Benjamin Twytchell (bef. 1599)

Born before 10 Jun 1599 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England

Ancestors

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Benjamin Twytchell migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Benjamin Twytchell was born June 1599 and was christened 10 June 1599 in Chesham, Buckingham, England. He was the son of Rychard Twytchell and Cicely (Waller) Twytchell. He migrated to Dorchester, Massachusetts with his brother Joseph aboard the ship "Truelove" in 1630-1633. He had no known children or spouse.

Robert Charles Anderson stated in "The Great Migration Begins," "The evidence for assembling the early generations of the Twitchell family is slender and not totally satisfactory. In 1929, Ralph Emerson Twitchell published his Genealogy of the Twitchell Family (New York 1929), in which he presented extensive parish register entries for a Twitchell family in Chesham, Buckinghamshire (pp. xix-xxii). Among these records were several children of Richard and Cecily (Waller) Twitchell, including a son Joseph baptized on 27 May 1582 and a son Benjamin baptized on 10 June 1599. Ralph Emerson Twitchell decided that these brothers were the Joseph and Benjamin Twitchell seen early at Dorchester, and based his genealogy on that conclusion.^[1]

Benjamin Twitchell, who acted as appraiser for his brother Joseph's will in 1657, was the younger brother. It is believed that Benjamin was a resident of Dorchester until abut 1652, when he appears as one of the original settlers of Lancaster, Mass.. Later he moved to Medfield where it is said he was killed by Indians and his house burned. This occurred in 1675-76, at the outbreak of King Phillip's War.

Robert Charles Anderson continues with the statement, "While this scenario is not impossible, it seems highly unlikely, making both men much older than they appear to be from the New England records. In particular, if this arrangement were correct, Benjamin Twitchell would be about fifty years old at his marriage to Mary Riggs."^[2] NOTE: Robert Charles Anderson may well be conflating two or more separate individuals. The Benjamin Twitchell mentioned here by Robert Anderson, that married Mary Riggs, was born in 1627, and Mary Riggs was born in 1632. They were married in Dorchester in 1652. This is not the original Benjamin Twitchell that was born in 1599 and migrated to Dorchester in 1633-34 with his older brother Joseph Twitchell, Sr. born 1582.

Sources

1. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles, "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633"
2. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles, "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633"

• Genealogy of the Twitchell Family
• Anderson, Robert Charles "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633"
• "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N52Y-HPJ : 30 December 2014), Beniamin Twytchell, 10 Jun 1599; citing CHESHAM,BUCKINGHAM,ENGLAND, reference ; FHL microfilm 0924812 IT 2.
• Twitchell, Ralph Emerson. Genealogy of the Twitchell Family (H.K. Twitchell, New York, N.Y., 1929) Page 1