Sunday, April 28, 2024

Ebenezer Benson 1693-1767 and His Wife Joanna Andrews of Rochester and Middleborough, Mass.

Ebenezer Benson was born Rochester, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, on 16 March 1693, the son of John and Elizabeth (Briggs) Benson. [Rochester VR 1:34]


On 20 Jan 1717, Ebenezer was just 23, a laborer, when he purchased a parcel of land in Middleborough from his father “near the dividing line between the towns of Middleborough and Rochester.” [Plymouth County Deeds 19:28]


He married Joanna Andrews on 30 August 1718 at Rochester. [Rochester VR 2:34]

Richard Benson writes that she may have been the daughter of Stephen and Bethia (Stetson) Andrews who were early settlers in Rochester from Hingham and Taunton. Ebenezer and Joanna are my 7th great-grandparents on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family.


Joanna and Ebenezer Benson had eight children all recorded in Middleborough [Barbara Lambert Merrick and Alice Crane Williams, Middleborough Mass. Vital Records, 2 vols, 1:70]:

i. Susanna Benson born 26 June 1720

ii.Mercy Benson born 7 July 1724

iii.Manoah/Noah Benson born 7 September 1726

iv.Elisabeth Benson born 12 January 1728/29

v.Elisha Benson born 5 March 1730/31

vi.Joanna Benson born 25 June 1733

vii.Benjamin Benson born 16 June 1736

viii.Thankfull Benson born 7 August 1740


I descend from Elisha. 


Ebenezer was baptized when he joined the church at nearby Wareham on 17 April 1743. Joanne joined the church there 22 May 1743 and their four youngest children, Elisha, Joanna, Benjamin and Thankful were baptized there the same day. [Leonard H Smith, Records of the First Church of Wareham, 1974]


In December 1720, Job Cushman, Plymouth Innholder, sued Ebenezer Benson “late of Rochester, now Middleborough, husbandman,” for a debt of 6 pounds. [Plymouth Court Records, 5:119]  Samuel Bartlett, a shopkeeper in Plymouth, sued him in March 1736/7 for the payment of a debt of 20 pounds dated 6 March 1732/3. [Plymouth Court Records, 3:36]


It’s unclear to me exactly when Ebenezer and Joanna moved from Middleborough to Wareham or whether they maintained residences in both towns. He still owned the Middleborough property when he wrote his 1758 will, stating he was from Wareham (yet he is said to be from Middleborough when it was proved in 1767!) Ebenezer was on list of inhabitants of the East Precinct of Middleborough 28 March 1748. [Mass. Archives 115:311b] Ebenezer signed his mark as a witness to an agreement 11 Sept 1749 at Wareham. (Wareham Church Records, p. 24) He served as a witness to the will of John Bump of Wareham dated 11 Sept 1749. (PCPR 16:338) 


Ebenezer acquired a good amount of land. He purchased land in Plympton (now Carver) at the South Meadow River for 14 pounds on 13 July 1727 [Plymouth County Deeds 32:10]. He purchased 45 acres of land in the South Purchase of Middleborough for 35 pounds on 11 April 1738. [Plymouth County Deeds 32:11] He sold the Plympton land for 60 pounds on 21 Nov 1740. [Plymouth County Deeds 35:22] He sold 8 acres of his Middleborough land on 20 Nov 1743. [Plymouth County Deeds 37:182] He purchased land at Wareham on the easterly and northerly side of the Weweantic River from his younger brother Caleb on 8 July 1758. (Plymouth County Deeds 45:70)


Weweantic River


Ebenezer Benson of Wareham’s will is dated 11 September 1758. [PCPR 19:529] To his wife Joanna he leaves a “good & suitable maintenance out of my estate both in sickness & in health during her remaining my widow, to be paid her by my executor hereafter named.”

