Sackett
One-Name Study

Topics

• About the Sackett One-Name Study
• Variants
• Origin of the surname
• Historical occurrences
• Distribution of the name
• Data
• DNA project
• Links
• Contact Details

About the Sackett One-Name Study

The objectives of the Sackett One-Name Study are to research, record, and share historical and genealogical data on Sackett descendants worldwide. To further this work, researchers have formed The Sackett Family Association which is open to anyone with a declared interest in the Sackett family history and a willingness to share research findings with other members. There are no fees for membership. The Association maintains a genealogical database (currently 36,000+ individuals), arranges biennial reunions, and is engaged in a DNA study.

Variants

Early variants were Sakt and Saket. Later records are of Sacket, Sackett, Sackette. The only extant forms are Sacket and Sackett, with Sackett predominating.

Origin of the surname

The Sackett family originated in England in the Isle of Thanet, Kent, probably at Sackett's Hill in the parish of St Peter's. The earliest record is that of William Saket of Southborough, St Peter in Thanet who, in 1317, was in a legal dispute with the Abbot of St Augustine.

The Sacketts were among the first colonists of America, with Simon Sackett arriving at the Massachusetts Bay Colony just a few months after the Winthrop Fleet of 1630, and John Sackett, possibly a nephew of Simon, arriving in New Haven sometime before 1641.

Historical occurrences

The Sackett Family Association website includes genealogical sketches of a number of notable Sacketts, among them: Nathaniel Sackett (1737–1805) who was George Washington's spymaster during the American Revolutionary War; Augustus Sacket (1769–1827) who founded the village of Sackets Harbor on Lake Ontario; General Delos Bennet Sacket (1822–1885) who, after gallant Civil War service, became Inspector General of the United States Army; and Frederic Moseley Sackett (1868-1941), US Ambassador to Germany during the collapse of the Weimar Republic and Hitler's rise to power.

Distribution of the name

Although the name originated in England, there are now many more Sacketts in the United States. The great majority of these are in the line of Simon Sackett the colonist (1595–1635). Sacketts in the UK number just under 500, giving a frequency of 9 per million, and a surname ranking of 11,423. There are about 5,500 Sacketts in the USA, a frequency of 20 per million, and a ranking of 5,759. Australia has about 70 residents with the name, which is ranked 19,192, with a frequency of 4 per million.

Data

As well as extensive compiled genealogies, the Association's website has databases of Sackett records from Bibles & Diaries; Births & Baptisms; Books; Census; Church member records; Court & Criminal; Deaths, Burials, & Cemeteries; Directories; Land records; Marriages; Military; Newspapers; Passenger lists; Research papers; Societies & Organizations; and Wills, Administrations, & Inventories.

DNA project

The Association is conducting a DNA project with the primary objective of establishing a genetic link between the lines of Simon Sackett the colonist, 1595-1635, and John Sackett of New Haven, c1623-1684. Further details are available from the DNA Project Administrator (see http://www.sackettfamily.info) or visit http://www.familytreedna.com and search on surname Sackett.

Links

The Sackett Family Association website (Second placed website, Guild Publications Awards 2009; Guild Award of Excellence 2012)

The Sackett Family Association blog

Sackett (surname) on Wikipedia

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Mr Chris Sackett
Sacketts' Harbour,
Doyle Road,
St Peter Port,
Guernsey
GY1 1RG
UNITED KINGDOM
E-mail:

This page last updated 28 April 2012.

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Profiles of other one-name studies registered with the Guild may be found here.