Benjamin Nye came to America as a young man on the Abigail in 1635. He was first at Saugus
(now Lynn), then he settled in Sandwich, Barnstable Co., Mass., where he built
a grist mill. His last name is spelled
in a variety of ways in records, including Noye, Noy and Nie. Benjamin is my 9th great-grandfather on my grandfather
Arthur Washburn Davis’ side of the family. There is a lot of misinformation on Benjamin
Nye out there. Some genealogies have given him an exact birth date, origin and
father’s name (Thomas) in England with a long royal ancestry going back to
Denmark; some have said he was a 15 year old cabin boy on board the Abigail; others that he was an
apprentice to Thomas Tupper. But as far as I know none of this has been proven
according to genealogy standards.
What is known is that on 19 October 1640 Benjamin married
Katherine Tupper (Plymouth VR p. 654). Plymouth Colony Court Orders has the
marriage date as 6 October 1640. Katherine was the daughter of Thomas and
Katherine (Gator) Tupper.
Benjamin and Katherine had eight children, born Sandwich:
Mary born ca 1641, m. Jacob Burgess
John Nye, born ca 1644, married Esther _____ (seen as Shed,
daughter of Daniel Shed, but not sure what the source for that is)
Ebenezer born say 1647, m. Sarah Gibbs
Jonathan b. 20 November 1649, married 1st Hannah ____;
2nd Patience Burgess
Mercy Nye, born 8 April 1652, did not marry
Caleb, born say 1655, m. Elizabeth Wood/Atwood
Nathan, b. say 1657, m. Mercy ____
Benjamin, b. say 1659, did not marry, killed while serving in King
Philip’s War in 1676
Most of the births are unrecorded but are proven as children of
Katherine and Benjamin from other records, except for Benjamin and Caleb. But
since Benjamin was the only man of the name in Sandwich at the time it seems
quite certain they were his sons. Also, Caleb had land near his brother
Jonathan in Sandwich.
I descend through John as well as Jonathan.
According to a 1667 map, Benjamin lived at the beginning of Spring
Hill Road where it meets Rt. 6A. The map shows his mill was on Old County Road
between Hoxie and Nye Ponds. In 1685 he built
a second house in that area as well as a fulling mill, giving his Spring Hill
house to his son John. His second home
was given to his son, Jonathan, by deed dated
1704 "if he will take care of me and Katherine Nye, my wife."
 |
| Source: Sandwich A Cape Cod Town, RA Lovell |
The Nye Family Association of America owns the old Nye house
(Benjamin’s second home) on Old County Road in Sandwich.
 |
| Nye Family Homestead |
Fellow Abigail passenger Dennis Geere left
Benjamin money in his will, so one would think they were related in some way
but no evidence has been found.
Benjamin died between
9 June 1704 when he deeded land to his son Jonathan and 17 May 1707 when he is
called deceased when son Jonathan received land.
Katherine Tupper Nye
died after 9 June 1704 when she was mentioned in her husband’s deed of land to
their son Jonathan. No gravestones for Benjamin and Katherine have survived.
 |
| Photograph I purchased at an estate sale that shows the location of Nye memorial |
Sources:
RA
Lovell, Sandwich, A Cape Cod Town,
third edition published by the Sandwich Archives and Historical Center, 1996,
first printing 1984
Bernard Peterson , The Nye House at Sandwich, Cape Cod
Library of Local History and Genealogy Pamphlet Series, No. 12, 1925
George Washington
Bodge, Soldiers in King Philip's War, A
Critical Accounting of That War with a Concise History of the Indian Wars of
New England from 1620-1677, Leominster, MA, 1896
Simeon L. Deyo, editor,
History of Barnstable County,
Massachusetts, HW Blake & Co., New York, 1890
Ian
Hilder, George R. Nye and Jonathan A Shaw, NEHGR
Vol 158, October 2004, The Origins of
Benjamin 1 Nye: Examining the Sources
George
Hyatt Nye and Frank E. Best, Benjamin Nye
of Sandwich, Massachusetts, His Ancestors and Descendants, A Genealogy of the
Nye Family, 1907
