Winifred (King) Benham (abt. 1639 - aft. 1697)

Born about 1639 in England [uncertain]

Wife of Joseph Benham — married 15 Nov 1656 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, New England

Descendants

Died after 1697 after about age 58 in New England

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Biography

Winifred (King) Benham was involved in the Salem Witch Trials

Winifred (King) Benham is Notable.

Winifred King (or perhaps Lyng), daughter of Mary (Williams) Hale (formerly King/Lyng) testified 5th of the 6th month 1656 at the age of about 17 years.^[1] This places her birth about 1639.

Her death is unknown. We know she was still alive in 1697, but there are no records to hint at what happened to Winifred. Robert Calef believes that she, Joseph and their family went to Staten Island, where at least one child had already settled, to avoid further persecution.^[2][3]

Marriage

Husband: Joseph Benham

Wife: Winifred King

Marriage: 15 JAN 1656/7, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Children

Child: Mary Benham b. 18 Sep 1657; died young, In New Haven.^[9][10]

Child: Joseph Benham b. 25 May 1659, in New Haven.^[9][11]

Child: Sarah Benham Daughter b. 1661; d. young, in New Haven.^[9] ____ daughter between Mar 7 and May 2 1661 ^[12]

Child: Joanna Benham b. 25 July 1662, in New Haven. d. young.^[9][13]

Child: Elizabeth Benham b. 13 Sep 1664; d. 1 Aug 1669, in New Haven.^[9].^[14]

Child: John Benham b. 28 Dec 1666; d. Nov 1670, in New Haven.^[9][15]

Child: Sarah, b. 1668; d. 1668, in New Haven.^[9]b. 1668 ^[16] d. 1668 ^[17]

Child: Daughter b. 1669;, in New Haven.^[18] probably this was Anna who m. Lambert Johnson of Staten Isalnd, New York^[9]

Child: John Benham b. 3 Nov 1671, in Wallingford; rem. to Kings Co., New York.^[9][19]

Child: Samuel Benham b. 12 May 1674, in Wallingford; d. young^[9][19]

Child: Sarah Benham b. 6 Sep 1676^[9][19]

Child: James Benham Jeams [James] s of Joseph and Winifrit born ________ ^[19] b. 1679^[9][20]

Child: Winifred Benham b. 21 Aug 1684^[9][19]

Child: Elizabeth Benham b. between the two Wallingford Johns. There is no Elizabeth named here by Jacobus or by Davis.

Child: Mary Benham b. 18 May 1673, in Wallingford d. young^[9] 18 May 1683 d. Joseph and Hannah, just nine months after their marriage is listed in both the Barbour Collection^[19] and Wallingford Vital Records, 1671-1706, In Land Records, Volume 1^[21] as the daughter of Joseph and Hannah, and indeed Jacobus has her listed as such on p 189 of Fam. of Anc. NH. This seems to be an error by Jacobus.

Quote - Witchcraft Trial

Quote From: Jacobus, Donald Lines (compiler). Families of Ancient New Haven, Vol I-VIII. and Index Vol IX New Haven: 1931. Reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974, 1981, 1997. Originally published as New Haven Genealogical Magazine, Volumes I-VIII. Rome, NY and New Haven, CT 1922-1932. Connecticut Witches - Winifred Benham, Mother and Daughter

New Haven County Court Records, volume I, page 202; Court held in Nov. 1692:

Winfred Benham of Wallingford, being summoned to appear at this Court for Examination upon suspicion of witchcraft, was now present, and the witnesses were called to testify what they had to say in the case and accordingly gave in their testimonies in writing, which were read in the hearing of the said Winfred. And she being called to say what she had to say for herself, her general answer was that she knew nothing of the matters testified and was not concerned therein. She also gave some testimonies for herself, which were read.

The Court, having heard and considered all the evidence against the said Winfred Benham and not finding sufficient grounds of conviction for further prosecution (at present) of the said Winfred, do therefore at this time dismiss the business, yet advising the said Winfred Benham solemnly to reflect upon the case, and grounds of suspicion given in and alleged against her, and told her if further grounds of suspicion of witchcraft, or fuller evidences should appear against her by reason of mischief done to the bodies or estate of any by any preternatural acts proved against her, she might justly fear and expect to be brought to her trial for it.

New Haven County Court Records, volume I, page 213; Court held in June 1693:

Winfred Benham of Wallingford, her husband Joseph Benham being bound in a bond of 20 pounds for her appearance at this Court for further examination about Witchcraft, he was now called and appeared, and the Court adjourned the case to their next session, and then upon notice given them the parties to appear, and the said bond to continue for said appearance, which said Benham consented to.

New Haven County Court Records, volume I, page 252:

A Special County Court by Order of the Governor held at New Haven the 31st of August 1697.

