Benoni Austin (abt. 1706 - abt. 1744)

Born about 1 Jan 1706 in Biddeford, York County, Maine

Husband of Mercy (Thompson) Jenkins — married about 13 Feb 1732 in Scarborough, Cumberland, Maine

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Jerry Paddock [send private message] and Bonnie Austin [send private message]

Biography

When Benoni Austin was born in 1696, his father, William Austin, was 37 and his mother, Princess Laughing Water Wampanoag, was 36. ^{[citation needed]}

"Benjaoni Austen ... asserted, with evident pride , that his grandfather was was a brother to King Philip, the celebrated Indian chief who figured so conspicuously in the Indian wars of the 17th century... [the author theorizes that the brother was] Wamsutta, afterwards named Alexander, who succeeded his father [Massasoit] as head of the tribe [and died in 1657]... 'But,' says one who had seen his swarthy skin and straight coal-black hair, 'If Wamsutta as not his grandfather some other Indian certainly was. ' "^[1]

Benoni Austin of Maine married to Mercy Thompson 13 Feb 1731 In Scarborough, Maine^[2]

Benoni and Mercy had the following children:

1. John Austin, born 1732.
2. Daniel Austin, born 1735.
3. David Austin
4. Rosanna Austin, born 1737..
5. Mary Austin, born 1739.
6. Benoni Austin, born 1741^[3][4]

There is conflicting information about his death, neither of which cites a source:

• He died in 1779, in Rhode Island, United States, at the age of 83.
• He passed away about 1743-1745.

Research Notes

Benoni Austin of Maine

The John Austin of Maine database has been renamed the Benoni Austin of Maine database. We have found a record of John's parents in the Biddeford, Maine Vital Records and the Early Brunswick, Maine Records.^{[citation needed]}

Massasoit Wampanoag:^[5]

• Sunconewhew (or Sonkanuhoo);
• Mioneaime (or Moanam) (Pokanoket) Tuspaquin;
  • Benjamin Tuspaquin;
    • Benjamin Tuspaquin;
      • Lydia (Tuspaquin) Wamsley;
        • Phebe (Wamsley) Gould
    • Mary Tuspaquin
• Wamsutta (or Moonanam or Alexander ok P) Wampanoag – Weetamo (or Tatapanum) Pocasset;
  • Laughing Water Wampanoag – William Austin;
    • Benoni Austin – Mercy (thompson) Jenkins;
• Metacomet Pokanoket;
• Metacom (or Pometacom) Massasoit = King Philip – Wootonekanuske;
• Unknown Wampanoag;
• Amie (Wampanoag) Assawamset – Tuspaquin;
  • William Tuspaquin;
  • Benjamin Tuspaquin -Assawetough (or Merey Felix) (daughter of John Sassamon);

Name William Austin Jr.^[6]

Birth Date abt 1670

Death Place Bath, Sagadahoc Co., ME

Father William Bill Will Austin Sr.

Mother Anne Phillip

Misc. Notes: Carried away by Indians as a small boy, and remained with them. Married a daughter of Chief Wamsutta (Alexander). After the death of his wife, he left the tribe and settled in Bath, Maine.

Spouses

1 Indian Princess Pokanoket of the Wampanoag

Birth Date abt 1660

Occupation Native American Indian

Father Wamsutta Alexander Pokanoket of the Wampanoag (~1634-1662)

Mother Sunksqua Sachem Weetamoo of the Wampanoags (~1635-1676)

Children Benoni (~1706-1743)

11-2. Bill Austin, ‘famous Indian Scout’, had a boy William captured by Indians. William allegedly married a daughter of Wamsutta, son of Massasoit and brother of King Philip. William’s sons, Benoni and John, went to Wales, Maine from New Meadows (part of Brunswick, Maine). Seek ancestry and wife of Bill Austin

• https://www.austinfamilies.org/afaoa_docs/Special/AustinsofAmericaVol1p1p69.pdf

From Descendants of Adrian Frye of Kittery, Maine. Pg 127,

Under Marcy/Mercy Thomas, b. York 1 April 1712; m (1) (int.) Biddeford, 4 Feb.1731/2, Benoni Asten/Austin, (306), alleged son of William Austin and Wamsutta mother. (307) d. bef. 17 May 1744 when his wife published intentions to remarry. Mercy m. (2) (int.) Brunswick, 17 May 1744, David Jenkins. (308) probably he b. Barnstable, Mass, 22 Sept. 1722 son of Philip and Elizabeth (Clack)Jenkins. (309)

Bill Austin, was a "Famous Indian Scout" had a son William, captured by Indians. William is said to have married a daughter of Wamsutta, who was the son of Massasoit, and brother of King Philip. This assertion was made by Mercy's son Benoni Austin. Other's who knew Benoni often remarked on his some what darker complexion. One commented, "If Wamsutta was not his grandfather, then some other Indian certainly was." (310)

William's sons Benoni and John resided in the New Meadows section of Brunswick before removing to Wales, Maine. (3:1)

Children of Benoni and Mercy (Thomas) Austin all born in Brunswick; (312) 1. John Austin b 20 Aug 1732 2. Danial Austin, b 1 April 1735 3. Rosanna Austin b 7 April 1737 4. Mary Austin b 6 June 1793 5. Benoni Austin b11may 1741

Children of David Jenkins and Mercy (Thomas) (Austin) Jenkins 6. Philip Jenkins 7. David Jenkins 8. Elizabeth Jenkins ?

Sources

1. ↑ Harry H. Cochrane, History of Monmouth and Wales, Maine (East Winthrop, Mass., 1894), p 32.
2. ↑ "Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q219-T625 : 28 November 2018), Benoni Asten and Mary Tompson, 13 Feb 1731; citing Scarborough, Cumberland, Maine, United States, multiple sources, Maine; FHL microfilm.
3. ↑ "Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9BJ-J91M-S?cc=1803978 : 28 November 2018), image 1 of 1; multiple sources, Maine.
4. ↑ Brunswick Vital Records, pp 20-21
5. ↑ Massasoit of the Wampanoags – ebook – PDF (blog). Includes image captures and some extracts of Alvin Weeks' 1919 book, and also includes the following descendant outline which is not included in Weeks' 1919 publication.
6. ↑ Kathrine Cole Aydelott, My Maine Heritage (June 2023) Unsourced

See also:

• Massasoit of the Wampanoags, Alvin Gardner Weeks, [Fall River, Mass.] Priv. print. [The Plimpton press], 1919, 306 pages. (https://books.google.com/books?id=anBHAAAAIAAJ] NOTE: Neither the Austin/Austen story nor the Wamsutta genealogy below appears in this book. Wamsutta's family description starts on page 135, and describes a wife, but names no children.

• https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LCY7-VQY/benoni-austin-austin-1706-1743
• Cochrane, Henry H. (Member of the Maine Historical Society), History of Monmouth and Wales [Maine] (Volume 1). East Winthrop, ME: Banner Co., 1894, p. 32.: https://archive.org/details/historyofmonmout01coch/page/n55/mode/2up