Olivia Grace Genealogy

Atkinson Cluster Study

7 min read

*This site is not meant as a final result or proof summary - this is an update page for research progress that will include preliminary results as the proof summary is developed. The biographical information is a working theory and should not be adopted until all science is established and the paper trail has been fully exhausted.

Israel Hilton Buker’s grandfather was Joseph Hilton m. Rebecca Atkinson. The Atkinson Cluster Study explores the relationships from our participating test group. Six testers descend from Israel Hilton Buker as shown below.

When mapping an ancestor sharing a match born in 1636 it is important to know the generation the test shared and the endogamy/pedigree collapse that may have enhanced these groupings. The participating testers fell within 6-7 generations of John Atkinson m. Sarah Merrick.1 The testers descend from 3 branches of Israel Hilton Buker’s children. We also have 1 participating tester descending from Israel Hilton which may not be in range but will be included if possible.

  • RB: Age 90+ IHB (AEB 2x gg), JA (6x gg)
  • JP: Age 90+ IHB (EB 3x gg), JA (7x gg)
  • FW: Age 90+ IHB (EB 3x gg), JA (7x gg)
  • DA: Age 80+ IHB (CHB 2x gg), JA (6x gg) double descendant both parents
  • VB: Age 70+ IHB (AEB 3x gg), JA (7x gg)
  • JAG: Age 70+ IHB (AEB 3xgg), JA (7x gg)
  • JM: Age 60+ IH (AH 6x gg), JA (10x gg)

    • Key:

  • IHB = Israel Hilton Buker b. 1756
  • JA = John Atkinson b. 1636
  • AEB = Alpha Elisha Buker b. 1802 son of IHB
  • EB = Edson Buker b. 1807 son of IHB
  • CHB = Caleb Hilton Buker b. 1797 son of IHB
  • IH = Israel Hilton b. 1717, the father of IHB
  • AH = Atkinson Hilton b. 1740 son of IH

    • Atkinson Grouping:

    SaraJohnAbigailNathanielElizabethJoanna
    IHB:RBA.F. 19cm
    L.C. 25cm
    J.C. 25cm
    F.L.B.16cm
    L.S.W.14cm
    IHB:JP
    IHB:FW
    IHB:DAJ.K.B.13cm
    L.S.W. 9cm
    L.L. 12cm
    IHB:VBL.S.W. 9cm
    IHB:JAGA.C.N. 18cm
    IH:JMnone IDednone IDed

    Sara Atkinson 2

    Sara (A.F.)Sara (L.C.)Sara (J.C.)Sara (L.S.W.)SaraSara
    IHB(AEB):GJP508cm RB508cm RB508cm RB
    IHB(AEB):FAH204cm RB204cm RB204cm RB
    IHB(AEB): DCP112cm RB
    JH(TAH):DFJ27cm RB27cm RB27cm RB
    JH(TAH):KS20cm RB20cm RB
    IHB(AEB):CO360cm RB360cm RB
    IHB(AEB):KBH334cm RB334cm RB
    IHB(AEB):JKM250cm RB
    IHB(AEB):LTS179cm RB
    IHB(AEB):MRM159cm RB159cm RB
    IHB(AEB):CL60cm RB
    IHB(AEB):DY107cm RB
    IHB(AEB):DRH73cm RB
    IHB(AEB):JCB73cm RB56cm RB
    25cm DA
    26cm VB

    Key:

  • IHB = Israel Hilton Buker Descendant
  • JH = Joseph Hilton Descendant
  • AEB = Alpha Elisha Buker (son of IHB)
  • TAH = Theodore Atkinson Hilton (son of JH)

    • *Notes from the Buker - Hilton - Perkins Study: The deep ancestral pairings had some noticeable groupings. The siblings Hannah & Atkinson Hilton, children of Israel Hilton, grouped with the Perkins groupings on the paternal side while Theodore Atkinson, child of Joseph Hilton tended to group within the maternal Atkinson grouping. *

    YDNA Testers Needed
    This study would benefit from YDNA male surname descendants of Nathaniel Atkinson, John Atkinson, & Atkinson groupings that descend from ancestors born near Lancashire, England. YDNA has the ability to group 15 generations in descending order while autosomal has more limitations

    Question/Answer:

  • Question: Is Thomas Atkinson from Concord, Massachusetts the father of John Atkinson b. 1636?
    Answer: There is genetic evidence to support the Stearns publication. This evidence will be available after this study is complete.

    • Ezra Stearns noted that Thomas Atkinson that came from Bury, Lancashire, England to Concord, Massachusetts was the father of John Atkinson. The relationship was disputed for lack of evidence in the Stearns publication.3 We will explore this relationship after this study. In the process of this cluster study evidence to support Stearns publication did emerge.

