Benjamin Godfrey Jr. (1740)

Born 1740 in Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Descendants

Died [date unknown] in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada

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Biography

Benjamin Godfrey was born circa 1739 in Chatham, Mass.

He married Bethia Atwood, 27 July 1762 in Chatham, Mass. She was born 3 February 1743/1744 in Chatham, Mass., the daughter of Joseph and Deborah (Sears) Atwood. ^[1]She died 6 March 1786 in Liverpool, NS.

Benjamin served in Canada during the French and Indian Wars in 1760. He was a merchant and trader in Liverpool, owning shares in cargoes shipped in and out of port. In 1780, he was the Rate Collector for Queens County. After his wife’s death in 1786, he sent several of his children back to Chatham, joining them there 1790. He then taught school in Chatham for thirteen years before moving to Guysborough County, NS about 1803.

Between 1763 and 1765 the family migrated to Nova Scotia.

The 1787 Queens County census lists two men, two women, and three children

Children Benjamin Godfrey and Bethia Atwood:

1. Deborah, b. ca 1762, m. 20 Dec 1791, Guysborough to Elias Cook
2. Lucy, b. 1 Jan 1763 (1764?) in Chatham, Mass., mar. in Liverpool, 13 Apr 1782 to Lieut. John Cameron of the Kings Orange Rangers, died 1830. John Cameron was b. Fort William, Scotland; d. Grand Manan, NS, 1830?. They had a large family at Sydney, Guysborough County.
3. Joseph, b. 15 Sep 1766 in Liverpool, NS, m. 6 May 1791, Liverpool to Jane d/o Alexander and Jane Ross,.d. 17 Feb 1801, Liverpool. [see Queens Co will book 1 p. 186]
4. John, b. 15 Sep 1766 in Liverpool, NS, m.1 Dec 1802, Elizabeth McLeod, b. 1785 (d/o Donald and Elizabeth (Waterman)(Lee) McLeod [at least 1 ch]
5. Elizabeth, b. 3 May 1768 in Liverpool, NS., m. 21 Jul 1789 to Job Boomer, (s/o Joshua and Rebecca (Elsbree) Boomer), d. 5 Mar 1813, Liverpool in her 45th year; bur. in Congregational Church yard.
6. Hannah, b. 3 May 1768, Liverpool, m. 1784 to William Sealey. This family all drowned 22 Oct 1785 while on their way to church.
7. Matthea, b. ca 1770, d. 21 Dec 1790 (21 Jan 1791) in Guysborough, at age 20 of smallpox.
8. Benjamin, b. ca 1772, m. 31 Dec 1801, Guysborough, to Catherine Bigsby, d. 28 Oct 1818, Guysborough. 7 ch
9. prob Gideon Y, b. ca 1778, m. 16 Jun 1808, Guysborough, to Cynthia Toby

Sources

1. ↑ 1762 Marriage Record "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (30 October 2019), Barnstable > Chatham > Births, marriages, deaths, town records 1749-1787 vol 2 > image 129 of 360; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston.

• 1787 census, Liverpool, Queens, Nova Scotia
• Thurston, Lois Ware. Elizabeth⁵ (Hopkins) (Godfrey) Tobey of Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, The American Genealogist (The American Genealogist, Barrington, RI, 1991) Vol. 66, Page 86.
• AGBI: American Genealogical-Biographical Index, Godfrey Memorial Library, Middletown, CT, USA
• Filby, P. William. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s (Gale Research, Farmington Hills, MI, USA, 2012)