Other bequests:

  • Son Noah 10 acres of land adjoining to his land.
  • Son Elisha 10 acres of land adjoining to his land.
  • Son Benjamin his dwelling house, barn, etc with all the land and fresh meadow in Middleborough, fresh meadow he owns in Wareham, all his personal estate, moveable indoors & without, with all his books debts and money, with him responsible for paying funeral charges and just debts, providing for his mother a suitable maintenance in sickness & in health during her remaining a widow, and paying out the legacies mentioned.
  • Daughter Susannah Fogg one shilling beside what she was already given
  • Daughter Mercy Burgs one shilling beside what she was already given
  • Daughter Elizabeth six pounds, thirteen shillings and four pence a year after his death
  • Daughter Joanna Sole one shilling beside what she was already given
  • Daughter Thankful six pounds thirteens shillings and four pence two years after his death

Son Benjamin was appointed sole executor. Ebenr Benson signed by mark and seal. Witnesses: Ichabod Samson, Ichabod Samson Jr., Rowland Thatcher. Ebenezer was of Middleborough when his will was proved 8 September 1767.


It’s remarkable that all of Joanna and Elisha’s eight children lived to adulthood.


Ebenezer died at Wareham on 1 July 1767. He was 74 years old. [Wareham Church Records, p. 5]


John Cushing Esquire, Judge of Probate of will etc. in the county of Plymouth. On 8 September 1767 the will of Ebenezer Benson late of Middleborough was presented for probate by Benjamin Benson executor. Two of the witnesses of the signing of the will were present to attest they witnessed Ebenezer sign the will and that he was of sound and disposing mind—Mr. Rowland Thacher and Ichabod Samson. Benjamin to present the estate inventory within three months. [same page as will]



Joanna Benson and her son Benjamin sold land from Ebenezer’s estate in Middleborough to Ebenezer’s brother Caleb and his son Elisha in November 1767. [Plymouth County Deed 70:239] I do not Joanna and Ebenezer's burial location. 


Joanna Benson died 12 March 1769. (Wareham Church Records, p. 5)


Sources Not Mentioned Above:


Richard H. Benson, The Benson Family of Colonial Massachusetts, Newbury Street Press, 2003

Probate Records, 1686-1903; With Index and Docket, 1685-1967, Probate Court (Plymouth County), Probates, Vol 19-20, 1763-1771. Available on Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 [database on-line] (Ebenezer’s will)

Friday, April 19, 2024

Ebenezer Cobb 1671-1752 and his wife Mercy Holmes

Ebenezer Cobb was born Plymouth 9 August 1671, the son of John and Martha (Nelson) Cobb. [Plymouth VR:2; MD 1:141] I wrote about John and Martha here.He is my 8th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family.  

Ebenezer married Mercy (also seen as Marcy) Holmes on 1 June 1693 at Plymouth (Plymouth Vital Records p 86). Mercy was born Plymouth 10 September 1673, the daughter of Nathaniel and Mercy (Faunce) Holmes. [Plymouth VR:86; MD 13:206] I wrote about Nathaniel and Mercy here.


The Children of Ebenezer Cobb and Marcy his Wife (Plymouth vital records p 24; MD 2;19):


1 Ebenezer born 22 March 1694; m 1) Ruth Tinckham 2) Lydia Stephens; d. Kingston 8 Dec 1801 at the incredible age of 107

2 Mercy born 6 January 1695/6; died 23 March 1697

3 Nathaniel born 20 February 1698; m. Mary Waterman

4 Hannah born 27 February1699; m. Jacob Tinckham; died Plymouth 1724-1725

5 Sarah born 5 April 1702; m. John Bartlett; died Plymouth 21 Sept 1731

6 Marcy born 1 January 1704/5; m. 1) Samuel Doty 2) Cornelius Holmes

7 Nathan born 14 January 1706/7; m. Joanna Bennet; died Carver 3 June 1800

8 John born 30 May 1709; d. Plymouth 22 Aug 1731 

9 Mary born 13 October 1711; m. Silas West; d. Nova Scotia 21 Feb 1762

10 Elizabeth born 30 March 1714; m. Thomas Holmes

11 Job born 28 February 1717; m. Patience Holmes; d. Plymouth 8 June 1761

12 Rolon born 30 October 1719; not mentioned in father’s estate distribution 


Job Cobb was baptized Plymouth 14 April 1717. [Plymouth Church Records, 1:216] The rest of the children were baptized in December 1716. [Plymouth Church Records 1:217] 


I descend from Nathaniel.


Ebenezer is found on the 1708 and 1724 First Church membership lists and his wife Mercy Cobb is on the 1724 list. 


