Francis Chickering was an early settler of Dedham, Massachusetts who served in the Great and General Court of Massachusetts[1] and on that town's Board of Selectmen for 15 years.
[4] He arrived in Dedham in 1637 from Suffolk, England with his wife, Ann, and admitted as a freeman in 1640.
[1] He was possibly the brother of Henry Chickering, with whom he served in the General Court.
[1] Chickering was a part owner of a mill on Mother Brook, the first man made canal in America.
The Town was displeased with the "insufficient performance" of the mill under Nathaniel Whiting's management[6][7] and so, in 1652, Whiting sold his mill and all his town rights to John Dwight, Chickering, Joshua Fisher, and John Morse for £250.