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- The Lineage of My Children, the Keogh, Benjamin,Knapp and Bellinger Families page 29+
Mr. John Benjamin arrived in the ship Lion, at Newtown, Mass., on September 16, 1632. He was accompanied by his wife and children. He purchased six acres of land in Newtown on which he built a house, of which Gov. Winthrop wrote, "Mr. Benjamin's mansion was unsurpassed in elegance and comfort by any in the vicinity. It was the mansion of intelligence, religion and hospitality." There is a tradition that he brought a fine library from England.
He was made a freeman November 16, 1632, and on May 20th, 1633, he was appointed Constable by the General Court of Mass. November 7, 1634, he was excused from military training by the General Court, provided that he at all times should provide arms for himself and his servants.
He removed to Watertown, Mass., about 1637, where his homestead, of sixty acres upon the Charles River, was the largest of any in the settlement. He died at Watertown, June 14, 1645.
In his will are mentioned his wife, John his eldest son and his seven other children. He appointed his brother John Eddy and Thomas Marret, of Cambridge, his executors.
Abigail Eddye, wife of John Benjamin, was born October, 1601. She died at Charlestown, Mass., May 20, 1687.
The children of John Benjamin and Abigail his wife were John, who married Lydia Allen and remained in the vicinity of Boston; Abigail, who married Joshua
Stubbs; Samuel who settled in Hartford and Windsor, Conn.; Mary, who died young, unmarried; Joseph, who married Jemima Lumbert or Lombard, removed from Barnstable and settled in the vicinity of Norwich, Conn., before 1702; Joshua, who married Thankful (???), died May 6, 1684; Caleb, who settled in Wethersfield, Conn. His wife was Dorothy, daughter of Samuel Hale; and Abel, who settled in Windsor, Conn. His wife was Amathea Merrick.
Mr. John Benjamin, Sr., of Watertown, Mass., had a son Joseph, born September 16, 1633, of whom there is no mention in Watertown records. He settled first at Yarmouth and soon after in Barnstable, Mass. He was married to Jemima Lombard or Lumbert June 10, 1661, at Boston, by Deputy Governor Richard Bellingham.
October 30, 1686, Joseph Benjamin of Barnstable sold land in Cambridge, Mass., "bounded on land of Abel Benjamin, my brother, which was devised by will of my honored father, Mr. John Benjamin, sometime of Watertown, deceased."
Jemima Lumbert was the daughter of Thomas Lumbert of Barnstable. A copy of his will has been published in the Mayflower Descendant Vol. XVI, page 124. In this document, made March 23, 1662-3 and exhibited to the Court at Plymouth March 7, 1664, he left bequests to all his family.
To Joseph Benjamin, his son-in-law, he left land. To his daughter Jemima, he confirmed a gift formerly given to her,
"that she may enjoy the same apart from others." He mentioned granddaughter, Abigail Benjamin. It is not known when Joseph Benjamin's wife died, but William Clark, of Yarmouth, who died December 7, 1668, by his nuncupative will, proved February 28, 1668-9, gave his property to Joseph Benjamin, as appears in the N. E. Hist. and Gen. Register, Vol. VII, page 178, and it is believed that the second wife of Joseph Benjamin was Sarah Clarke, his daughter.
The records of the births of the children of Joseph Benjamin in Yarmouth, Mass., are neither complete nor perfect.
We find there the names of Abigail 1664, Joseph 1666, Hannah 1668, Mary 1670, Mercey 1674 and Elizabeth 1679-80 only.
He removed to New London, Conn., shortly before 1704, when he died there. The inventory of his estate names widow Sarah and children: Joseph 30, John 22, Abigail, Jemima, Sarah, Kezia, Mary and Mercy, all above 20; of these Jemima married Stephen Gates at Stow, Mass., November 8, 1686. She probably died at Preston, Conn., before 1732. Hannah married Simon Gates of Stow, Mass., May 4, 1688. Mary was married to John Clark, a schoolmaster, August 16, 1695, by Capt. Gorham. Their son John was born November 16, 1697, the Mayflower Descendant, Vol. XIV, page 225.
Mercy probably married Isaac Gates, of Stow, July 2, 1696, although the Concord,
Mass., Vital Records, page 42, print the name as Mary.
John married Phoebe Laribe, 1705. He died August 2, 1716. His widow married 2nd Peter Randall, September, 1717.
Joseph Benjamin, born Barnstable 1666, married August 25, 1698, Elizabeth Cooke, at Preston, Conn., daughter of Richard Cooke of Stonington and Norwich, Conn. She was baptized at the First Congregational Church of Stonington, Conn., June 30, 1678.
Joseph Benjamin served as a soldier in 1695 under Captain Gorum in the Campaign against the Indians at Pemmaquid. He was so sorely wounded, that for present relief the Court of Mass., in 1700, awarded him a pension. Joseph Benjamin settled with other members of the family at Preston, Conn., where he died June, 1738.
His wife Elizabeth was admitted as a member of the 1st Congregational Church of Preston, Conn., June 4, 1702, and on June 7, 1702 Joseph Benjamin and Obed Benjamin, their sons, were baptized there. His will was filed in the Probate Court of New London, Conn., 1738.
The births and baptisms of the children of Joseph and Elizabeth Cooke Benjamin were all recorded in Preston, Conn.:
1. Joseph, born Aug. 15, 1699; bapt, June 7, 1702.
2. Obed, born Aug. 15, 1701; bapt. June 7, 1702.
3. Elizabeth, born Nov. 11, 1703; bapt. Feb. 13, 1704.
4. Hannah, born (???); bapt. March 3, 1706.
5. Sarah, born Jan. 17, 1707; bapt. April 11, 1708.
6. Grace, born Jan. 10, 1709; bapt. April 23, 1710.
7. Jedediah, born July 15, 1711; bapt. August 17, 1712.
8. Daniel, born Sept, 17, 1714; bapt. Oct. 31, 1714.
9. Abiel, born Dec, 16, 1716; bapt. April 28, 1717.
Obed married, 1742, Mary Warrenton; 2nd March 27, 1755, Mary Hurd.
Elizabeth married, 1725, as second wife, Thomas (4) Parke, Thomas (3), Thomas (2), Robert (1).
Sarah married Josiah Parke (4), Thomas (3), Thomas (2), Robert (1).
Grace married Oct. 14, 1729, Jonathan Wheeler.
Jedediah married Nov. 11, 1752, Patience Stanton.
Daniel married, as second wife, Phoebe Child.
Abiel married, as second wife, Margaret . . . .
Joseph Benjamin, the eldest son of Joseph Benjamin and Elizabeth Cooke Benjamin, his wife, lived in Preston, Conn., where he married Apr. 23, 1722, Deborah, daughter of John Clarke and his wife Deborah Parke, also of Preston, Conn. He died at the home of his son, Captain Nathan Benjamin, at a very advanced age in Egramont, Mass., where Deborah, his wife, passed her declining years. She died there.
Joseph Benjamin was one of the sailors on the Conn. Colony Sloop Defence, which accompanied the Joint Colonial Expedition against Louisburg, in 1744, when that fortress was captured, and in the suits brought by soldiers and sailors, of the Colony Sloop Defence, to recover prize money collected by Captain John Prentice of the Sloop Defence, he was awarded his proper share by the Courts of Connecticut.
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