In later records it is impossible to differentiate between Ebenezer and his son as “Sr.” and “Jr.” aren’t used. At the May 1744 court, Ebenezer Cobb of Kingston sued Robert Carver, mariner of Kingston, for 5 pounds damages for not returning six sheep. The sheep were rented out to Carver in the spring of 1738 and he was to pay Cobb six pounds in wool annually and return the sheep at the end of three years. [Plymouth County Court Records, Vol. 6 8:473-78]


In September 1747, Ebenezer Cobb sued Ignatius Cushing for 20 pounds damages for refusing to pay 19 pounds in wool and return 19 sheep and lambs. [Plymouth County Court Records, vol. 7 9:442-45]


Susan Roser wrote that he was a weaver by trade. Records show he was a sheep farmer as well and in 1711 he was the proprietor of an oyster bed. [Plymouth Town Records, 2:44, 203]


Ebenezer is mentioned in Plymouth records:


  • Ebenezer Cobb was named to the jury at the county court in 1713 and 1719; grand jury 1715.
  • At the 9 May 1720 town meeting Eben Cobb is listed as a Major.
  • At the 24 March 1703 town meeting Ebenezar Cobb is listed as having 20 sheep in an article referring to the grant of a parcel of land for sheep pasture that was three square miles from the head of Cobbs meadow.
  • Appointed fence viewer in 1715, surveyor in 1706, constable in 1708, field driver in 1718, hog reeve in 1722 and 1734.
  • A 1 April 1706 agreement between John Holmes [a relative of Mercy?] and Ebenezer Cobb of Plymouth outlines settlement of a bit of land between their two parcels. It mentions land Ebenezer bought of heirs of John Dunham.
  • On the 1722-24 lists of livestock marks, Ebenezer Cobb has cattle, horses, sheep, and swine.


Ebenezer was bequeathed land in his father's 1711/12 will, but he was not to take ownership until after the death of his mother.


Mercy died 2 March 1726 at Kingston. She was just 52 years old. She's buried at Burial Hill, Plymouth: "Here lyes ye Body of Marcy Cob wife to Ebenzer Cob decd March 7e 2d 1725-6 in ye 53d year of her age.” [Plymouth Church Records 2:511]






I believe it is this Ebenezer Cobb of Plymouth who married Mrs. Mary Thomas, widow of Edward Thomas, of Middleborough on 8 Feb 1727/8 at Plymouth. On the same page is a marriage for Ebenezer Cobb, Jr., so it is likely the elder Ebenezer who married Mary Thomas. [Plymouth VR p 174]


Ebenezer Cobb died 29 July 1752 probably at Kingston. He was 80 years old. He is interred at Burial Hill in Plymouth. "Here lies ye Body of Mr. Ebenezer Cobb who decd July 29th 1752 in ye 71st year of his age.” Note his age should be 81st year.


Ebenezer left no will but there is a settlement of his estate dated 6 August 1753. It mentions his heirs: eldest son Ebenezer Cobb, Nathaniel Cobb, Nathan Cobb, Job Cobb, Mercy Holmes wife of Cornelius, Mary West, Elizabeth Holmes wife of Thomas Jr., Jacob Tinkham only child of daughter Hannah Tinkham, Sarah Faunce wife of Thomas, Hannah Doten wife of Stephen and the unnamed children of deceased daughter Sarah Bartlett.  (Plymouth County PR 13:170-71)


Sources Not Mentioned Above:

Susan E. Roser, Early Descendants of Henry Cobb of Barnstable, Massachusetts, Friends of the Pilgrim Series, Volume 1, 2008

Barbara J. Bradford Robinson, Howard E. Robinson, Cynthia L. Robinson, Burial Hill in the 1990s, Plymouth, Massachusetts

Benjamin Drew, Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 2016


Sunday, April 14, 2024

William Wetherell ca 1602 England to 1684 Scituate, Mass. and his wife Mary Fisher

 William Wetherell was Puritan minister who was born about 1602, likely in Yorkshire England. He was educated at Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, where he was listed as being from York. He received his BA in 1626 and MA in 1627. [The Genealogical Advertiser, 1:21 (March 1898)]  I have yet to find his parents. His surname is sometimes spelled Witherell.


