Benjamin Tyler (1733 - 1814)

Born 23 Feb 1733 in Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut Colony, New England

Ancestors

Husband of Mehitabel (Andrews) Tyler — married 26 Jun 1753 in Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut Colony, New England

Descendants

Died 9 Mar 1814 at age 81 in Claremont, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States of America

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Biography

Benjamin Tyler was born on 23 Feb 1733, in Wallingford, Connecticut Colony. He was the second son of John Tyler and Phebe Beach to carry the name of Benjamin, since his older brother of that name had died shortly after birth, in 1732.^[1]

Benjamin married Mehitabel Andruss on 26 Jun 1753, in Wallingford.^[2] After their marriage, Benjamin and Mehitabel relocated to Farmington in Hartford County, Connecticut Colony. There seem to be no records in Wallingford for the births of any of their children, although two were listed in the records for Farmington. In all, he had eleven children, five of whom were born in Claremont:^[3] (Note: the following list is not complete, nor is it in birth order)

1. Phebe Tyler (b. 21 Jul 1756, Wallingford?)^[4]
2. Ephraim Tyler (b. 11 Apr 1760, Farmington)^[5]
3. Patience Tyler (b. 20 May 1762, Farmington)^[6]
4. Rispah Tyler (b. ca. 1766, Farmington?)
5. John Tyler
6. Benjamin Tyler, Jr.
7. Noah Tyler

In the summer of 1767, Benjamin left his family in Farmington and traveled on foot to Claremont in Cheshire County, Province of New Hampshire. The proprietors of Claremont granted him a small tract of land and the right to build the first dam on the Sugar River. Having built the dam, he returned to Farmington to gather up Mehitabel, their six children and their household goods for the move to Claremont in March of 1768. After a delay due to a snow storm in Montague, Province of Massachusetts Bay, they reached Claremont where they stayed with Daniel Warner, who had also come the previous year, until Benjamin could build a cabin near his dam.^[7] He immediately became active as a community leader, being a Selectman in 1768 and 1769.^[8]

In 1768, Benjamin built a saw mill and, using stones he and his sons quarried on Ascutney Mountain and finished into mill stones in Claremont, a gristmill on his property by the dam. In addition to the mills, they developed making mill stones into a business. Benjamin also acquired additional lands on both sides of the river, from a town grant as well as from purchases, and built himself a large, two-storey house in what became West Claremont. In about 1790,^[9] he built a second dam and developed a forge and smelting works there. John Strowbridge, who later married Benjamin's daughter, Patience, came from Bridgewater, Massachusetts to supervise this enterprise, which he ultimately received as an inheritance from Benjamin's estate.^[10]

Benjamin was also an inventor, patenting a process for dressing flax and the rye fly or tub-wheel, an improved bucket for the water wheel involving an upright shaft.^[11]

After about 1805, Benjamin retired from active participation in his varied businesses, leaving their management to three of his sons: John, Benjamin Jr., and Noah. During his lifetime, he distributed his farming land among his children.^[12]

Benjamin Tyler died on 9 Mar 1814, in Claremont, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, and was buried there in the Union Cemetery.^[13]

Research Notes

Contemporary Place Names: Claremont is today (2021) the largest city in Sullivan County, New Hampshire. Sullivan County was formed from the northern portion of Cheshire County in 1827.^[14]

