Benjamin Mudgett (abt. 1732 - abt. 1807)

Born about 1732 in Brentwood, New Hampshire

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Bean) Mudgett — married 21 Dec 1761 in Brentwood, New Hampshire

Descendants

Died about 9 Jan 1807 at about age 75 in Gilmanton, Strafford, New Hampshire, United States

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Biography

Benjamin Mudgett was born in 1732, in Brentwood, New Hamphsire, a son of John Mudgett and Susanna (Scribner) Mudgett. On December 21, 1761, Benjamin married Hannah Bean, eldest child of Joshua Bean and his first wife, Hannah (Robinson) Bean.

Immediately after their marriage, Benjamin and Hannah left Brentwood, New Hampshire on snowshoes to go to the new settlement at Gilmanton. This was their "honeymoon trip." It was cold and the snow was deep. Benjmain had been there in the summer, choosing his lot and erected a crude cabin.

The trip got harder, until during the afternoon of December 24th, Hannah was so exhausted, she sat down in the snow and resolved to die. Later, George Woodbury wrote in the Gilmanton newspaper, "Alone, far from friends, or any human being, in the darkness of a winter night in the primeval forest, the young people made on more final effort and found their home in the wilderness, at last."

This was on Christmas Eve. The next day, Benjamin's brother, John and his wife trailed Hannah and Benjamin to their home. On January 10th, another couple, Orlando Wood and his wife, joined them and all three couples lived together in the cabin the rest of the winter.

The next year, seven more families moved to Gilmanton, and the proprietors offered a reward for the first male child which was born at Gilmanton. Benjamin and Hannah's first baby was a girl, born in 1762. (Named Hannah Mudgett, she married John Huckins.) But, Benjamin and Hannah won the prize, delivering their son, Samuel on February 15, 1764.

Sources

• Clan MacBean of North America, Volume I, Sixth Edition, Revised 1992, by Joseph S. Bean, page 317-319
• Mudgett-175 was created by Russ Mudgett through the import of russmudgett.ged on May 7, 2017
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77745890/hannah-mudgett