Benjamin Heywood (1746 - 1816)

Born 25 Oct 1746 in Shrewsbury, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Died 7 Dec 1816 at age 70 in Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

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Biography

^[1]Benjamin Heywood born Oct. 25, 1746 (he was named after his uncle Benjamin Heywood who had died at Cape Breton in Canada in the same year he was born),^[2] Shrewsbury, Worcester, Massachusetts son of Phineas, a prominent Shrewsbury farmer, served an apprenticeship to a housewright and ran his own carpentry business for a year or two, until he decided to prepare for attending Harvard in 1771. At the university, where he excelled in math, Heywood joined fellow students in the Marti-mercurian Band, which eventually, with other troops, fought the British on April 19, 1775.^[3]

Heywood soon joined the army,^[4] rose to Captain in 1776, and was appointed paymaster, attached to Col. Nixon’s regiment. At the war’s end he was appointed to a committee with General Henry Knox and Col. Brooks to recommend measures to appease disgruntled soldiers whose pay had been postponed. He also served on a committee to adjust the accounts of the Massachusetts officers and soldiers. In this capacity he negotiated with the Legislature and prepared long reports.

After the war, Heywood returned home to Worcester and married Mehitable Goddard, adopted daughter of Nathaniel Moore, an early settler of Worcester. William Lincoln notes in his 1862 History of Worcester that Benjamin Heywood’s “activity of disposition and facility in business enabled him, in addition to the management of a farm, to devote much time to the concerns of his neighbors and to public affairs. The reliance on his integrity and good judgment was testified by frequent selection as arbitrator, executor, and guardian.” In 1786 he took the deposition of Clark Parker for Col. Eben Lovel; on June 18, 1789 he was appointed for the Reference between Marshall and Harrington; on October 4, 1803, he appraised David Stowell’s estate for Nathaniel Stowell.

Heywood was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1802. He served until 1811 when, in a judicial reorganization, the seats in that tribunal were vacated. He was also an acting magistrate of the county, a member of the Board of Trustees of Leicester Academy, an elector of the President and Vice President of the United States twice, a trustee of the Hassanamisset Indians, and an officer in many charitable and religious associations. He died in December of 1816,^[5] at the age of 70.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ UMass Amherst Libraries Special Collections & University Archives Benjamin Heywood Daybooks (MS 239). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.History of the Collection Acquired from dealer, March 1989 Processing Information Processed by Linda Seidman, 1989.Heywood, Benjamin, 1746-1816 http://scua.library.umass.edu/umarmot/heywood-benjamin-worcester-mass/
2. ↑ Benjamin HEYWOOD Birth 1746 Location Shrewsbury, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States Original Text (see Haywood), Benjamin, s. Phinehas and Elizabeth, Oct. 25, 1746. Town Info Shrewsbury Volume Name Shrewsbury - V1 Page 51Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/rd/7803/51/141967445
3. ↑ 6th Massachusetts Regiment/ Wikipedia; Benjamin Heywood- Served as lieutenant, captain from December 1775 until June 1783. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Massachusetts_Regiment
4. ↑ United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783 Name: Benjamin Heywood Event Type:Military Service Event Date: May 1775 Event Place:United States Military Company/Regiment: 6th Massachusetts Military Rank:Captain Military Rank (Original):Captain Death Date: 6 Dec 1816 Death Place: Mass. Page Number:288 https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QRL5-LG2M
5. ↑ Vital Records from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register Benjamin HEYWOOD Death 1816 Location Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States Original Text Harvard College, Classes of 1775-1777 Volume Name 158 Page 157 Vital Records from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (Compiled from articles originally published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB522/rd/14305/157/264789219
6. ↑ FIND A GRAVE https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/111182246/benjamin-heywood