Corpus Christi College at Cambridge


William Wetherell married Mary Fisher on 26 March 1627 at St. Mildred’s, Canterbury, Kent.

"Witherill, William, M.A. of Maidstone, ba[chelor]., about 25, and Mary Fisher, of Boughton, Monchelsea, maiden, about 22, who is now under govt., of her mother, Joan Martin, alias Fisher, now wife of John Martin, s.p. yeom., who consents. At S. Mildred's Cant. March 26, 1627.” (Canterbury Marriage Licences, Second Series, page 1087)

St. Mildred's, Canterbury



Mary Fisher was born 17 April 1604 at Boughton, Monchelsea, Kent, the daughter of Thomas and Joan (Lake) Fisher. William and Mary are my 10th great-grandparents on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family. 


St. Peter's, Monchelsea, Kent


William Wetherell was licensed as a Curer of Souls and teacher (2 March 1625) at Boughton, Monchelsea, County Kent, England, but not given a church. Perhaps he was already giving an indication of his non-conformist beliefs. So instead of joining the clergy, he used his education to teach school at Maidstone, County Kent. [NEHGR 75:219] Note that Boughton is a village in the Burrough of Maidstone, where William was a teacher. It looks like a picture-perfect English village, with large manor homes, lots of green space, and a quaint thatched-roof pub.


Boughton in Kent



In 1633/34 Wetherell was cited by Archbishop Laud with an order to cease teaching the catechisms of William Perkins who was a well-known Puritan theologian whose catechisms were used by the early Pilgrim Church of Plymouth and to adhere to the official church religious creed. If he were to persist in continuing his path, he would have found himself in the Star Chamber as happened to Charles Chauncy who was later to be his rival in Scituate. (Peter Clark, English Provincial Society from the Reformation to the Revolution: Religion, Politics and Society in Kent 1500-1640. Harvester Press, London, pages 199 & 372)


Perhaps this trouble prompted William and Mary to sail for Boston on the Hercules in 1635. William Witherell is noted as a schoolmaster from Maidstone, and he traveled with his wife Mary, their sons Samuel, Daniel and Thomas, and their servant Anne Richards. Other men from Kent, possibly also religious dissenters, were on the ship as well.


He settled first at Newtowne (now Cambridge), where in the 8 February 1635/6 list of “men who have houses in the town [Cambridge] at this present,” Mr. Willia[m] Wetherall” held one house in the West End and also one house “on the south side the river” (annotated “sold to Mr. Benjamin & by him to Edm[ond] Angier”) [CaTR 18, 19]. In March 1635 William Wetherell sold a house and 12 acres on the south side of the Charles River to John Benjamin, and about 1638 he sold a house and four acres on the southwesterly side of Garden Street to Thomas Parish. 


The Wetherell’s didn’t stay long in Cambridge, removing to Charlestown in 1636 where he established the first grammar school there and was considered part of the gentry class. On 3 June 1636 “Mr Wm Wetherell was agreed with to keep a school [at Charlestown] for a twelve-month to begin the 8 of the vi month [August] & to have £40 for this year.” [ChTR 21] On 13 January 1636/7, he was granted land there, selling his other house and he also held two shares of hay ground. [ChTR 24] On 23 April 1638 “Mr Witherall” was granted lots of fifteen and thirty acres on Mystic Side. [ChTr 37] On 12 Dec 1637 “about Mr. Witherell it was referred to Mr. Greene & Mr. Lerned to settle his wages for this year in part & part to come, & they chose Ralph Sprague for a third” [ChTR 34]


In 1639 the family removed to Duxbury in Plymouth Colony where the church’s beliefs were closer to those William had embraced in England. On 24 January 1638[/9?], “Edward Hall of Duxburrow” sold to “Mr. Willm Wetherell…all that dwelling house and garden place with the enclosure thereunto belonging situate in Duxborrow aforesaid containing two acres.”  This lot was between that of Roger Partridge and Nicholas Robbins. [PCR 12:41] 


