By Jared L. Olar
September 2019
The English surname Hodgkins is a patronymic name indicating a family with a male-line descent from a man named Roger, which in turn derives from the earlier Germanic name Hrothgeir or Hrodger (from hroth, "famous," and geir, "spear"). The given name "Roger" was popularised in England by the Normans. In the course of time, "Roger" or "Rodger" acquired the nickname form of "Hodger" or "Hodge," and the addition of "-kin" or "-kins" gave the name the meaning of "Hodge the younger," that is, "Hodge's son" -- i.e., the son or descendant of Roger. As for our own Hodgkins ancestors, some genealogists have attached our ancestress Hannah Hodgkins to the Hodgkins family of Ipswich and Glouchester, Massachusetts -- but there is no evidence that she and her parents were related to that Hodgkins family. Unfortunately the knowledge of our Hodgkins family's genealogy is very tentative and conjectural. The following account should be treated with caution, as the parentage of John Somers' wife Hannah Hodgkins is not at all certain.
1. SAMUEL HODGKINS, born 1630 presumably in England, died 1683 probably in New Jersey. Little is known of Samuel, but he apparently was an early colonist in the area of Cape May, New Jersey, where he is said to have been active in the early whaling industry. His wife was named MILLICENT (NN), born 1635 probably in England, died 1692 in New Jersey. Various online family trees report that Samuel and Millicent had a daughter named Hannah, and were also probably the parents of Bridgette Hodgkins (1665-1725) who is known to have married William Fisher (1658-1728) in 1686 in "Philadelphia" (rather, probably in the area of New Jersey that later was named Somerton). Bridgette and William had children named William Fisher Jr. (1688-1734), Mary Fisher (1692-?), Sarah Fisher (1692-1738), Samuel Fisher (1694-1741), Millicent Fisher (1707-1709), and Mary Fisher (1711-1750). Significantly, the names "Samuel," "Millicent," "Hannah," and "Bridget" all appear subsequently in both the family of Hannah and that of her probable sister Bridgette.
The probable children of Samuel and Millicent Hodgkins were:
-- BRIDGETTE HODGKINS, born 1665, died 1725, married William Fisher.
2. HANNAH HODGKINS, born 1666.
2. HANNAH HODGKINS, perhaps daughter of Samuel and Millicent Hodgkins, born 1666, died Dec. 1737 in Great Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. On 2 Jan. 1685 either at Somerton, New Jersey, or at Abington, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Hannah married (as his second wife) the New Jersey colonist JOHN SOMERS, born 30 April 1648 in Worcestershire, England, died 19 Dec. 1723 in Somers Point, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, buried on his home estate at Somers Point, son of John and Elizabeth Somers. John is the patriarch of the Somers family of Cape May County in southern New Jersey. John was a Quaker, that is, a member of the Society of Friends in England. As such, he joined William Penn's colonising venture, and in 1682, aged about 34, he and his unknown first wife and their child embarked for North America aboard the Society. John's first wife, (NN), and their child both fell sick and died on the ocean passage (see John W. Jordan's 1911 Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, page 630). According to Somers family tradition, John brought his own boats, bricks, and furniture from England to New Jersey.
After arriving in America, John settled at first at Upper Dublin in Pennsylvania, but before long he moved to the Cape May Colony and settled in the area of Egg Harbor. There he met his second wife Hannah, by whom he had seven sons and three daughters. Hannah's father was active in the early whaling industry at Cape May, and John himself also hunted seals and whales from his plantation of Somers Point.
Of John Somers' early activites in the Cape May Colony, John F. Hall's The Daily Union History of Atlantic City and County, New Jersey (1900), page 433, says, "The records show that on November 30, 1695, he purchased of Thomas Budd 3,000 acres of land for £240. He was appointed supervisor of roads at the first court held at Portsmouth in Cape May county, March 20, 1693." Those same facts, and several others, are related by John W. Jordan in his 1911 Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, page 630, as follows:
"At the first Court of Cape May county, held March 20, 1693, John Somers was appointed constable for Great Egg Harbour. By deed dated November 30, 1695, Thomas Budd conveyed to John Somers, 3,000 acres of land at Great Egg Harbour, 1500 acres 'on the Sound northeast of Great Egg Harbour,' 800 acres 'between Patonick Creek and Bass River' and 700 acres 'on the Sound side of Great Egg Harbour.' On March 20, 1718, John Somers made a deed of gift to his son James Somers for 350 acres of this purchase, the deed being witnessed by Jeremiah Adams. Richard and Hannah (Somers) Smith had six children: -- Rachel, who married Casparus Smith, Judith, who married Andrew Crawford; Hannah, who married Henry Ludlam; Daniel, of whom presently; James, who married Jemima Russell; and John, who married Eliza Porterfield."
An early account of John Somers and his family, A Short History of the Somers Family: Who First Settled on Somers Point, was prepared and published in the late 1800s by Constantine Somers and Harriet S. Lake. That source has this to say of John Somers:
"He initially came to America in 1688 (sic - 1682) and purchased property in Pennsylvania, then called Somerton. A few years later he moved to 'the Jersey shore' where he bought much property and became the Commissioner of Roads. After the death of his first wife who died and was buried at sea when John first sailed to America, he married Hannah Hodgkins who was also born in Worcester, England. (sic - Hannah's place of birth is unknown) Although he once belonged to the Church of England, when he came to America he became a preacher, as did his wife, with the Society of Friends (Quakers). John Somers built a log house at Somers Point and resided in it until he died in 1723. He and his wife Hannah had seven sons and three daughters: John (died young); Richard; James; Samuel; Job; Isaac, Edward (or Edmund); Bridget; Hannah; and Millicent. His son Richard was the builder of 'Somers Mansion' which is still extant and can be visited by tourists."
