Elijah married Barbara Bible in 1818 in Pendleton County, Virginia (now West Virginia).[2]
Father's Will
In the will of Joseph Bennett, dated 7 May 1808, he identified his wife Hannah Bennet, his three youngest sons (Jacob, John & Elijah) to whom he gave his Pendleton County Lands, his rifle to son John, dark bay colt and rifle to youngest son Elijah. Isaac Coberley executor; will signed by Isaac Henkle, Thomas Ward and John Dice. The will was presented at a court held for Pendleton County on July 3rd, 1810 by Isaac Henkle and John Dice.
The original is among Jonathan Bennett's papers in the West Virginia Collection of the West Virginia University library at Morgantown. Jonathan, who was the first mayor of Weston, W.VA and the treasurer of the confederacy in the Civil War, lists his father and uncles (no aunts).
Following is a verbatim of the memorandum pages:
Joseph Bennett died in Indiana. Lived in Miami Ohio. One of settlers of Collins Settlement. Married Abigail Collins.
Jacob Bennett lived in Gilmer County & died there. Married Rachel Davis.
John Bennett lived and died in Barbour County Married Sara Raines.
Thos Bennett was the oldest lived in Greenbrier on Muddy Creek Descendants live in Gr and Fayette Married a Bennett.
Wm Bennett was next oldest Lived & died in Lewis Co 1t wife McCally 2d Elizabeth Hannah
Elijah Bennett lived & died in Pendleton Co about ten miles west of Franklin Married a Bible
Joseph Bennett was the father of the foregoing Married Hannah Starns
Jno Bennett was a bro of foregoing & lived and died on the North Fork of Potomac Both foregoing - lived in Pendleton Were Germans Rebecca McCally was a daughter of James McCally who married a Watson whose mother was a Hunter.
Possible order of birth of the sons was:
Thomas, William (born 1775), Joseph, Jacob, John (born 1790), and Elijah (born 1795). Apparently Elijah was the only one who stayed home, so there should be deeds from Jacob and John to Elijah conveying their interests in Joseph Bennett's lands. They were apparently still at home when Joseph wrote his will in 1808. Jacob was in Lewis County before 1822, and had moved on to Gilmer County by 1848. [3]
↑ "West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FRXS-6ZX : 11 February 2018), Elijah Bennet and Barbara Bible, 14 Jan 1818; citing Pendleton, West Virginia, p 11, county clerks, West Virginia; FHL microfilm 818,558.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Elijah by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Elijah:
Bennett-21976 and Bennett-2909 appear to represent the same person because: Both mentioned the same will with the same brother's names. Elijah is the son of Joseph Sleeth Bennett, Jr and Hannah Starnes (who has been referenced as Hannah Sleason but has now been refutted). Although the birth date is slightly off, one Profile has it as an estimate and is not sourced. These two Profiles represent the same person. Thanks!
I'm not sure if this is a duplicate of Elijah Bennett 1794-. I suspect they are with the information about the will listed. And, that it is commonly known that Hannah Starnes was once listed as Hannah Sleason. Let me know what you think. Thanks! Sandy
THIS Elijah Bennett was not the son of Joseph Bennett who was married to Hannah ELLSWORTH. That is a completely different (and still confusing) Bennett line from the same area. There are at least four known Joseph Bennett's in the Pendleton, VA area and the same time. This Elijah's mother was Hannah Starnes.
Apparently during the Civil War, the Bennetts, along with many others in that area were sympathizers of the South. Elijah and Barbaras son, Henry Bennett, served in the Confederate Army under McNeils Rangers. There was a Militia Group with loose ties to the Union Army that went by the name of The Swamp Dragons. The Rangers and Swamp Dragons were enemies. I dont have all of the details yet, but from Ive read so far, The Swamp Dragons were looking for blood and raided Elijah and Barbara Bennetts home, knowing that their son Henry was an enemy to them.
Instead of finding Henry, they found their son George and two other men who were visiting for dinner. The two other men where chased out to the front of the house. One of the men was shot and mortally wounded. The other managed to get away. George, who was not a soldier or militia, nor was he in a uniform, jumped out of the kitchen window and ran. He almost got away, but was caught by a second group of the Swamp Dragons laying in wait. George was shot in the leg and brought back to his parents front yard where he was tortured then killed in front of them. George was only 33 years old, he had 6 children and pregnant wife at home.
Elijah got a large rock and engraved his sons tombstone himself. He wanted to make sure it was known that there was no honor in the killings that took place at his home. These men were murdered and I think he wanted to make sure that no one ever forgot that. It worked, to this day that tombstone is a local legend. People remember the story. I saw a picture of this stone for the first time just the day before this writing this post. You can just see the pain and anger that Elijah felt at the senseless murder of his son.
I'm not sure if this is a duplicate of Elijah Bennett 1794-. I suspect they are with the information about the will listed. And, that it is commonly known that Hannah Starnes was once listed as Hannah Sleason. Let me know what you think. Thanks! Sandy
Instead of finding Henry, they found their son George and two other men who were visiting for dinner. The two other men where chased out to the front of the house. One of the men was shot and mortally wounded. The other managed to get away. George, who was not a soldier or militia, nor was he in a uniform, jumped out of the kitchen window and ran. He almost got away, but was caught by a second group of the Swamp Dragons laying in wait. George was shot in the leg and brought back to his parents front yard where he was tortured then killed in front of them. George was only 33 years old, he had 6 children and pregnant wife at home.
Elijah got a large rock and engraved his sons tombstone himself. He wanted to make sure it was known that there was no honor in the killings that took place at his home. These men were murdered and I think he wanted to make sure that no one ever forgot that. It worked, to this day that tombstone is a local legend. People remember the story. I saw a picture of this stone for the first time just the day before this writing this post. You can just see the pain and anger that Elijah felt at the senseless murder of his son.