William was made a freeman at Duxbury on 3 March 1639/40. On 6 April 1640, “Mr. William Wetherell” and seven other men “are granted the lands lying on the northwest side of Northill in Duxborrow…and to have liberty to set corn at Namassacusset, and to mow grass for their cattle there, and to build a house on the south side of the brook there,” of which Wetherell was to have fifty acres. [PCR 1:144, 161] In addition to serving as Duxbury’s minister, he was Deputy to the Plymouth General Court in 1642. [PCR 8:191]


The family next moved to Scituate in 1645 where he was minister of the Second Church and this turned out to be finally be the right fit for William as he stayed there for the rest of his life. Several other “Men of Kent” settled in Scituate as well. I read that his hand-written baptism records have been preserved, something I’d love to see. The citizens of Scituate had been struggling within their church and sought a new minister after the departure of Reverend John Lothrop who left for Barnstable with many of his followers. Some Church members, led by Timothy Hatherly, voted to invite Charles Chauncy to fill that position. Another faction, led by William Vassal, disagreed and proceeded to form a Second Church of Scituate and invited William Wetherell to be the minister. (GNM 5:12:15) Much of the division was because Chauncy and the First Church parishioners believed in adult baptism. 


Samuel Deane wrote that Vassal was about the only man in town who had the same social standing and wealth as Hatherly and that it was as much a power struggle between the two men as it was a theological one. The establishment of two churches in a small town never would have been allowed in Massachusetts Bay; Plymouth Colony was more lenient. 


On 16 April 1644, Vassall wrote to Rev John Cotton of Boston: “We are about to procure a member of their church of Duckesbury to be a pastor to us, his name is Mr. Witherell who sometimes lived at Charlestowne & Cambridg. He is a teacher of grammar by profession, a man of good report here & elsewhere & it may be known to yourselves.” [Scituate Hist 72; ScitTR 3:363] On 2 Sept 1645, after some months of negotiation, William Wetherell was ordained pastor of the Second Church at Scituate. [Scituate Hist 81; ScitTR 3:375] Scituate Town Records show he was paid from 35 pounds to 50 pounds annually, but he also received substantial land grants. 


On 5 April 1672, the town of Scituate “granted to Mr. William Witherell fifty acres of land to him and his heirs with common privileges thereunto belonging when he or they shall build and live thereon to be laid out as convenient for him as the capacity of the town will permit.” [ScitTR 3:170; see also ScitTR 1:320, 323, 334 and PCR 5:104, which may refer to two separate grants of fifty acres made to William Wetherell]


The problem between the two churches continued as in 1671/2 Josiah Palmer was fined 10 shillings for speaking "opprobriously" of William's church, saying it was a church of the devil. [PCR 5:87] Chauncy accepted a position in Boston to act as head of the new Harvard College, a position he held until his death.


The Second Church of Scituate, also called the South Church, was in the part of town that is now Norwell and the site of the current First Parish/Unitarian Universalist Church. William was ordained the Pastor on 2 September 1645 after writing numerous letters defending his position to many of the other ministers and churches of New England. He held this position the rest of his life.


Mary and William had nine children:

i. Samuel baptized 5 December 1628 in Maidstone, Kent; m Isabel (——-) Hiland; died 1683 in Scituate

ii.Daniel born 29 November 1630 at Maidstone, Kent, m. Grace Brewster 4 Aug 1659, daughter of Jonathan Brewster and granddaughter of Mayflower passenger William Brewster; d. 14 April 1719 New London, CT 

iii.Thomas baptized 28 August 1633 in Maidstone, Kent; died bef. 1684 in Plymouth Colony

iv Mary born abt. 1635 in Massachusetts; m. Thomas Oldham 20 Nov 1656 in Scituate; died 12 December 1710 in Scituate 

v.Elizabeth born abt. 1637 in Massachusetts ; m John Bryant 22 Dec 1657 at Scituate; died January 1660/61 in Scituate

vi.John born abt. 1640 in Scituate; m. Hannah Pinson Young by 1675 in Scituate; died 1690 in Quebec, Canada; was a Lieutenant in the militia 

vii.Theophilus born abt. 1642 in Scituate, m. Lydia Parker 9 Nov 1675, Scituate; died bef 6 Jan 1701/2; was a sergeant in the militia

viii.Sarah born 10 February1644[/45] in Scituate; m. Israel Hobart 21 Dec 1668 in Hingham; died 1731

ix.Hannah born 20 February 1646[/47] in Scituate; bp Scituate Second Church 28 Feb 1646/47; no further record


I descend from Elizabeth whom I wrote about here. . 