Present: Robert Treat, Esq., Governor; William Jones, Esq., Deputy Governor; Major Moses Mansfield, Assistant.

Complaint being made to the Authority by Ebenezer Clark, Joseph Royce, and John Moss, Jr., all of Wallingford, against Winfred Benham, Sr., and Winfred Benham, Jr., her daughter, that Sarah Clark, daughter of said Ebenezer Clark, Elizabeth Lathrop, and John Moss, son of the said John Moss, Jr., were frequently and sorely afflicted in their bodies by the said Benhams, mother, and daughter, or their apparitions, and as they strongly suspect by their means or procurement by the Devil in their shapes, and therefore desire the Authority as God's Ordinance for their relief strictly to examine the said suspected persons in order to a due trial of them, that a stop may be put to their suffering and prevention of such mischiefs among them for the future.

The Court, having seriously considered the accusations and informations on good testimony given in Winfred Benham, Sr., and Winfred Benham, Jr., upon suspicion of them for witchcraft, they, or the devil in their shapes, afflicting sundry young persons above named, as formerly accused and suspected in the year 1692; and finding clear and sufficient grounds of suspicion against them after strict examination of the said persons apart and severally, see just cause to bind over the said Benhams mother and daughter to appear at the next Court of Assistants in October next at Hartford in order to their further examination and trial personally. And the husband of said Winfred Senior gave 40 pounds recognizance for their appearance accordingly, or that they be secured in prison for their said trial. And said Benham to pay the charge of this Court.

Court charges, 21 shillings. Execution was granted for said 21 shillings.

Memorandum. The death of said [blank] young child to be inquired into, with what appeared of spots on said child and the like spots on said Benham quickly vanishing.

Robert Calef's "More Wonders," published 1700:

In August 1697. The Superior Court at Hartford, in the Colony of Connecticut, where one Mistress Benom was tried for Witchcraft, she had been accused by some Children that pretended to the Spectral sight; they searched her several times for Tets; they tried the Experiment of casting her into the Water, and after this, she was Excommunicated by the minister of Wallinsford. Upon tryal, nothing material appearing against her, save Spectre Evidence, she was acquitted, as also her Daughter, a Girl of Twelve or Thirteen Years old, who had been likewise Accused; but upon renewed Complaints against them, they both fled into New York Government.^[22]

Comment: The youthful accusers belonged to respectable families of Wallingford. John Moss (in his 15th year) was the son of John and Martha (Lathrop) Moss, grandson of John Moss, for many years a deputy to the General Court and Commissioner for Wallingford, and of Samuel Lathrop, Judge of the New London Court, and great-grandson of Rev. John Lathrop. Elizabeth Lathrop (aged 19) was John Moss's first cousin, daughter of John and Ruth (Royce) Lathrop; her father was dead, and her cousin Joseph Royce may have joined in the complaint on her behalf. Sarah Clark was aged 16. She had a brother born in 1694 who did not survive, but the date of his death is not recorded. The child who had spots and died was probably a son of Joseph Royce, who died in December 1695, aged a few months.

The accused was Winifred King of Boston, who married Joseph Benham of New Haven in 1657. They were among the first settlers in Wallingford in 1670. She was probably about 67 or 58 years old at the time of the 1697 accusation. Her daughter Winifred, the youngest of her 14 children, was then 13.

Calef's assertion that continued suspicions drove mother and daughter to seek refuge in New York State is doubtless true. Two Benham children, Joseph and James, remained in Wallingford, where the younger Joseph died in 1702. The elder Joseph appears to have died the following year, but the probate entries are meager, and it is not sure whether his wife Winifred survived him. There is some reason to believe that the older Joseph and his wife died on Staten Island. The Wallingford realty was divided by agreements between the heirs in 1727 and 1728 (Wallingford- Deeds, V. 453, 464). These show that the son John Benham was then resident in Kings County, N. Y. and that the three Benham daughters, Anna, Sarah, and Winifred, with their respective husbands, Lambert Johnson, Jacob Johnson, and Evert Van Namen, were then living in Richmond, N. Y. The records of the Dutch church on Staten Island mention their families and show that Lambert and Anna (Benham) Johnson had a daughter, Winifred, baptized in 1696. This was a year before the witchcraft accusation. Since the elder Winifred then had a married daughter living on Staten Island, she probably fled to this daughter's home, and some of the younger children either accompanied or followed her thither. Calef's account of the case seems trustworthy so far as it can be verified, and we need not hesitate to accept his statement that Mrs. Benham was searched for witch marks, probably at the New Haven trial. His assertion that the water test was applied is perhaps questionable. Mr. Jones, one of the examining Magistrates, is known to have held the water test in slight esteem. However, it may have been applied at Mrs. Benham's request. Accused witches were no less superstitious than their accusers and feeling confident of their innocence, sometimes volunteered to undergo the water test, believing it would prove them innocent.

