Benjamin (Harrington) Hearnden (abt. 1622 - bef. 1687)

Born about 1622 in England

Husband of Elizabeth (White) Harrington — married 9 Jul 1647 in Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died before 1 Sep 1687 before about age 65 in Providence, Rhode Island

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Steve Henkel [send private message], Maurice Williams [send private message], Johnson Harrington [send private message], and TC Culsen [send private message]

Benjamin (Harrington) Hearnden is currently protected by the Puritan Great Migration Project for reasons described in the narrative. Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: PGM

Biography

While it appears Benjamin migrated after the 1640 cutoff for the PGM project, the project is protecting and watching this profile because Benjamin has been associated (wrongly or not) with other PGM immigrants.

Hearnden versus Harrington

Benjamin should be known as Benjamin Hearnden [Harrington], rather than Benjamin Harrington [Hearnden]. Benjamin was known by the surname of Hearnden (and variants) and only some of his descendants became known by the more common surname of Harrington (which has different origins in England). Please refer to the attached image from the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland.

Disputed Origins

Per Winifred (Lovering) Holman, FASG [Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists (fasg.org)], “The Hearnden Line” (Mss A 5305, R. Stanton Avery Special Collections Department, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1944), the origins of Benjamin Hearnden are unknown.

Benjamin Hearnden was not the son of John-1 and Anne (Clinton) Harrington of Charlestown, Massachusetts. Nevertheless, unsupported claims persist that he was son of James-John Harrington and Anne Clinton (some say Clinton-Fiennes) and brother to other PGM immigrants. For example, here is an unsourced forum post:

"English family records show that Benjamin was the second son of James Harrington. James was the seventh son of Sir John Harrington of Kelston,Somerset, England. Pedigree documentation reveals that the second daughter of the Earl of Lincoln, Anne Clinton-Fiennes, married James Harrington of England and they produced four children named respectively:"^[1]

1. Robert (b 1616)
2. Benjamin (b 1618)
3. Abraham (b 1622)
4. Rebecca (b 1625)

But there appears to be no valid source to support these parents or siblings; therefore the PGM project is disconnecting them. Per Holman, the origins of Benjamin Harrington, otherwise known as Benjamin Hearnden, are unknown.^[2]

Biography

Benjamin's last name appears in the records with various spellings. He signed documents with mark, indicating likely illiteracy; therefore his name was spelled by others. But the various records, with various spellings -- Harrington / Herrington / Errington / Herndell / Harnden / Herinqton -- clearly describe/refer to the same man.^[1]

Disputed Emigration

The same source that claims, without citation, that Benjamin was son of James and Anne also claims he emigrated in 1630 with his parents and siblings:

"Benjamin Harrington is believed to have accompanied his father, mother and the two younger siblings (Abraham and Rebecca) to Massachusetts sometime during 1630. They travelled not with ‘Winthrops Great Fleet’ but aboard an accompanying cattle ship named ‘Prosperous’. (James was probably a farmer – hence their mode of travel). Thus, though family legend would have it that the first Harrington to arrive in Boston Bay was named John Harrington the evidence now clearly shows it was more likely to have been James, husband of Anne and father of Benjamin, Robert Abraham and Rebecca.^[3]

"Eldest sibling Robert didn’t arrive in America until after his mother died. During those crucial years Robert enjoyed an education and the home comforts of his English grandmother.^[1]

"Benjamin was only 12 years old when he lost his father, Abraham was eight and Rebecca five. The loneliness, privation and sheer terror imposed upon widowed Anne and her three young children isolated on the shores of a barren unfamiliar land is something critics of Benjamin perhaps fail to understand. The family were without a male leader, adequate food, shelter or proper protection. They were almost certainly without basic education. ^[1]

Filby, however, claims he came straight to Rhode Island in 1645.^[4]

He appeared in Salem court in 1647 with a note indicating that his case was a presentment from Lynn, placing him in Massachusetts in that year. Did he go to Rhode Island first, in 1645 as Filby claims? Hard to say since the "Filby" publication is sourced from a variety of documents of varying quality.

Marriage and Children

According to Torrey's "New England Marriages to 1700", Benjamin Hearnden married Elizabeth White by (not "on") 9 Jul 1647 either in Lynn, Massachusetts or in Providence, Rhode Island. Torrey said this of the marriage:

HEARNDEN, Benjamin (-1687) & Elizabeth [WHITE], m/2 Richard PRAY 1688±; by 9 Jul 1647; Lynn/Providence

Spoiler alert: her identity as Elizabeth White, daughter of William and Elizabeth White of Boston and Providence is proved by two land deeds detailed below.^[5]

Since concern was raised on this profile about the quality of sourcing for the marriage, Torrey's sources are listed here:Essex Co. Court Rec. 1:133, 137; Essex Ant. 6:28, 29 (repeating Essex Co. court record; Reg. 6:342 (stating only that he was in Lynn by 1647); Shotwell 48 (asserts Elizabeth White was his wife but without a source); Austin: GDRI 95,^[5] (asserts wife as Elizabeth White proven by land deeds) and 358 (Richard Pray entry); Whipple-Hill 32 (asserts wife as Elizabeth White but without source); Bassett-Preston 320 (asserts wife as Elizabeth White but without source).^[6] It would seem that most of these sources relied on Austin for the surname of Benjamin's wife.

