Nielsen Hayden genealogy
Deacon Thomas Benedict

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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 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
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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.
- 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.
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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.
- [S724] Thomas Benedict's Origins--Updated, by Robert A. Benedict.