The descendants say that he went to Nantucket about 1680 in the good sloop Rochester; a man of noble and sturdy character; he was no doubt a member of the Friends' Church as so many of his descendants were faithful helpers in that church."
He "lived on land owned by his wife's father. His house was near Maxey's Pond and later on Federal street, near Pearl. He left nine children, of whom eight were sons."
Works by Sinnett and Scales claim that the Richard Pinkham who married Mary Coffin is the son of Richard (2) Pinkham and Elizabeth Leighton. However Martin Hollick clearly states that "published in 1908, Sinnott's genealogy of the Pinkhams has its pluses and minuses. . . Sinnott really must be used with care for the early generations of Pinkhams where he makes big mistakes. . . Richard Pinkham of Nantucket who married Mary Coffin is Richard-2, son of Richard-1. Richard Pinkham who married Elizabeth Leighton is Richard-3, son of John-2. The errors go on and on."
"Yes, go with the Gen. Dictionary of ME and NH. Why? They only used primary sources to research their book. Sinnott did not and he relied on Scales which did not. One need only look at the deeds to realize that the Richard who married Mary Coffin was a son of Richard-1 and that the Richard who married Elizabeth Leighton was the son of John-2."
"First, some common nonsense proves this via dates. Richard and Mary Coffin have nine children: Jonathan born in 1684 and eight others born between 1691 and 1708. All at Nantucket. that would mean that Richard and Mary were likely married about 1683. This works well since Mary's birth date is known (18 Apr 1665). Generally colonial men were 5-10 years older than their wives as a rule. So Richard was likely born bout 1658 give or take a few years. Richard-3 who married Elizabeth Leighton was born about 1675 and married Elizabeth Leighton about 1696 when he gets land from his father-in-law Thomas Leighton and is mentioned in a deed. For your Richard to be his son, the following would have to be true. That Richard who married Mary Coffin born about 1658, had a father born about 1630 who didn't marry until 1696 and had a child that year at age 66. Very very unlikely. And how old does that make Elizabeth Leighton? If she had a child in the 1658-1660 time period, she can't still be having children some 40 years later. Thus, the Richard who went to Nantucket must have been a brother of John-2 and a son of Richard-1 who was likely born about 1613."
"PINKHAM, RICHARD, Nantucket, had Jonathan, b. 12 Nov. 1684; Shubael, 7 June 1691; Nathaniel, 22 Jan. 1693; Deborah, 28 Feb. 1695; Danuel, 8 Dec. 1697; Barnabas, 3 Jan. 1700; Peleg, 5 Feb. 1702; Theophilus, 14 Mar. 1706; and James, 19 Feb. 1708; but the same of w. is not seen in eneal. Reg. VII. 263."
"At three periods in the early history of Nantucket it is possible to decide quite closely who were the inhabitants. . .
2) June 23, 1665, when all the sheep owners were ordered to select ear-marks for purposes of identifying sheep.
List of June 23, 1665. . .
Richard Pinkham"
"January 22, 1719. Will of Richard Pinkham probated. Witnesses Hannah Bunker, Abigail Fitch, Lydia Long. To wife Mary, his estate for life. Daughter Deborah Macy, only child named. Dated April 28, 1718."