Person:John Benjamin (18)

m. Abt 1596
  1. John Benjamin1585 - 1645
  2. Arabella Benjamin1600 -
m. 1619
  1. John Benjamin1620 - 1706
  2. Richard BenjaminAbt 1622 - 1706
  3. Abigail Benjamin1624 - 1704
  4. Mary Benjamin1626 - 1646
  5. Samuel Benjamin1628 - 1669
  6. Joseph Benjamin1633 - Abt 1704
  7. Caleb BenjaminEst 1638 - 1684
  8. Abel BenjaminEst 1640 - Aft 1710
  9. Richard BenjaminAbt 1640 -
  10. Joshua BenjaminAbt 1642 - 1684
  11. Mary Benjamin1646 - Abt 1646
Facts and Events
Name[2] John Benjamin
Gender Male
Christening[3] 12 Mar 1585 Chalvington, Sussex, England
Marriage 1619 Cranbrook, Kent, Englandto Abigail Eddy
Immigration? 16 Sep 1632 Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United StatesCame to Boston in "Lion" Sept. 16, 1632 with wife & 2 children.
Other 16 Sep 1632 Boston, Suffolk County, MassachusettsMigration
with Abigail Eddy
Residence? 1636 Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United StatesRemoved to Watertown in 1636
Emigration? London, EnglandJohn with his wife and several children sailed from London in the ship "Lion" from Bristol under Captain Mason.
Death? 14 Jun 1645 Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States
Probate? 1646
Questionable information identified by WeRelate automation
To check:Born before parents' marriage
To check:Born before mother was 12
To check:Born before father was 15

John belonged to the family who lived in Lower Hereford. John with his wife and several children sailed from London in the ship "Lion" from Bristol under Captain Mason, arriving Sept. 16, 1632. Removed to Watertown in 1636.

In his will, undated but proved on 3 July 1645, John Benjamin bequeathed to "my son John a double portion of my estate & my beloved wife two cows, forty bushels of corn out of all my lands to be allowed her towards the bringing up of my small children yearly such as grows upon the ground, one part of four of all my household stuff, all the rest of my lands, goods & chattels I will shall be equally divided between seven other of my children, provided that out of all my former estate my will is that my wife during her life shall enjoy the dwelling house I live in & three acres of the broken up ground next the house, & two acres of the meadow nearhand belonging to the house"; in swearing to this will John Eddy said that John Benjamin "did further declare (as an addition to this his will) that his wife should have liberty to take wood for her use upon any of his lands during her life" [ SPR 1:40-41].

Disputed Lineages

Anderson considers the kinship between the immigrants John and Richard Benjamin unproven, since their origin is unknown.

References
  1.   Will of John Benjamin, in Probate records?
    12 Jun 1646.

    WILL:
    Dated April/June 12, 1646 To son John a double portion .. to wife ... towards bringing up smale children ... Rest to be divided equally between 7 other of my children. Appoint brother John Eddie of Watertown & Thomas Marret of Cambridge to do inventory. Witness: George Muning.
    [Suffolk Deeds; NEHGR 1984, p. 25]

  2. John Benjamin entry, in Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995).

    ORIGIN: Unknown
    MIGRATION: 16 September 1632 on Lyon [Hotten 150] FIRST RESIDENCE: Cambridge REMOVES: Watertown about 1643
    BIRTH: By about 1595 based on estimated date of marriage.
    DEATH: Watertown 14 June 1645 [ WaVR 12].

  3. Great Migration cites this date, found in The Benjamin Family in America (n.p. 1977), pp. vii-viii, but considers it probably a decade too early.


Lyon (1632)
There is some confusion as to the passengers on the Lyon in 1632. Banks listed about 120 passengers. Another list prepared by John Corley in 1984 lists some 350 passengers. [1]
Sailed: 22 Jun 1632 from London, England under Master William Peirce
Arrived: 16 Sep 1632 at Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Passengers:
? (Full List)
Robert Bartlett - John Benjamin family - Richard Benjamin - Daniel Brewer - Nicholas Clark - John Coggeshall - Edward Elmer - William Goodwin - Seth Grant - William Heath - James Olmstead - Nathaniel Richards - Thomas Ufford family - John Whipple - John White family & others

Resources: Primary Sources:
Other information: Comparison of Passenger Lists


Founders of Watertown, MA

Located along the Charles River, Watertown was one of the first settlements in Massachusetts Bay Colony. After a brief stay by Roger Clapp and others who then went on to settle Dorchester. In late July 1630, Sir Richard Saltonstall led a group of about 115 households to settle at Watertown, which at the time included parts of present-day Cambridge and much of the surrounding area; the population approached Boston's in the mid 17th century. In 1632 the residents of Watertown protested against being compelled to pay a tax for the erection of a stockade fort at Cambridge; leading to the establishment of representative government in the colony.

Full list of original heads of households

See also: History of Watertown - Wikipedia entry - Richard Saltonstall on Wikipedia

Watertown Founders' Monument

Current Location: Middlesex County, Massachusetts   Parent Towns: None   Daughter Towns: Cambridge, Weston, Waltham, Belmont, Lincoln