Richard Sikes & Phoebe ?

Wife: Phebe/Phoebe ___ Shown as Phebe Greene in several places, but in Richard Sikes and His Descendants, the First Seven Generations, Arthur Sikes explains why that is incorrect and offers two other possibilities, Phoebe Pierce and Phebe/Phoebe Cooley.

Richard's Birthdate ?
We only have proof that Richard was born before May 1619, because you had to be 21 to become a Freeman and Richard was made a Freeman in 1640.
In 1641 he moved to the new wilderness settlement of Springfield.
In 1661 he petitioned the Court to release him from further military duty and training by reason of his age and weakness. Since 60 was the usual age for releasing men from service this would put his birth in the early 1600's.

Richard was born sometime prior to 1619 in England. He came to America sometime before 1639 and probably lived in Dorchester. Early records show he spelled his name "Sykes"; Records from Springfield show it spelled "Sikes". He became a freeman in Cambridge, Mass. on 13 May 1640. In 1641 he moved to help William Pynchon establish the town of Springfield in the wilderness, along the "Great (Connecticut) River". (Springfield is now the fourth largest town in New England.)

Richard was elected to the first group of Selectmen in 1644. From 1650 - 1654 he was on the Board of Townsmen. While he held many offices, he also was also a carpenter and a farmer.

Eleanor L. (Cooley) Rue states: "His house was burned by the Indians at the sack of Springfield, 5 October 1675. This difficult period probably contributed to the death of Richard Sikes in March the next year."

Richard's Birthplace ?
There is still no proof of where he came from in England. In Richard Sikes and His Descendants, the First Seven Generations. Arthur Sikes explains that the Sykes family probably originated in Flockton, a village in the West Riding of Yorkshire southwest of Leeds. There are records referring to names like "Sicke" and "Syke" there going back to 1270.

He quotes "Hendrick - Sykes and Allied Families", by M Elizabeth Browning, where it says:

"The line of descent of Richard is probably though James (?-1577), eldest son of William, from Leek, Staffordshire southwest of Sheffield.

According to Diane Scannell's In the Trees site, "Richard was born c. 1618 in Staffordshire, England and immigrated to Massachusetts around 1636."

See Lineage of Calif. Immigrants on main Sikes page.

References:
Sikes/Sykes Families Association Page
Richard Sykes Timeline by Ed. Chase
Sources Page here.
See also: The Richard Sikes entry at LDS's www.familysearch.org. but be aware that the information there is based on old unconfirmed reports. Some things like his place of birth and his wife's name have been shown to be incorrect.
Richard Sikes information at Diane Scannell's "In The Trees" site.

See Also:
Richard Sikes page at RootsWeb's World Connect: Vause Family site

According to Bryan Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, and historian George Redmods in Program 1, "There's Only One Mr. Sykes" of the BBC Radio Special "Surnames, Genes and Genealogy":

"The majority of present-day Sykeses can trace their origins back to a family living in Slaithwaite, just outside Huddersfield, in the fifteenth century, or, Bryan Sykes contends, further back to 1280 when William del Sykes held land nine miles east in Flockton."