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m. 15 Jan 1656/57 Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States
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2. JOSEPH2 (John1) BENHAM was born either in England or in Dorchester, Massachusetts about 1633. He married in Boston, Massachusetts, 18 January 1657 WINIFRED KING, whose parentage remains unknown. They lived in New Haven until they moved, as original settlers to the town of Wallingford, Connecticut. For many years they lived at peace with their neighbors. The only time either of them was mentioned in court came when Joseph made the mistake of saying in public what he thought of the town selectmen (that a bunch of dogs could do as well) as was immediately reported. Then one day a bunch of neighborhood women were visiting Winifred and one of them, Goody Parker, said half jokingly that she thought Winifred might be a witch. That was too much for Joseph...he got his gun and said, in effect, "Goody, I am putting two bullets in this gun, each of them for you if you ever dare come here again". This infuriated the righteous Parkers so much that they separately accused both Benhams before the county court at New Haven, 25 July 1692, Joseph of threatening to shoot, and Hannah of witchcraft. He was fined and she, after one more court appearance, was cleared, but warned about giving the appearance of evil. Her accusers starting looking for evidence to convict Winifred, and after about five years they thought they had enough to again bring her to court. This time it was more serious; both Winifred and her 13 year old daughter, little Winifred, were accused of causing great sore spots to appear on three teenagers (and while the same sort of sore spots appeared on little Winifred, they quickly healed); the teenagers themselves testified, always a good performance in those days. The people of the town of Wallingford were divided into two camps, with one deacon on each side, no one stayed neutral. The grand jury returned a veerdict of "ignoramus" (not proven) and the Benhams were free.. This was the last witchcraft trial in Connecticut. The story of the two accusations of Winifred as a witch, and her subsequent trial in New Haven in 1697 (New Haven County Court Records and Jacobus, Families of Ancient New Haven. Appendix on Connecticut Witches) has been described at length in the article in the Connecticut Nutmegger. Although acquitted by the court for lack of proof in 1697, Joseph and Winifred feared further persecution and fled to New York State, where no further trace of them has yet been found. Joseph died probably in 1703, and at least by 1714, when the new land division in Wallingford alloted his share to his children. References
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