Benjamin Southworth (bef. 1711 - 1776)

Born before 1711 in Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Hunt) Southworth — married 11 Jul 1733 in Kingston, Plymouth, Massachusetts

Descendants

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Biography

2002 Information on Parents of Benjamin Southworth: "Grandchild of Edward and Mary (Pabodie) Southworth, fathered either by son Benjamin or Constant. [listed under Constant in Alden Silver book]. Mother of the son was Abigail West, daughter of Samuel and Triphosa (_____) West; born at Duxbury, 16 September 1682; married at Duxbury, 4 August 1714, Nathaniel Cole."^[1]

In 1757, Benjamin "sometimes called Benjamin Southworth Jr. of Duxbury, who is the son of his sister Abigail Cole, wife of Nathaniel Cole of Duxbury was mentioned in Pelatiah West's will.^[2]

Benjamin Southworth, second child and son of Constant Southworth and Rebecca Simmons, was born in Duxbury, MA ^[3] and married Mary Hunt (daughter of Thomas Hunt and Honour Stetson), in Kingston, Massachusetts on July 11, 1733. ^{[4] [5]} Together they had at least six children. ^[6]

Time and again when searching the records of Duxbury, those children attributed to Benjamin are listed with the father named Benjamin Jr and the same mother Mary Hunt. These dates are consistent with other genealogies of the same family. Also, at that time there was no Benjamin Southworth Jr, son of Benjamin Southworth Sr. It may be that the transcribers before 1911 misread the abbreviation of Benjamin. Certain handwritten notes "Benjn" could have been interpreted "Ben jr."^[7] Another example is the Vermont records of the Beecher family. Looking at the handwritten records they could be seen as Bucher, because the "e's" were closed, and many of them have been transcribed Bucher. A good example is the birth of Elmer Beecher. This card, still on file, is in the handwriting of Erastus Bostwick, Town Clerk of Hinesburg(h), VT. An image of this record is included here as an example. In the handwriting of Erastus Bostwick all Beechers look like Buchers. ^[8]

Benjamin and Mary (Hunt) Southworth had the following (8) children:^[9]

1. Submit, born 1 June 1734
2. Peleg, born 13 Aug 1736; died 19 Nov 1748
3. Cynthia, born 13 Feb 1738/9; died 4 Dec 1748
4. Abigail, born 11 Nov 1741; died 19 Sept 1768
5. Olive, born 25 Jul 1744; died 18 Nov 1748
6. Sylvia, born 22 Nov 1747
7. Cynthia, born 7 Nov 1750
8. Honnor, born 21 Jan 1757

Sources

1. ↑ Esther Littleford Woodsworth-Barnes, Mayflower Families through Five Generations, Vol 16, Part 1, The Descendants of John Alden, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2002. "The Silver Book" Page 186
2. ↑ "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L97D-XHJS : 20 May 2014), Probate records 1755-1758 and 1859-1862 vol 14-14E > image 184 of 498; State Archives, Boston.
3. ↑ Person #30 in the Southworth Genealogy by Webber cited below.
4. ↑ Vital Records of Kingston, Massachusetts to the year 1850. NEHGS, Boston. p. 244.
5. ↑ The Southworth Genealogy by Webber cited below gives a wedding date of 1766, clearly a typographical error.
6. ↑ Webber, Samuel G. Genealogy of the Southworths (Southards) Descendants of Constant Southworth, A. Fort Mill Press, Boston, 1905. pp. 36, 38, & 44.
7. ↑ Vital Records of Duxbury, Massachusetts to the year 1850. NEHGS, Boston, 1911.
8. ↑ Vermont Vital Records - Births B to 1871: Pg.8314 - Microfilm Number 27474.
9. ↑ Mayflower Families Through Five Generations (Vol. 16, Pt. 2: Family of John Alden, Fifth Generation Descendants of his daughter Elizabeth (Alden) Pabodie), "Alden Silver Book," Book by Woodworth-Barnes, Esther Littleford, 2002 edition, Page 50