Benjamin Ames (1724 - 1809)

Born 6 Jun 1724 in Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 10 Jan 1809 at age 84 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, United States

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Biography

Captain Benjamin Ames served with Essex County, Massachusetts Militia during the American Revolution.

Benjamin Ames is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: 103233
Rank: Captain

Benjamin Ames was born 6 June 1724 in Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He passed away 10 Jan 1829 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts. ^[1]

Benjamin Ames served with the rank of Captain in the Massachusetts Militia. He served with Col. James Frye of Essex County, and was active in defense during the Lexington Alarm. Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 2022-01-13), "Record of Benjamin Ames", Ancestor # A002194. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

He married twice: 1) HEPSIBAH CHANDLER 2) DORCAS LOVEJOY. Children in patriot file: Hepsibah who m. Bixby Abbott; Timothy who m. Sarah Kneeland; Hannah who m. Thomas Boynton.

BENJAMIN AMES, b. 6 Jun 1724 son of Samuel and Hannah (Stevens) Ames; d. at Andover, 10 Jan 1809; m. 1st 4 Dec 1746, his second cousin, HEPHZIBAH CHANDLER, b. 7 Apr 1726 daughter of Timothy and Hephzibah (Harnden) Chandler; Hephzibah d. 19 Jan 1768. Benjamin m. 2nd, about 1770, his second cousin once removed (through Abbott line), DORCAS LOVEJOY, b. 18 Aug 1749 daughter of Joshua and Lydea (Abbott) Lovejoy; Dorcas d. 25 Jun 1843.

Captain Benjamin Ames was the captain of Ames’s Company which served in the Revolutionary War including service at Bunker Hill. His company was part of the regiment of Colonel James Frye. Benjamin Ames first saw military service in 1757 as a private in one of Andover’s militia companies.^[7]

Benjamin Ames was active in the civic affairs of Andover serving as Warden and Surveyor of Highways in 1777 and served on the building committee for the new meeting house in South Parish in 1787.

The will of Benjamin Ames includes bequests to the following persons: Dorcas dearly beloved wife and Simeon is the son charged with her care; Simeon receives the lands, buildings, and husbandry utensils. The other heirs named are Benjamin Ames, Timothy Ames, Hannah Boynton wife of Thomas Boynton, heirs of daughter Hephzibah formerly the wife of Bixby Abbot, Dorcas wife of Isaac Phelps, and Abigail wife of David Johnson. There are records for nine children of Benjamin Ames and Hephzibah Chandler born at Andover.^[8]

i CHANDLER AMES, b. 14 Nov 1747; d. 24 Sep 1766

ii BENJAMIN AMES, b. 9 Nov 1749; d. 23 Nov 1813; m. 30 Apr 1772, his second cousin once removed, PHEBE CHANDLER, b. 18 Oct 1754 daughter of Nathan and Phebe (Abbott) Chandler; Phebe d. 19 Jun 1798. The grave of Phebe Chandler Ames has the following inscription: While o’er the grave you walk or weep, Remember here all flesh must sleep; Slender’s the thread whence life depends, Begins this hour, the next it ends.^[9]

iii HANNAH AMES, b. 26 Nov 1751; d. 20 Dec 1831; m. 16 Jun 1772, THOMAS BOYNTON, b. 29 Nov 1747 son of David and Mary (Stickney) Boynton; Thomas d. 10 Mar 1833.

iv RICHARD AMES, b. 16 Sep 1754; d. 6 Oct 1754

v HEPHZIBAH AMES, b. 3 Nov 1755; d. 20 May 1796; m. 9 Jan 1772, her third cousin, BIXBY ABBOTT, b. 24 Nov 1750 son of William and Experience (Bixby) Abbott. Bixby m. 2nd Mary Johnson; Bixby d. at Greenfield, NH, 1813.

vi RICHARD AMES, b. 16 Aug 1758; d. 8 Sep 1758.

vii ELIZABETH AMES, b. 8 Aug 1760; d. 1 Nov 1760.

viii BETHIAH AMES, b. 22 Jul 1762; d. 11 Aug 1762.

ix TIMOTHY AMES, b. 26 Sep 1765; d. at Peterborough, NH, 14 May 1835; m. 21 Mar 1787, SALLY KNEELAND, b. 1769 (based on age at time of death) whose parentage is uncertain; Sally d. 13 Nov 1861.