William witnessed wills of Thomas Lapham of Scituate on 15 Jan 1644 and James Cushman of Scituate on  25 April 1648. On 24 March 1657 William witnessed deeds concerning Scituate land between Thomas Bird and Walter Hatch and on 29 September 1660 a deed between Thomas Robinson and John Otis. 


When Thomas Bird of Scituate wrote his will on 4 February 1663, he left a bequest of 5 pounds to "mr Willam Witherell Pastour of the Church of Christ att Scittuate." He appointed his "trusty and welbeloved frinds" Mr. Willam Witherell and James Torrey overseers of his will. 


On 26 March 1684 “William Wetherell, minister of the gospel in the town of Sittuate” deeded to “my loving son Theophilus Wetherell…all that my fifty acres of land…as it was laid out to me by the committee of Sittuate …& West toward the patent line & is the eight lot of the great lots…also all that my great lot of land containing fifty acres of land & common privileges thereunto belonging which grant was granted to me by the town of Sittuate at a general town meeting the fifth day of April 1672 and I have-not yet taken it up, also all that my marsh or meadow land lying & being in the town of Marshfield being by estimation four acres & eighteen pole or rod;” signed by mark.  [PCLR 5:1:267]


Although Wetherell was well-educated, in 1684 he signed the above deed and his will by mark, rather than signing. Deane noted in his history of Scituate that the records of the Second Church in Scituate were “kept in Mr. Witherell’s hand until 1674, when it appears that some paralytic affliction compelled him to borrow the assistance of another hand.” 


William Wetherell was of Scituate when he wrote his will on 29 March 1684 and mentioned bequests of land and other items to his grandchildren Samuel, Joshua, and Hannah Wetherell, all children of his deceased son Samuel. Samuel was to receive most of the land as the eldest son of the eldest son, but Joshua was to receive seven acres at Hoop Pole Hill and another ten acre lot. His sons John and Theophilus are to equally divide his wearing clothes. He noted that his son Daniel and daughter Sarah Hubbert had already received their portions. His daughter-in-law Isabel Wetherell, widow of Samuel, was made executrix and was to receive the residue of the estate to aid her in raising her children as well as the improvement of his house and orchard and other land until her son Samuel came of age. His daughter Mary Oldham was to receive four pounds. The witnesses were Thomas King Sr., Thomas Clapp and John Cushing Sr.  The will was proved 4 June 1684. (Plymouth Probate Records 4:132) 


Mary Wetherell must have died before 29 March 1684 when she is not mentioned in his will. I have not found her death record. William was also pre-deceased by his sons Samuel and Thomas and his daughter Elizabeth.


William Wetherell died 9 April 1684 at Scituate.  (Scituate Vital Records, page 467)


Not long before his death he baptized his granddaughter and died by the time it was recorded : "Abigail the Daughter of Isreal Hobird March 16th baptized by our late pastor M. William Wetherell.” (NEHGR, “Records of the Second Church of Scituate,” 57:320)


The inventory of “Mr William Wetherell deceased late pastor of the Church of Christ in Scittuate” was taken 21 May 1684 and totaled over 165 pounds of which 123 pounds was real estate. [PCPR 4:2:133] It included over 3 pounds in silver money, books, pewter, two cows, and a steer. 


Sources Not Included Above:

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, p 318-3 (2011)

Charles Edward Banks, The Planters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1620-1640, Boston, 1930, Reprint c. 2006, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore

Torrey's New England Marriages

Barbara Lambert Merrick, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Elder William Brewster, Volume 24, Part 1, GSMD, 2014

Mrs. John E. Barclay, William Parker of Scituate, Mass., TAG, Vol 41 (1965)

Lucy Hall Greenlaw, editor, The Genealogical Advertiser, “Rev. William Wittherell, M.A.” 1:21 (1901) page 21 Vol 1, 1901

Samuel Deane, History of Scituate, Massachusetts, from its First Settlement to 1831, Boston 1831; reprint 1975