁵ and was buried in Dumont Cem, Dumont, Butler Co, IA ³.)