Family:Benjamin Barrett and Sarah Chamberlain (1)

Being after the Revolution, genealogical coverage of this generation gets sparse so there are few footprints to follow.

"Thomas Barrett of Braintree, William Barrett of Cambridge and Their Early Descendants", the article in NEHGR by Joseph Hartwell Barrett, Vol. 42, p. 261, shows a Benjamin Barrett who married Elizabeth Farmer. He had one son, Benjamin, who m. 1760 Olive Keyes, and another son, Christopher, who m. 1764 Mary Clark. A list of children is given for Christopher with birth dates only, and neither line is continued.

Chelmsford VRs show both having a son named Benjamin. Benjamin had a son Benjamin b. "17--", baptized in 1771, but so is his sister Sybil, so the baptism may be a couple of years after his birth. (The children of Benjamin and Olive are Luke b. 1761, Lemuel b. 1763, Mary b. 1766, Thaddeus b. "176- [1769?]", Benjamin bp. 1771, Sybil bp. 1771, Olive bp. 1774, Billy bp. 1779.) The best guess is that Benjamin might be twins with his sister Sybil, but if Thaddeus was born 1767, instead of the editor's guess of 1769, perhaps Benjamin was born as early as 1769, and his baptism waited until the next child came along. It seems unlikely he was born before Thaddeus, since there is no note of a baptism of Thaddeus, and you would expect Thaddeus to be baptized in 1771 with his siblings if that was the case. Christopher, we can analyze more simply: his son Benjamin was b. 27 May 1767.

These are the only two Benjamin Barretts that seem of an appropriate age to marry Sarah Chamberlain, and actually, only the son of Christopher, being 19, seems old enough. A birth in 1771 would make the son of Benjamin only 15.

There is one DAR lineage that suggests the husband of Sarah Chamberlain was the son of Benjamin Barrett and Sarah Merriam, b. Concord 1762. He is of a more appropriate age, but given that his parents moved to Ashby by 1774, he is probably the Benjamin Barrett who m. 1782 in Ashby Bridget Lawrence, as shown on that page. Given the distance between Carlisle and Ashby, it seems unlikely that there was an interchange, unless some unexpected evidence is brought to light.

Otherwise, the only apparent source that addresses either of these Benjamin Barrets is Source:Stearns, Ezra S. Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire, Vol. 2, p. 466, which says Benjamin, the son of Christopher, m. Anna Lovell, living many years in Vershire, Vermont before dying 1861 at the house of his daughter Mary Smith in Woodbury, VT. Recognizing that this information may have come from relative close descendants, such as grandchildren (Stearns published in 1908), it can't be dismissed out of hand, but there are serious reasons to believe this is possibly backwards.

The primary reason for doubting Stearns information is that Christopher and Mary Barrett moved to Carlisle and their last two children were born there. The Benjamin who married Sarah Chamberlain settled in Carlisle, had children there, and died in 1830, aged 64, which works out to a birth about 1766, a good match with the son of Christopher and Mary.

There seem to be few records about the Benjamin Barrett who moved to Vermont, in particular, none that seem to show the name of his wife. His death is found in 1861, in Woodbury, and he is alleged to be 98 (born about 1763), though in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, his ages in both worked out to a birth in 1767. But in summary, the two death records are inconclusive. However, it is feared the close association of the age of the man in Vermont may be the underlying reason for identifying that man as the son of Christopher, and that no other Benjamin was considered.

The second reason for doubting Stearns information is the 1790 census of Vershire, Vermont. There are three households listed with the surname of Barrett: Benjamin, Luke and Thaddeus. The last two are children of Benjamin and Olive. One would be inclined to suspect the first one would be as well.

Of course, research into probate files always has potential, and if they can be found, they may clear up this puzzle.

1. ↑ Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1914)
   p. 182.

   BARRIT, Benjamin, and Sarah Chamberlin, Sept. 3, 1786.