Benjamin Smalley ca 1665-1721 of Maine, Truro MA, and Lebanon CT and His Wife Rebecca Snow

Benjamin Small/Smalley was born about 1665 in Maine, then Massachusetts, the son of Francis and Elizabeth Smalley. 

He grew up in Sturgeon Creek which in 1713 was renamed the parish of North Kittery and then became the town of Eliot, Maine in 1810. His father Francis was involved in trade with Native Americans, was a fur trapper, and a fisherman. Benjamin’s childhood changed dramatically when from 1675 to 1678 the area was under attack by Native Americans during King Philip’s War. Sturgeon Creek families fled their homes and lived crowded together in a garrison. In 1689 King William’s War broke out and the locals were under attack again, this time by the French and Native Americans, with many European settlers in the area being killed or taken captive. Benjamin’s sister Mary (Small) Frost and two of her children were taken captive in 1693. 

By 1694 Benjamin and his brother Daniel moved to Eastham and then Truro on Cape Cod, perhaps the violence of war was a factor in leaving the area. Some of his other brothers stayed in the area, working at a mast-yard in Dover, New Hampshire, but Francis and Edward eventually came to live on Cape Cod as well. His father stayed in Sturgeon Creek for a time, but then he came to Truro.

About 1694 Benjamin married Rebecca Snow, likely at Eastham on Cape Cod. This marriage is based on circumstantial evidence provided by Clarence Torrey, but descendants have used this line to be have lineages accepted by the Mayflower Society. Rebecca Snow was a granddaughter of Constance (Hopkins) Snow and great-granddaughter of Stephen Hopkins who both came on the Mayflower. Rebecca was born 23 July 1676 at Plymouth, the daughter of John and Mary (Smalley) Snow. Benjamin and Rebecca are my 8th great-grandparents on my grandmother Milly Booth Rollins’ side of the family.

Rebecca and Benjamin’s children (a work in progress):

i.Hannah born Eastham 25 November 1695

ii.Rebecca born Eastham 27 April 1697

iii.Benjamin born Eastham 23 January 1700/01; died in infancy

iv.Benjamin born 15 October 1702 at Truro; m 1) Rebecca Wright 2) Mary Allen; died Salisbury Connecticut 30 August 1754

v.Mary born Truro 15 March 1705

vi.James born Truro 28 Oct 1707; died young

vii.Phebe born Truro 13 December 1709; died young

viii.Joseph born prob Lebanon about 1712; died young

ix.Francis born  prob Lebanon about 1714

x.Elizabeth born prob Lebanon about 1716

Births of the first three children are recorded Eastham/Orleans Vital Records published in The Mayflower Descendant 8:245; the next four children’s birth recorded Truro Vital Records volume 1, Part 1. I descend from Mary who married John Nickerson. I have more work to do to prove that the Mary “Smalle” who married John Nickerson is the daughter of Benjamin as the marriage is not included in the 1995 Stephen Hopkins GSMD Silver Book. I wrote about John and Mary here.

On 1 August 1709 Benjamin Smalley was appointed Constable at Truro. [MD 68:59]  On 13 March 1709/10, [Benjamin?] Small was chosen as selectman. [MD 68:61] In June 1701 at the meeting of proprietors of Pamet, Benjamin Smalley and Constant Freeman were chosen to oversee men coming to take hay at Eastern Harbour, charging them six shillings a sloop-load, and to look after men who set up whale houses on common on undivided land charging no less than one shilling a man. 

Benjamin Smalley was a founder of the church at Truro. I have seen him referred to as a Deacon, but I haven’t come across a record to substantiate this. He and his brother Daniel shared land grants at Truro in 1710 and 1712. There is some conjecture that Daniel married Abigail Snow, Rebecca’s sister (see Steven Edward Sullivan article cited below). 

Benjamin was on the list of 20 Truro men who owned cattle in February 1711. He was at Lebanon Connecticut by 1714 where he purchased 375 acres of land.

Benjamin died before 4 June 1721 at Lebanon, New London County, Connecticut, when, according to Charles T. Libby, Rebecca Smalley was granted administration of his estate. 

Rebecca married, second John Porter on 26 December 1728 at Hebron, Connecticut. [Connecticut Marriage Index 1620-1926 on Ancestry] I have read that after John’s death, Rebecca moved to Salisbury, Connecticut to live with her son Benjamin where she died on 31 August 1753 but have not seen a citation for this.

Sources Not Included Above:

Simeon L. Deyo, editor, History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, HW Blake & Co., New York, 1890

John D. Austin, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, vol 6, Stephen Hopkins, GSMD, 2001

David Hamblen, communicated by, NEHGS Register, “First Settlers of Eastham, Mass.” vol 7 p 280 (1853)

The Mayflower Descendant, “Truro Mass. Church Records,” 31:56 (1933)

Steven Edward Sullivan, The American Genealogist, “Abigail (Snow) Small Probable Wife of Daniel 3 Small of Truro & Provincetown, Mass.,” 71:137 (1996)

Charles T. Libby, Genealogical Register of Maine and New Hampshire, 1928, p 640 [cites Benjamin’s probate]

Shebnah Rich, Truro—Cape Cod or, Land Marks and Sea Marks, 1884:

Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700

Richard F. Whalen, Truro: The Story of a Cape Cod Town, 2007

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)

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