Benjamin Wadsworth (1670 - abt. 1737)

Born 28 Feb 1670 in Milton, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Husband of Ruth (Boardman) Wadsworth — married 30 Dec 1696 in Cambridge, Middlesex. MA

Died about 12 Mar 1737 at about age 67 in Massachusetts

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Biography

Benjamin Wadsworth was the President of Harvard University (1725-1737), and the pastor of the First Church, in Boston, MA, in 1696, for over 30 years. Brother to Ebenezer Wadsworth, deacon of the church in Milton, MA.

Burial

Old Burying Ground, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Slaves

1. Titus (1728-1740)
2. Venus (1726-1740)

Research Note

According to Harvard University's report on "Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery"^[1]Benjamin Wadsworth was Fellow from 1697-1707 and from 1712-1725. He was President from 1725-1737. He was also a slaveholder of two slaves called Titus (1728–1740) and Venus (1726–1740).^[2]A plaque installed in 2016 on the east side of Wadsworth House acknowledges Titus and Venus as enslaved persons who lived and worked there.

Sources

1. ↑ Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery: [1]
2. ↑ Those enslaved by Presidents of Harvard: [2]

• Milton Records, Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1662-1843 (Alfred Mudge & Sons, Boston, 1900) Page 73.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #50189387
• Harvard University
• Wadsworth Family
• OurNorthernRoots.com
• New England Marriages Prior to 1700: EBooks (On-line) Page 769, Genealogical Publishing Co. 1985: Clarence Almon Torrey.
• Sprague, William Buell. Annals of the American Pulpit (Robert Carter & Brothers, New York, 1857) Vol. 1, Page 220-3.