The GDRI lists his wife's name (Elizabeth White) but not a marriage record. Essex County court records (p 133) shows his appearance as Benjamin "Hearndale" in Feb 1646/47 at Salem Court (as a Lynn, Mass presentment) for beating his wife but does not name her. Four pages later on 2 Mar 1647 she appears as Elizabeth, wife of Benjament "Hewenden" who appears in court for stealing clothes from Mary Pray.^[7] (apparently the struggled with the spelling of his name).

A pair of land deeds in Rhode Island (cited by Austin^[5]) note that that on 16 Ot 1662, Benjamin bought a house and lot of 25 acres in Providence, RI from William and Elizabeth White of Boston, the money being paid by Benjamin's wife Elizabeth. This same land (explicitly noted as the land bought by Benjamin Hearnden from her father, William White) was sold by Elizabeth on 13 Dec 1701 (now doubly widowed) to Joseph Whipple (likely related to David Whipple, husband of Elizabeth's daughter Sarah)

Children of Benjamin and Elizabeth are supposedly:^{[citation needed]}

1. Benjamin Harrington was deeded land by his parents in Rhode Island on 20 Apr 1685^[5]
2. Joseph (Twin) Harrington
3. Joseph Harrington was deeded land by his parents in Rhode Island on 3 Mar 1686
4. Alice Harrington m. 25 Dec 1669 Daniel Brown ^[5] (spelled as "Hearnton" in Providence VR)
5. Sarah Harrington^[8] who supposedly was born c. 1654, married David Whipple 15 May 1675 she died 2 Apr 1677 according to this source.
6. Mary Harrington married Andrew Edmunds at Providence 14 Oct 1675^[9]
7. Isaac Harrington was deeded land by his mother on 20 Oct 1688; she being the wife of Richard Pray by this date^[5]
8. William Harrington
9. John Harrington
10. Thomas Harrington

His son Benjamin married Lydia Unknown about 1675/79 per Torrey citing Austin's "Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island"^[5]

Death

According to Austin, his will was made 1 Feb 1687 and presented in court 4 Apr 1688 between which dates on 1 Sep 1687 it was taxed as follows:

"Estate of deceased Benjamin Hearnden, taxed 4s. 2d."^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} William Harrington, "Benjamin Harrington of Rhode Island Parentage," Harrington Genforum #4602, June 09, 2011. Accessed March 22, 2015
2. ↑ Winifred (Lovering) Holman, FASG, “The Hearnden Line” (1944)
3. ↑ William Harrington, "Benjamin Harrington of Rhode Island Parentage" Harrington Genforum #4602, June 09, 2011 http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/harrington/4602/. Accessed March 22, 2015
4. ↑ Filby, P. William, ed. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2012. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=pili354&h=3599446&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt Arrival date: 1645 Arrival place: Providence, Rhode Island p 136
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7} The genealogical dictionary of Rhode Island : comprising three generations of settlers who came before 1690 : with many families carried to generation by Austin, John Osborne, 1849-1918 Publication date 1887 entry for Benjamin Hearnden Jr. marriage to Lydia Unknown p. 95
6. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Vol 2. p. 737 $subscription
7. ↑ Records and files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts Vol. 1 p. 137
8. ↑ Annals of our colonial ancestors and their descendants; or, Our Quaker forefathers and their posterity by Shotwell, Ambrose Milton, 1853- Publication date 1897 p. 48
9. ↑ Vital record of Rhode Island : 1636-1850 : first series : births, marriages and deaths : a family register for the people by Arnold, James N. (James Newell), 1844-1927 Publication date 1892 1675 marriage of Mary Hearnden and Andrew Edmunds p. 91

See also:

• See more extensive research notes at this link for Benjamin and his family [history: http://sherrysharp.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I70115&tree=Roots here].
• "The History of Danby, Rutland, Vermont" by John C. Williams 393 pages, Pub. 1869 by McLean & Robbins, Rutland, VT., read free at www.archive.org. From these sources, a reasonable profile of the Harrington Ancestry may be made.
• Source: S926918360 North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #7703752