Benjamin Hawley (1695 - 1767)

Born 1695 in Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Experience (Dibble) Hawley — married 1748 in Fairfield County, Connecticut

Descendants

Died 8 May 1767 at about age 72 in Hawleyville, Newtown, Fairfield, Connecticut Colony

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Biography

Benjamin Hawley was born in 1695 in Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut Colony, son of Samuel Hawley (1647–1734) and Patience Nichols (1660–~1753).^[1]

Benjamin (29) married Mary Nichols (17) (born on June 7, 1707 in Stratford; daughter of Joseph Nichols and Mary (Curtiss) Nichols) on February 18, 1725. Their children were:

• Benjamin Hawley (1730–1820)
• William Hawley (~1732–1791)
• Hawley-1890

"Soon after they were married (1724), Benjamin Hawley and his wife started on a journey into the wilderness, on horseback, he in the saddle and she on a pillow behind him. Near the close of the day the wife insisted that they must be at the end of the land, and that she would go no further, and there they ended the day's journey. Hence the place where they located was called "Land's End,", and this name continued about one hundred years; then when the railroad was built the place was named Hawleyville, for Benjamin's descendants still lived there; and the school district is still called Land's End district, in Newtown, Ct. The locality was about twenty-five miles from where Benjamin and his wife started on their journey, and over thirty from Stratford."

Benjamin (52) married Experience Dibble (30) (born in 1717 in Danbury, Fairfield, Connecticut; daughter of Wakefield Dibble and Jane (Filer) Dibble) in 1748 in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Their children were:

• Joseph Hawley (1741– )
• Ebenezer Hawley (1749– )
• Mary Hawley (1751– )

Benjamin died on May 8, 1767 in Hawleyville, Newtown, Fairfield, aged 71. He was buried in Unity Burial Ground, Trumbull, Fairfield County, Connecticut.^[2]

Probate

His will is dated 11 February 1760 in Newtown and proved on 16 June 1767 in Danbury. He mentions his wife Experience, his sons, Abel, Benjamin, William, and Ebenezer, and his daughters, Sarah and Mary. His inventory was completed on 23 June 1767 in Newtown.^[3]

Additional inventory was recorded on 9 August 1768.^[4]

In 1770, his estate distribution was set out to his widow, Experience, Abel Hawley (eldest son), Benjamin Hawley, William Hawley, Ebenezer Hawley, Sarah Morehouse, and Mary Hawley.^[5]

In 1774, after the death of his widow, Experience, his sons, Abel Hawley, Benjamin Hawley, William Hawley, and Ebenezer Hawley signed an estate distribution agreement.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/125842577/benjamin-hawley: accessed), memorial page for Benjamin Hawley (1696–8 May 1767), Find a Grave Memorial ID 125842577, citing Unity Burial Ground, Trumbull, Fairfield County, Connecticut, USA; Maintained by Velcro (contributor 47336803).
2. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (no image)
   Find A Grave: Memorial #125842577 (accessed 26 June 2023)
   Memorial page for Benjamin Hawley (1696-8 May 1767), citing Unity Burial Ground, Trumbull, Fairfield County, Connecticut, USA; Maintained by Velcro (contributor 47336803).
3. ↑ “Probate records v. 1-3 1744-1782”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-892K-TFPS : 27 February 2023), FHL microfilm 007627321, image 413-415, Danbury, Fairfield, Connecticut, Vol 3, 1768-1782, Pages 10-14.
4. ↑ “Probate records v. 1-3 1744-1782”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-892K-TFG3 : 27 February 2023), FHL microfilm 007627321, image 432, Danbury, Fairfield, Connecticut, Vol 3, 1768-1782, Pages 48.
5. ↑ “Probate records v. 1-3 1744-1782”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-892K-TFP1 : 25 February 2023), FHL microfilm 007627321, image 354-355, Danbury, Fairfield, Connecticut, Vol 2, 1745-1775, Pages 396-399.
6. ↑ “Probate records v. 1-3 1744-1782”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-892K-TF58 : 26 February 2023), FHL microfilm 007627321, image 384-385, Danbury, Fairfield, Connecticut, Vol 2, 1745-1775, Pages 457-458.

See also:

• Hawley, Elias. The Hawley Record (E. H. Hutchinson & Co., Buffalo, N.Y., 1890) Page 441 & Page 456.
• Hawley, Emily Carrie. A Genealogical and Biographical Record of the Pioneer Thomas Skidmore (E.C. Hawley, Brookfield, Conn., 1911) Page 111: "Land's End" story is repeated here.
• Johnson, Ezra Levan. Newtown's History and Historian, Ezra Levan Johnson (Newtown, Conn., 1917) "Descendants of Some of Newtown's Earliest Settlers", Page 81
• Lamb, VanBuren. Dibble Family, Your Ancestors (1949) Vol. 3, Page 312.
• Jones, Matt Bushnell. History of the Town of Waitsfield, Vermont, 1782-1908 (Courier-Citizen Co., Lowell, Massachusetts, 1909) Page 334.