Peter Bent (bef. 1629 - 1678)

Born before 14 Apr 1629 in Penton Grafton, Hampshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died May 1678 after age 49 in England

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Biography

Peter Bent immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Peter Bent was baptized on April 24, 1629 at the Parish of Wayhill, Hampshire, son of John Bent. ^[1] Son of John. Born at Penton Grafton, Eng., in April, 1629. Married, about 1651, Elizabeth. Settled at Marlborough. Died in England in May, 1678. His house was garrisoned, was burned by the Indians, and one of his sons scalped, during King Philip's war.^[2]

Peter Bent was listed as a passenger to New England in the ship Confidence of London, from Southampton on April 24, 1638, with his parents John and Martha Bent of Penton, and siblings, William, John and Ann. ^[3][4]

"Peter Bent (John) was born in Penton-Grafton, England, in April, 1629, and died in England, whither he seems to have gone on business, in May, 1678, age, 49. He was but nine years old when he accompanied his father to America.

"At or before the incorporation in 1660 of Marlboro', which was carved out of the wilderness to the west of Sudbury, he had moved thither. He and his father were among the thirteen who petitioned the Colony in 1656 for the laying out of the town. He built a grist mill on Stony Brook, in what is now the town of Southboro, and became a busy man. In 1661 he contracted to build a bridge across the Sudbury River 'for horse and man and laden carts to pass over.' More than once he went to England, no small undertaking in those days.

"He had build his house just south of Williams Pond, a mile or more from the present centre of Marlboro... Here his little family was growing up when suddenly the Indians, stirred up by the animosities of the Narragansett chief, King Philip, swooped down upon the growing town, one Sunday morning (March 26, 1676), while the good people were at church, applied the fire-brand, and Marlboro was no more. The November before, a small band of Indians crept up to Bent's mill and scalped his son (probably Zacheus, a lad of nine years) left him for dead - he afterwards recovered - and carried off one of his apprentices, Christopher Muchin (Mass. Archives, vol. 68, p. 40).

"But Peter's troubles had begun before this, as will be seen from the following extract from the Records of the Governor and Colony of Massachusetts Bay:

'Sep. 10, 1653. In ansr to the peticon of Peter Bent for reparacon of damages sustained in his hourses going on the countrjes service to Conecticott, the Court understanding this petitioners horse was by that journey worsted of at least sixe pounds in the value of it, besides his charge for the cure and hire of it, they therefore judge meete and order, that he shall be allowed tenn pounds out of the countryie levy, if he accept thereof, or otherwise he may have the liberty to sue the Treasurer, and recover what damage he cann justly proove.'

During King Philip's War, in October, 1675, the town of Marlborough set-up garrisons throughout the town, one was established at the home of Peter Bent. ^[5] "Two years after Marlboro was burned by the Indians, Peter died. The inventory of his estate includes `26 acres of ye house lott at Marlbrough, Milstones and Mil Irons, 25 acres of upland, joyneing to ye former house lot' and much other land, the real estate being appraised at L436. The personal estate, amounting to a little more than L40, includes one pair pistols, holsters and three swords.

"Peter left a widow Elizabeth (maiden name not ascertained), who was living in Sudbury in 1704, when she deeded to her elder son her widow's third of the Marlboro property. A year after her husband's death, she petitioned the Governor and Council for aid. (The petition, which is an interesting one, will be found in full elsewhere.)'^[6]

Her petition can be found here; https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028816052#page/n59/mode/2up

In his will, written of December 21 or 9?, 1674, he names:

• beloved wife Elizabeth, sol executor
• eldest son Peter
• children John, Zacheus, Hopestill, Martha, Elizabeth, Agnes and Patience ^[7]

Children

Children of Peter and Elizabeth. 1 - 4 born in Sudbury, the others in Marlboro: ^[8]

1. Peter, born August 8, 1652; died October 6, 1652.^[9]
2. Peter, born on October 15, 1653; died March 13, 1717; married Abigail Barnes, daughter of Richard, his second cousin. ^[4]
3. Martha, mentioned in her father's will and probably the Martha living unmarried in Boston in 1690.
4. Elizabeth, born on December 2, 1658; dies in Sudbury on February 21, 1683.
5. Agnes, born on August 19, 1661; died June 4, 1729, age 68; married July 9, 1684, Caleb Johnson, of Sudbury, born probably in 1646, died on December 1, 1715, son of Solomon Johnson.
6. John, born on January 8, 1663; died April 20, 1676, in Cambridge, whither the family had taken refuge after Marlboro had been burned by the Indians.
7. Zacheus, born about 1667; died in Sudbury, March 20, 1690; referred to in his father's will as weak in body.
8. Patience, born on August 28, 1670.
9. Hopestill, born on January 17, 1672; died August 18, 1725; married Elizabeth Brown on November 27, 1701. ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Felton, E. C. The English Ancestors of John Bent of Sudbury in: New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 49, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, 1895 p. 65-6
2. ↑ Gilbert O. Bent, Who Begot Thee?, p. 8
3. ↑ The Founders of New England in: New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 14, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, 1860, p. 334
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Bent, Allen H. The Bent Family in: New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 48, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, 1894, p. 288-
5. ↑ Hurd, Duane Hamilton. History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Volume 3, J. W. Lewis & Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1890, p. 820
6. ↑ Allen H. Bent, Bent Family in America, David Clapp & Son, Boston MA, 1900, p. 13-14
7. ↑ Case 1638: p. 1-5: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014.
8. ↑ Bent (1900), p. 9-16
9. ↑ West, Randy A., "Sudbury, Massachusetts, Vital Records for the Year 1652 from Middlesex County Court Records," NEHGR Vol. 173(2019):207. Link by $ubscription

see slso:

• Hudson, Charles and Joseph Allen. History of the Town of Marlborough, Middlesex County, Massachusetts: From Its First Settlement in 1657 to 1861; with a Brief Sketch of the Town of Northborough, a Genealogy of the Families in Marlborough to 1800, and an Account of the Celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Incoporation of the Town, Press of T. R. Marvin & son, Boston, Massachusetts, 1862

Acknowledgements

• Merryann Palmer.