Benjamin King (1683 - bef. 1733)

Born 20 Nov 1683 in Suffield, Hartford, Connecticut

Ancestors

Husband of Rememberance (Hall) Thomas — married 24 Apr 1712 in Suffield, Hartford, Connecticut [uncertain]

Descendants

Died before 30 Nov 1733 before age 50 in Stafford, Hartford, Connecticut

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Biography

Birth: Nov. 7, 1647Ugborough Devon, EnglandDeath: May 13, 1722 Suffield Hartford County Connecticut, USA Son of "William Kinge Jr." and "Agnes Elwill" who came to America with his father and a brother around 1662 after the death of his mother in April of that year.

The Story of this family is recorded in a book entitled: "King family of Suffield, Connecticut, its English ancestry 1389-1908" by C.H. King 1908.

James first settled in Ipswich, MA where he met and married his wife "Elizabeth Fuller" in 1674. It is reported the his father "William Kinge Jr." died after they arrived in the new world some time before 1678. His father was a fisherman and was "cast away and drowned on the banks of Newfoundland". ( p. 58) His grandparents were "William Kinge Sr" and "Christina Lapp" but they did not leave England. His older brother (William III b. 1643) is said to have "settled in a southern state" but there is no record of this line continuing.

James, arriving at the age of 15, mostly likely began his training as a cooper apprentice which appears to have been his life long vocation, in that he left his cooper tools to his eldest son James in his Will. By 1673 he bought land and a house in Ipswich and soon married.

James and his family finally settled in Suffield, Conn. in October 1678. There he lived for 45 years before he died in 1722. The homestead was located next to the school lot in the heart of the town on Main Street. Suffield is on the Conn. River (across from Enfield) and near the MA border and was part of the original colony.

James is listed as one of the voting members at the first town meeting of Suffield in 1782. He would become quite prominent in the public affairs of the new town. Held many important offices an served on several committees. (i.e. Office of "Tithingman", "Highway Surveyor, Clerk, and was even charged with seeing that a community schoolhouse be built. )

James had 9 children with Elizabeth three of whom died in infancy.

He remarried after Elizabeth's death in 1717 to "Hannah Loomis" widow of "Samuel Loomis" at the age of 70.

Again from his Will at the age of 75 it appears he was a Christian man of strong faith who was looking foward to the resurrection.

Burial: Old Center Cemetery, Suffield, Hartford, Connecticut

Sources

• King, Cameron Haight. The King Family of Suffield, Connecticut (Walter N. Brunt Co., San Francisco, 1908) Page 80 & Page 85-7
• Clemens, William Montgomery. American Marriages Before 1699 (Biblio Co., Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, USA, 1926)
• Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook) Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
• Find A Grave: Memorial #13615849
• Belcher, Jane. Samuel Hall (1664-1733) of Taunton and Middleborough, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, NEHGR (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 2007) Vol. 161, Page 42.
• Manwaring, Charles William. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records (R.S. Peck & Co., Hartford, 1904) Vol. 3, Page 76-7.