11. Benjamin Burt (son of David3, gdson of Henry1), of Deerfield, Mass., and Ridgefield, Conn.; born Nov. 17,1680; died May 20,1759; … Mr. Burt, on his marriage with Sarah, dau. of Daniel and Elizabeth (Foot) Belden of Hatfield, Mass., settled at Deerfield, Mass., and at the capture of that place, Feb. 29, 1704, was, with his wife, enceinte with Christopher (who was born forty-five days after), carried, after a journey of twenty-five days, to Chambly, Canada, by the French and Indians. They were ransomed through the intervention of a son of Gov. Dudley of Massachusetts; sailed from Quebec and arrived in Boston, Aug. 1, 1706, during which voyage their second son was born and appropriately named. Lieut. Sheldon, the commissioner sent from Deerfield to negotiate for the return of the captives, went to Quebec three times before he succeeded in ransoming the Burts, Rev. Mr. Williams and others. The Gov. of Quebec, in order to place the prisoners beyond the reach of Lieut. Sheldon, removed them thirty miles down the river, his object being, it was supposed, to obtain a larger ransom; but Lieut. Sheldon persisted, retaining the vessel at Quebec fifteen days, until June 30th certainly, as his letter to the Gov. of Massachusetts is dated June 29, 1706, in which he says, 'I am in hopes of starting to-morrow.' This letter was brought by one of the captives that came by land to the Penobscot bay, and the record at the Custom House in Boston is, that the vessel arrived Aug. 1, 1706. Mr. Burt at first made Norwalk, Conn., his home, but May 6, 1712, he purchased land, and soon after settled permanently at Ridgefield, Conn. The deed from the original proprietors of Ridgefield to Benjamin Burt of a twenty-eighth interest in the proprietorship of all the land they then had or subsequently might acquire is still in existence, and is recorded Nov. 28, 1712, in the Book of Records of Ridgefield, where he died in the eightieth year of his age, as appears from the slate headstone at his grave in the Titicus churchyard. Sarah and the children that followed were all born at Ridgefield."
