Person talk:Benjamin Alford (2)

Is this the same as Person:Benjamin Alford (1)? [9 January 2010]

...who is listed as a son of Family:Benedict Alford and Jane Newton (1).

According to the The Alford American Family Association, the son of Benedict is said to have been born 11 Jul 1647 in Windsor, Hartford, CT, d. 12 Aug 1709 and buried in New London, CT. It has no information about whether he married or not.

NEHGR, p. 11:27, "Ancient Burial Ground at New London", Interred Under This Stone is the Body of Col. Beniamin Alford Who Departed This Life Avgvst ye 12th Ano. Dom. 1709 in ye 63'd Year of His Age. The commentary says it is probable this is the son of Benedict, whose birth is recorded in Windsor 11 Jul 1647 and for whom no descendants are found.

If we assume that the joining, by Benjamin on this page, of the Artillery Company in 1671 meant he was of legal age, he was born before 1650, but not much so, since he didn't marry until about 1682. The birth above in 1647 would match this criteria.

His will was dated 19 Feb 1696/97, proved 28 Feb 1709. Savage describes this interval as 13 years later, which would meant that, more precisely, the will was proved 28 Feb 1709/10. This is six months after the death date above, hence seems to match.

Now, Savage says the Benjamin of this page was "probably" the son of William. It may be that this is an assumption based on Benjamin being, most of his adult life, a merchant in Boston, and William Alford had been a merchant in Boston after living earlier in Salem and Connecticut, but nothing is stated by Savage that explicitly establishes his origins beyond his speculation. The Great Migration Begins says that no evidence has been found that connects Benjamin to William and does not list Benjamin as a child of William in its article. The sources that give the dates of his will don't say where it was probated (one source found says Boston, citing Abner Morse, but Morse doesn't seem to actually say that according to my reading). (Though the will being probated in Boston doesn't, strictly speaking, rule out a burial in New London.) All-in-all, one is left wondering if these two pages could be the same man? --Jrich 14:07, 9 January 2010 (EST)