As indicated by that source, John Somers founded the settlement at Somers Point, and his home site is now part of the Somers Mansion Historic Site.
John made his will at Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey, on 8 Jan. 1721. An abstract of his will is recorded in the Calendar of Wills 1730-1750, in Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, XXX, 448, as follows:
"1720-21, Jan. 8. Somers, John, of Great Egg Harbor, Gloucester Co., yeoman; will of. Wife, Hannah. Sons -- Richard, executor, and to have the home land, excepting 400 acres on the east side of the same, upon condition that he pays £10 per annum to his mother during her life; James, 350 acres on the north-east side of Mulberry Point, where he now lives; Samuel and Job, equally, 800 acres on the northwest side of Patcons Creek; Isaac, 400 acres at Gilbort's Pond, over to the head of the mill creek; Edmond, 350 acres on the southwest side of his brother James. Sons Samuel, Job, Isaac, and Edmond to pay 10 shillings per annum to their sister, Bridget, after the decease of their mother. What remains to be divided equally among my three daughters. Witnesses -- Peter White, Jonathan Addomas, Thomas Green. Affirmed 14 Jan., 1739."
Hannah survived her husband John by 14 years. She made her will at Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey, on 12 Oct. 1737. An abstract of her will is recorded in the Calendar of Wills 1730-1750, in Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, XXX, 447, as follows:
"1737, Oct. 12. Somers, Hannah, of Great Egg Harbor, Gloucester Co.; will of. Sons -- Richard (to have Bible), James, Samuel, Job, Edmond. Daughter, Millicent Townsend. Grandchildren -- the children of Hannah Ingerson, deceased, and Hannah, daughter of James Somers. (Memorandum. 'Before signing and sealing, the half of the household goods given to the children of Hannah Ingerson, to be equally divided among them, is given only to the three daughters of said Hannah, deceased.') Executor -- son, Richard. Witnesses -- Daniel Ireland, Judith Steelman, Ruth Ireland. Affirmed 24 Feb., 1737-8. Lib. 4, p. 128. 1738, Jan. 7. Inventory, £278; made by Daniel Ireland, John Sculle."
The dates of her will inventory and probate indicate that Hannah had died prior to 7 Jan. 1738. However, a remembrance that was entered into the records of the Society of Friends Philadelphia Meeting by members of the Egg Harbor Township Meeting gives Hannah's date of death as Dec. 1738. Comparing the inventory date with the remembrance's date, no doubt Hannah died in the month of December, but in 1737, not 1738. Hannah's remembrance reads as follows:
"Hannah Somers our worthy friend says the aforesaid monthly meeting:
"Hannah Somers wife of John Somers was exemplary in her life & conversation, and a promoter of piety being left a widow, she built a meeting house chiefly at her own cost, she had a small gift of the ministry, unto which we believe she was faithful. She lived in good unity with friends, and died in the 10th mo. 1738 in the 72nd year of her age."
Regarding the Quaker meeting house that Hannah built, A Short History of the Somers Family at Somers Point, by Harriet S. Lake and Constantine Somers, says, "Hannah built a meeting-house in the hollow below where the Dolphin House now stands, where she, no doubt, preached the Word of Life."
The children of Hannah and John Somers were:
-- MILLICENT SOMERS, born 7 Oct. 1685 in Upper Dublin Township, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania, died 20 Sept. 1762 in Great Egg Harbor Township, Cape May Co., New Jersey, md. Richard Townsend.
-- JOHN SOMERS, born 5 July 1687 in Somers Point, Great Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, died 26 March 1715, no issue.
-- SAMUEL SOMERS, born circa 1688 in Somers Point, Great Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, died 1768 (before 24 May) in Great Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, married Mary Leeds.
-- JOB SOMERS, born circa 1690 in Somers Point, Great Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, died 15 Sept. 1744 in Great Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, married Eunice Creesey.
-- HANNAH SOMERS, born 21 Jan. 1691 in Somers Point, Great Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, died 24 Feb. 1737 in Great Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, married twice.
-- RICHARD SOMERS, born 1 March 1693 in Somers Point, Great Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, died 27 Nov. 1760 in Great Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, md. Judith Letart.
-- ISAAC SOMERS, born circa 1694 in Somers Point, Great Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey.
-- JAMES SOMERS SR., born 15 Jan. 1695 in Somers Point, Great Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey.
-- BRIDGET SOMERS, born circa 1696 in Somers Point, Great Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, died Oct. 1737.
-- EDMOND SOMERS ("Edward"), born circa 1702 in Somers Point, Great Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester Co., New Jersey, died June 1743 in Great Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester Co., New Jersey, md. Mary Steelman.
Hodgkins Genealogy Resources:
Internet Surname Database: Hodgins, a variant form of Hodgkins Wikitree: Hannah Hodgekins Somers, with tentative conjectures on Hannah's parentage and kin. Descendants of Wolphert Gerretse Van Kouwenhoven, including the last four generations of our Somers lineage.