Sources

1. ↑ "TYLER, Benjamine, s. John & Phebe, b. Feb. 23, 1733," citing Wallingford Land Records, Volume 5, Page 508: Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870, Wallingford, Page 315 (accessed 9 Jun 2021 - subscription required). "BENJAMIN TYLER Was born at Wallingford, Conn., February 22, 1732 [sic] ...:" Waite, History of the Town of Claremont, New Hampshire, Page 477.
2. ↑ "TYLER, Benjamin, m. Mehitabel Andruss, June 26, 1753," citing Wallingford Land Records, Volume 12, Page 347: Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870, Wallingford, Page 315 (accessed 9 Jun 2021 - subscription required).
3. ↑ Waite, History of the Town of Claremont, New Hampshire, 478.
4. ↑ "Phebe Hitchcock," w. John, (d. late Benjamin Tyler), Died Jan 30 - 1821, in her 65th year, Tombstone in Claremont, N.H.:" New Hampshire Death Records, 1654-1947, Film No. 004243610, Image No. 4533 (accessed 14 Jun 2021).
5. ↑ "TYLER, Ephraim, s. Benjamin, b. Apr. 11, 1760," citing Farmington Land Records, Volume 11, Page 590: Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870, Farmington, Page 169 (accessed 9 Jun 2021 - subscription required).
6. ↑ "TYLER, Patience, d. Benjamin, b. May 20, 1762," citing Farmington Land Records, Volume 11, Page 590: Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870, Farmington, Page 169 (accessed 9 Jun 2021 - subscription required).
7. ↑ Waite, History of the Town of Claremont, New Hampshire, Page 477.
8. ↑ Waite, History of the Town of Claremont, New Hampshire, 478.
9. ↑ "Benjamin Tyler:" United States Census, 1790, Claremont, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, Page 129, Column 2, Line 55 (accessed 14 Jun 2021).
10. ↑ Waite, History of the Town of Claremont, New Hampshire, 478.
11. ↑ Waite, History of the Town of Claremont, New Hampshire, 478.
12. ↑ Waite, History of the Town of Claremont, New Hampshire, 478.
13. ↑ See photo of gravestone: Find A Grave Memorial# 33453789, Benjamin Tyler (accessed 14 Jun 2021); see also: "Benjamin Tyler, Died March 9, 1814, 9. 81 y 16 d. Tombstone in Claremont, N.H.:" New Hampshire Death Records, 1654-1947, Film No. 004244242, Image No. 4842; also available online at AmericanAncestors.org (accessed 14 Jun 2021 - subscription required); and "BENJAMIN TYLER ... died at Claremont March 9, 1814," possibly based on the same gravestone, in Waite, History of the Town of Claremont, New Hampshire, Page 477.
14. ↑ "Sullivan County, New Hampshire," Wikipedia.org (accessed 9 Jun 2021).

• Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928 (subscription required).
• Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/33453789/benjamin-tyler : accessed 14 June 2021), memorial page for Benjamin Tyler (23 Feb 1733–9 Mar 1814), Find a Grave Memorial ID 33453789, citing Union Cemetery, Claremont, Sullivan County, New Hampshire, USA ; Maintained by Jan Franco (contributor 46625834) .
• New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, 1654-1969. (From microfilmed records. Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014.) (subscription required).
• New Hampshire Death Records, 1654-1947, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FSLG-FXQ : 23 February 2021), Benjamin Tyler, 09 Mar 1814; citing , Bureau Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1,001,110.
• New Hampshire Death Records, 1654-1947, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FS2D-XYF : 23 February 2021), Benjamin Tyler in entry for Phebe Hitchcock, 30 Jan 1821; citing , Bureau Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1,001,085.
• Waite, Otis F. R. History of the Town of Claremont, New Hampshire for a Period of One Hundred and Thirty Years from 1764 to 1894, Published by Authority of the Town, Manchester, New Hamshire: The John B. Clarke Company, 1895.
• Working on source

Census Returns:

• United States Census, 1790, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKY-Y1M : accessed 14 June 2021), Benjamin Tyler, Claremont, Cheshire, New Hampshire, United States; citing p. 129, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 5; FHL microfilm 568,145.
• United States Census, 1810, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH2N-2JS : accessed 14 June 2021), Benj Tyler, Claremont, Cheshire, New Hampshire, United States; citing p. 155, NARA microfilm publication M252 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 23; FHL microfilm 218,684. (Note: This is for Benjamin Tyler, Jr.)