Deacon Thomas Benedict

1617 - Abt 1690  (72 years)

• Name	Thomas Benedict
  Prefix	Deacon
  Birth	17 Nov 1617	Long Stratton, Norfolk, England   [1]
  Alternate birth	Bef 30 Nov 1617	Long Stratton, Norfolk, England   [2, 3]
  Baptism	30 Nov 1617	St. Michael, Long Stratton, Norfolk, England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Death	Abt 1690	Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut   [3]
  Alternate death	Between 28 Feb 1690 and 18 Mar 1690	Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut   [4]
  Alternate death	Aft 28 Feb 1690	Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut   [5]
  Person ID	I948	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others | Ancestor of AW, Ancestor of TNH
  Last Modified	3 Feb 2024

  
  

  Father	William Benedict,   b. Abt 1579, Saxlingham, Norfolk, England d. Bef 2 Feb 1629, Long Stratton, Norfolk, England (Age ~ 50 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth Stephin,   b. Bef 14 Sep 1578, Long Stratton, Norfolk, England
  Marriage	8 Oct 1609	St. Michael, Long Stratton, Norfolk, England   [1, 3]
  Family ID	F797	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Mary Bridgham,   b. Bef 15 Nov 1618, Morningthorpe, Norfolk, England
  Marriage	Abt 1639  [3]
  Children	+ 1. Deacon John Benedict,   b. Southold, Long Island, New Netherland d. Aft 1726, Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut + 2. Samuel Benedict   d. Bef 17 Apr 1719, Danbury, Fairfield, Connecticut + 3. Thomas Benedict,   b. Abt 1640, Southold, Long Island, New Netherland
  Family ID	F248	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	12 Feb 2024

  
  

• 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.

  
  

• Sources

  [S724] Thomas Benedict's Origins--Updated, by Robert A. Benedict. [S722] John Insley Coddington, "Notes on Bridgham and Thomas Benedict of Norwalk." The American Genealogist 33:120, 1957., year only. [S723] LaRue Olsen, "The English Origins of the First Thomas Benedict of Long Island and Norwalk, Connecticut." The Connecticut Nutmegger 39:353, December 2006. [S7288] The Genealogy of the Benedicts in America by Henry Marvin Benedict. Albany, New York: Joel Munsell, 1870. [S722] John Insley Coddington, "Notes on Bridgham and Thomas Benedict of Norwalk." The American Genealogist 33:120, 1957.