Isaac Benson 1805-1890 and Amelia Benson 1803-1880, Woodstock, VT, and Plymouth, MA

Isaac Benson was born Woodstock, Vermont on 3 July 1805, the son of Moses Benson and Experience Gibbs. Moses was born in Middleborough, Plymouth Co., Mass. Isaac is my fourth great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Davis’ side of the family.

Sometime around 1825, Isaac married his first cousin Amelia Benson. She was born Woodstock 10 May 1803, the daughter of Elisha Benson and Sophia Nye.

Isaac and Amelia moved to the Chiltonville area of Plymouth where they had seven children.

Chiltonville map, ca 1857

1. Josiah Benson born 24 July 1826, m. Aurilla West Nye and lived at Plymouth and was a fisherman

2. Elvira A. Benson born 7 Sept 1828, married Winslow Thomas and lived at Plymouth

3. Benjamin H. Benson born 10 May 1829, married Sophronia Thomas and lived at Bristol, Rhode Island

4. George H. Benson, born about 1833. Edit 8/8/21: I thought George died young as he disappears from MA records, but his third great grandson informed he moved to Buffalo, Erie, New York and then the northern neck of Virginia where he married Elizabeth Wilson; surprisingly he served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War

5. Timothy Manter Benson, born 12 March 1839, married Rebecca Sears and lived in Carver

6. Ezra F. Benson, born 10 August 1840, m. Ellen Thomas and lived at Plymouth

7. Isaac Benson born 6 April 1846, married Mary Benson; died at sea 25 Oct 1897 south of Cape Hatteras while a rescue attempt was being made of the crew of the sinking ship "Stacy Clarke" of which he was the captain

I descend from Josiah whom I wrote about here.  Josiah, Timothy and Isaac were career mariners and Benjamin and Ezra were also before turning to other careers. Timothy was a master mariner who traveled to the Far East. The Mystic Seaport in Connecticut has an exhibit featuring some of his belongings, including portraits of him, his wife and daughter, and an online database featuring other items like letters and an account of the sinking of one of his vessels.

Isaac was a farmer and stone mason in the Chiltonville area of Plymouth, Mass. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has a painting by Charles Hayden from 1895 that is titled The Turkey Pasture and features Isaac and Amelia’s farm in Plymouth with turkeys roaming free.

Painting that is part of the Museum of Fine Arts collection

1850 Census, Plymouth, Mass.:

Isaac Benson, 45, farmer, RE value $1,000, born Vermont

Amelia, 47, born MA

Josiah 23, seaman

Elvira, 21

Benj'n H. 19, seaman

George H. 17, seaman

Timothy M. 12

Ezra F. 9

Isaac B., 4

Children all born Massachusetts.

1860 Census, Plymouth, MA, Chiltonville post office:

Isaac Benson, 55  M   b. VT  real estate valued $2,000, personal estate $500, farmer

Amelia, 55 (age difficult to read as one number was written over another, from 1870 census should probably be 57), born VT

Timothy M, 22, mariner, born MA

Ezra, 19, mariner, born MA

Isaac J., 14

Alvira H. Benson, 28, female, oper OCH Mills (hard to read initials) (that this is their daughter is determined by her marriage record).

1865 state census, Plymouth:

Isaac Benson, 59, born VT, farmer

Amelia, 62, born VT

Isaac, 19, born MA, seaman

Ezra, 24, born MA, seaman, married

Ellen F., 20, born MA, married

Timothy M., 27, born MA, seaman, single

Edward Fogg, 36, overseer, widower

Frank Moore, 22, jack spinner

Phoebe M. Smith, 24, born Vermont

1870 Census, Plymouth, MA:

Benson, Isaac, 65, born VT, real estate valued at $2,000, stone mason

Amelia, 67, born VT, keeping house

Same house, family no. 1229

Benson, Ezra, 28, fireman on locomotive, born MA

Helen F., 25, keeping house

Anne A., 4

Mary W., 2

1880 census, Plymouth, MA:

Isaac is living with his son Ezra, with no mention of his wife who died that year:

Isaac Benson, 76, stone mason.

Amelia died at age 76 on 25 Feb 1880 at Plymouth, Mass.

Isaac died at age 85 on 3 November 1890 at Somerville, Middlesex Co., Mass. His death is recorded in Mass Vital records, volume 410, page 447 and page 265, recorded at Plymouth and Somerville.) His death record reads:

3 Nov 1890, Isaac Benson, male, widow, 85, 4 (no column titles shown so not sure what this number means), cause of death apoplectic ___ oral hemorrhage, place of death Somerville Plymo [perhaps the latter is indicating his usual residence], stone mason, born Woodstock Vermont, parents Elisha and Experience born Vermont. I think stating his father as Elisha is an error as Elisha was his grandfather.

I’ve been curious to find why Isaac was in Somerville, which is a town close to Boston, and discovered he was most likely living with his son Ezra's family there. They are living in Somerville in the 1900 census and their daughter Ellen died there in 1898. 

Isaac and Amelia Benson are buried at Vine Hills Cemetery, Plymouth. The front of the stone has information on their son Ezra and his family.

Addition Oct. 2023:

His father Moses Benson’s will is dated 1 June 1821; resident of Woodstock Vermont. He was unwell when he wrote the will at age 46 and died eight months later. He names wife Experience, sons Hosea, Isaac, Ebenezer and Samuel; daughters Susannah and Lydia. His friend and executor Robert Cone was made legal guardian to Hosea, Isaac, Susannah and Lydia who were all minors. He left his farm valued at $775 to Hosea and Isaac and they were to eventually pay other siblings $25 each. If they didn’t agree to this, the farm would go to another sibling in a specific order with them paying the others $25. The inventory includes Woodstock land of 82.5 acres with buildings thereon, livestock, farm implements, household items including a tea set, maple sap, barrels of cider. His estate was considered insolvent and the list of claims against the estate came to $121. The Vermont Gazetteer mentions that his son Hosea did take over his farm, so good to know that wasn’t lost in the settling of his debt. Perhaps Hosea either bought out Isaac’s half of the farm or Isaac just walked away to relocate to Plymouth. Source: Vermont Probate Records, Vol 6-7, p 341-34 1816-1825, Hartford District, from Ancestry’s “Vermont Wills and Probate Records 1749-1999”