    Allied Families - Pedigree Collapse - Endogamy
    Results will be posted as they are discovered. In the areas of Providence County, Rhode Island and Rockingham County, New Hampshire in colonial America many of the inhabitants shared the same ancestors. We will note as many as possible here. These occurrence’s can double the cm amounts per event, increase visibility to deeper ancestors, and confuse results

  • Martin Dassance III b. 1789 m. Lydia Tamblin: This family grouping needs tree work discovery. They named a son Theodore Atkinson Dawson (prior the surname was Dassance). Several in this family group are clustering with the Hilton - Atkinson grouping. I'm wondering if online trees have Patience Hilton's descent incorrectly and that the family group either descends from Hannah Hilton, daughter of Israel Hilton or from Theodore Atkinson Hilton. I expect double descent in this grouping. Dassance/Ballou/Hilton are allied families that intermarried. The Martin Dassance III lineage was left out of the study because how they are related is not yet known but they are significant in this family cluster grouping.
  • Abner Dassance b. 1782 m. Patience Ballou: Abner descends from Martin Ballou II b. 1749 m. Patience Hilton. Patience Ballou descends from Hannah Hilton (Israel Hilton's daughter)
  • Daniel Coffin m. Lydia Moulton: Coffin/Atkinson/Perkins/Moulton Daniel Coffin descends from John Atkinson m. Sarah Merrick. Lydia Moulton descends from Abraham Perkins. Both couples descend from shared ancestors of Buker/Hilton/Perkins.
  • Amasa P. Button b. 1875 m. Grace Julia Bowen. (Atkinson/Perkins) Amasa Button descends from Abraham Perkins b. 1608. Grace Bowen descends from John Atkinson m. Sarah Merrick.
  • Emory Arnold Thayer b. 1853 m. Mary Frances Chase. (Atkinson/Ballou) Emory Thayer descends from Maturin Ballou m. Hannah Pike. Mary Frances Chase descends from John Atkinson m. Sarah Merrick.
  • Leavitt/Dudley/Hilton: Moses Leavitt b. 1650 m. Dorothy Dudley. Dorothy descends from Samuel Dudley b. 1608. Joseph Hilton's mother was Anne Dudley descending from Samuel Dudley. Moses Leavitt descends from John Leavitt b. 1608 m. Sarah Gilman. Elizabeth Atkinson b. 1680 m. Thomas Leavitt. Elizabeth is John Atkinson's daughter. Thomas Leavitt descends from a different branch of the Leavitt grouping.
  • Conant/Moulton/Buker: The Buker's descend from Nathaniel Conant b. 1679. m. Elizabeth Haynes. Elizabeth's mother was Sarah Moulton. Sarah descends from William Moulton m. Margaret Sandborn.
  • William Stevens b. 1828 m. Marilla Howland. (Atkinson/Aldrich/Bartlett/Buker) William Stevens descends from John Atkinson m. Sarah Merrick. Wife Marilla Howland descends from John Bartlett m. Sarah Aldrich ancestors of Margaret Bartlett. Margaret might be the mother to Israel HIlton Buker.
  • Alfred Johnson b. 1789 m. Nancy Atkinson. (Atkinson Double Descent) Both parties descend from John Atkinson m. Sarah Merrick. Alfred's great grandparents are Ichabod Atkinson m. Priscilla Bailey which are Nancy Atkinson's grandparents.
  • Richard Stickney m. Elizabeth Little: (Atkinson Double Descent) Both parties descend from John Atkinson m. Sarah Merrick. Richard Stickley's mother was Lydia Atkinson whose parents were John Atkinson m. Judith Worth. John Atkinson's father was John Atkinson m. Sarah Merrick. Elizabeth Little's grandmother was Judith Bailey m. Stephen Little. Judith's grandmother was Sara Atkinson m. Stephen Coffin, Sara Atkinson's parents were John Atkinson m. Sarah Merrick.

    • Footnotes

    1. Holman, Mary Lovering, and Helen Pendleton Winston Pillsbury. Ancestry of Charles Stinson Pillsbury and John Sargent Pillsbury. Vol. 2. Concord, N.H.: Privately printed at the Rumford Press, 1938. Edition of 100 copies. The Atkinson Line, Page 718 : Accessed 28 Oct 2025. ↩

    2. William Sumner Appleton, Gatherings Toward a Genealogy of the Coffin Family (Boston: D. Clapp, 1896), Boston Public Library Collection. Cover title: Coffin Gatherings. Page 4 Open Library : Accessed 28 Oct 2025. ↩

    3. Stearns, Ezra S. Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire (Lewis Publishing Company, 1908) Vol. 2, Page 703 : Accessed 28 Oct 2025 ↩

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