Nothing is known against the character of Mrs. Benham, and the family was of good repute, save for the suspicions of witchcraft. Two at least of her daughters named a child after their mother, showing they were fond of her. It is pleasing to learn that the young daughter, Winifred Junior, after such terrifying experiences, was married to Evert Van Namen and reared a family in Richmond. N. Y.

Sources

1. ↑ Leclerc, Michael J. and Simons, D. Brenton. “Origin of Accused Witch Mary (Williams) (King?) Hale of Boston and Her Brothers Hugh, John, and Possibly, Nathaniel Williams.” The American Genealogist 82:161. 2007
2. ↑ Source: #S251 Page: p. 956-957
3. ↑ Jacobus, Donald Lines (compiler). Families of Ancient New Haven, Vol I-VIII. and Index Vol IX New Haven: 1931. Reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974, 1981, 1997. Originally published as New Haven Genealogical Magazine, Volumes I-VIII. Rome, NY and New Haven, CT 1922-1932. Connecticut Witches - Winifred Benham, Mother and Daughter
4. ↑ Source: #S77 Page: Vol. 1, Page 165; Vol. 3, Page 27
5. ↑ Source: #S316 Page: A - B. Vol. 1, 1999. p. 67-69.
6. ↑ Source: #S951 Page: p. 62
7. ↑ Source: #S1033 Page: p. 1-2
8. ↑ "Early Records of Boston" The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 11. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1857 p. 203 link at google books
9. ↑ ^{9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13} Jacobus, Donald Lines (compiler). Families of Ancient New Haven, Vol I-VIII. and Index Vol IX New Haven: 1931. Reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974, 1981, 1997. Originally published as New Haven Genealogical Magazine, Volumes I-VIII. Rome, NY and New Haven, CT 1922-1932. pp. 186, 187
10. ↑ Vital Records of New Haven 1649-1850 Part I. (Hartford: The Connecticut Society of the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, 1917.) p. 15
11. ↑ Vital Records of New Haven p. 16
12. ↑ Vital Records of New Haven p. 17
13. ↑ Vital Records of New Haven p. 19
14. ↑ Vital Records of New Haven p. 22 NHV p. 31
15. ↑ Vital Records of New Haven p. 23 & p. 32
16. ↑ Vital Records of New Haven p. 28
17. ↑ Vital Records of New Haven p. 26
18. ↑ Vital Records of New Havenp. 29
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5} Connecticut Vital Records to 1870 "Wallingford" (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928. pp 36, 37, 38
20. ↑ Wallingford Vital Records, 1671-1706, In Land Records, Volume 1. (DL Jacobus, copier). The American Genealogist. Vol 14 p 22. Online AmericanAncestors, NEHGS.
21. ↑ Wallingford Vital Records, 1671-1706, In Land Records, Volume 1. (DL Jacobus, copier). The American Genealogist. Vol 14 p 22. Online AmericanAncestors, NEHGS.
22. ↑ Calef, Robert. More wonders of the invisible world, or The wonders of the invisible world displayed. In five parts. Salem, Reprinted by John D. and T. C. Cushing, Jr. for Cushing and Appleton, 1823. p. 282 View 1823 edition at Archive

• Source: #S378 Page: p. 653-656 FOOT Davis, Charles Henry Stanley, History of Wallingford, Connecticut (Meriden, Connecticut, Self-Published, 1870), p. 653-656.<
• Family History or Pedigree: "U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970"
  Volume: 245
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2204 #1096597 (accessed 25 September 2023)
  Name: Winifred King; SAR Membership: 48927; Role: Ancestor; Application Date: 10 May 1929; Spouse: Joseph Benham; Children: James Benham.
• Source: S1033 Author: Scoudan, Fern Orr and Bowater, John Title: Benham - A Pedigree Publication: Name: Self-published; Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California; Date: 1989;
• Source: S251 Author: Jacobus, Donald Lines Title: Families of Ancient New Haven Publication: Name: Clarence D. Smith; Location: Rome, New York; Date: 1923;
• Source: S316 Author: Anderson, Robert Charles Title: Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633 Publication: Name: New England Historic Genealogical Society; Location: Boston; Date: 1995;
• Source: S378 Author: Davis, Charles Henry Stanley Title: History of Wallingford, Connecticut Publication: Name: Self-Published; Location: Meriden, Connecticut; Date: 1870;
• Source: S77 Author: Savage, James Title: Genealogical Dictionary of New England Settlers Publication: Location: Boston; Date: 1862;
• Source: S951 Title: New England Marriages Before 1700 Publication: Name: Genealogical Publishing Co.; Date: 1985;