Elizabeth Benedict

Elizabeth married Ebenezer Knapp on 7 Jan 1724. Ebenezer (son of Moses Knapp and Elizabeth Crissey) was born in 1706 in Danbury, Fairfield, Connecticut; died on 21 Mar 1784 in Norfolk, Litchfield, Connecticut; was buried in Canaan Valley Cemetery, North Canaan, Lichtfield, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Rachel Knapp was born on 27 Jul 1737; died in 1821.

Thomas married Elizabeth Hickock. Elizabeth (daughter of Samuel Hickock and Hannah Upson) was born about 1682; was christened on 12 Nov 1682 in Farmington, Hartford, Connecticut; died after 27 Mar 1723. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

According to Henry Marvin (citation details below), he was born sometime in the 1640s.

Samuel married Rebecca Andrews on 7 Jul 1678. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The Genealogy of the Benedicts in America by Henry Marvin Benedict. (Albany, New York: Joel Munsell, 1870) identifies her as a daughter of Thomas Andrews, son of Robert and Elizabeth Andrews of Ipswich. But Robert Charles Anderson, in volume 1 of The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634-1635, page 54, points out that this Thomas Andrews died unmarried on 10 Jul 1683. Both Savage and Jacobus (the latter in History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield identify this Rebecca as a daughter of Francis Andrews.

Samuel married Hannah Upson in 1668. Hannah (daughter of Thomas Upson and Elizabeth Fuller) was born about 1648; died in 1705 in Waterbury, New Haven, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Bef 30 Nov 1617, Long Stratton, Norfolk, England
• Alternate death: Between 28 Feb 1690 and 18 Mar 1690, Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut
• Alternate death: Aft 28 Feb 1690, Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut

Notes:

Emigrated about 1638; settled successively at Southold, Huntington, and Jamaica (all on Long Island), and finally at Norwalk, Connecticut. Was twice a member of the Connecticut General Court. Town clerk, surveyor, and deacon of the church at Norwalk.

The identity of his wife has been the source of literally hundreds of years of genealogical confusion, but in fact she appears to have been his step-sister -- which is to say, her father was the second husband of his mother, meaning that they were no more related by blood than the average married couple.

The exact order of his early movements in New England, and the date and place of his marriage to Mary Bridgham, are still unsettled. Robert Benedict proposes the following:

* Sailed in May 1637, with his stepsister Mary Bridgham, from Great Yarmouth, arriving in Boston about 20 Jun 1637.

* In Salem by August 1637.

* Married Mary Bridgham about 1639, probably at Salem.

Thomas married Mary Bridgham about 1639. Mary (daughter of John Bridgham and Grace) was born before 15 Nov 1618 in Morningthorpe, Norfolk, England; was christened on 15 Nov 1618 in Morningthorpe, Norfolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

First in Hartford in 1639, then in Fairfield.

"Francis may have been bro. of William of Hartford and John of Farmington. It is at least worthy of note that John (son of Francis) and Thomas (son of William) m. sisters, daus. of John Kirby of Middletown; while Thomas (son of Francis) and Abraham (son of John) also m. sisters, daus. of Robert Porter of Farmington." [Donald Lines Jacobus, citation details below]

Francis married Anne. Anne died in Jun 1685 in Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Notwithstanding many claims to the contrary, she was not a daughter of Giles Smith who was in Hartford by 1639 and died in Fairfield in 1669.

Evidence that Anne, the widow of Francis Andrews, went on to be the second wife of Dr. Henry Smith:

* Henry Smith and his second wife Anne had a prenuptual agreement that named three of her children by her previous husband, Rebecca, Ruth, and Abraham, names that correspond to the youngest, third youngest, and fourth youngest of the children of Francis and Anne Andrews.

* The probate record of Francis Andrews calls his widow "Anna Smith".

* On 14 Mar 1664, Anna, late wife of Francis, deceased, sold land to her son-in-law Simon Couch. In 1673, Couch stated that he had purchased this land from Ann Smith.

Notes:

He was one of the original settlers of Farmington.

William married Elizabeth. Elizabeth died on 3 Aug 1655. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He arrived in Connecticut in 1639, where he first appears in the records on 1 Aug being fined for "unreasonable and immoderate drinking."

Thomas married Elizabeth Fuller on 23 Jan 1646. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]