Four children are recorded for Benjamin Ames and Dorcas Lovejoy.

i SIMEON AMES, b. 29 Mar 1772; d. 29 Sep 1849; m. 30 Mar 1790, his third cousin, once removed, SARAH BAILEY, b. 1 Nov 1772 daughter of Moses and Elizabeth (Mooar) Bailey; Sarah d. 22 Mar 1857.

ii DORCAS AMES, b. 25 Jul 1773; d. 28 Sep 1775.

iii DORCAS AMES, b. 31 Jul 1776; d. after 1855; m. 31 Oct 1799, ISAAC PHELPS, b. 21 Jun 1772 son of Thomas and Mary (Shattuck) Phelps; Isaac d. after 1850 (listed in the 1850 U. S. Census). Dorcas is listed in the 1855 Massachusetts census in the Andover almshouse, age 77, described as insane.^[10]

iv ABIGAIL AMES, b. 4 Oct 1779; d. after 1850 at Bradford, VT;^[11] m. 15 Dec 1796, DAVID JOHNSON whose parents are not clear are there are several David Johnsons of the right age in Andover; d. after 1830 at Bradford, VT.

Sources

1. ↑ Ames Geneology, Vol 1 Part 1, by Wilmot Spofford Ames.
2. ↑ Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War
3. ↑ The Massachusetts Magazine
4. ↑ United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783
5. ↑ Massachusetts, Revolutionary War, Index Cards to Muster Rolls, 1775-1783
6. ↑ Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution
7. ↑ Memorial Hall Library, Andover Answers, “Benjamin Ames,” retrieved from https://answers.mhl.org/Benjamin_Ames
8. ↑ Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881. Probate of Benjamin Ames, 4 May 1809, Case number 573.
9. ↑ The Essex Antiquarian, 1898, Andover Inscriptions, Old South Burying Ground
10. ↑ Ancestry.com, Massachusetts, State Census, 1855
11. ↑ In the 1850 U.S. Census, Abigail Johnson age 79 is living in Bradford, Vermont in a household that includes Abigail Dearborn who is her daughter. United States 1850 Census. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (Original index: United States Census, 1850. FamilySearch, 2014.)

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/47671499/benjamin-ames : accessed 15 January 2022), memorial page for Capt Benjamin Ames (6 Jun 1724–10 Jan 1809), Find A Grave: Memorial #47671499, citing South Church Cemetery, Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by SB (contributor 47023755) .

• Heitman, Francis Bernard. Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution (W.H. Lowdermilk & Co., Washington, DC, 1893); p. 70

• The Massachusetts Magazine (Salem, Mass., 1908-1918); Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 246

• "Massachusetts, Revolutionary War, Index Cards to Muster Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch
  • (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGGS-CG5P : 19 February 2021), Benjamain Ames, 1775; citing Military Service, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm .
  • (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGDV-G58Q : 19 February 2021), Benjamin Ames, 19 Apr 1775; citing Military Service, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm .
  • (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGDV-G587 : 19 February 2021), Benjamin Ames, 17 May 1775; citing Military Service, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm .
  • (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGDV-G58W : 19 February 2021), Benjm Ames, 20 May 1775; citing Military Service, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm .
  • (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGDV-G584 : 19 February 2021), Benjm Ames, 20 May 1775; citing Military Service, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm .
  • (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGDV-G58H : 19 February 2021), Benjamin Ames, 26 May 1775; citing Military Service, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm .
  • (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGGS-CG5G : 19 February 2021), Benjamin Ames, 27 Jun 1775; citing Military Service, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm .
  • (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGGS-CG5V : 19 February 2021), Benjamin Ames, 3 Aug 1775; citing Military Service, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm .
  • (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGDV-G58Z : 19 February 2021), Benjamin Ames, 6 Oct 1775; citing Military Service, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm .
  • (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGGS-CG55 : 19 February 2021), Benjamin Ames, 22 May 1776; citing Military Service, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm .

• Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (Wright & Potter Printing Co., Boston, 1896); Vol. 1, p. 215

• "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch
  • (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPZX-QV99 : 19 April 2021), Benjamin Ames and Hephzibah Chandler, 15 Nov 1746; citing Marriage, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009715.
  • (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPZH-DF86 : 19 April 2021), Benjamin Ames and Hepzibah Chandler, 4 Dec 1746; citing Marriage, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007010678.

• "United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch
  • (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGK1-BP1F : 1 March 2021), Benjamin Ames, 19 Apr 1775; citing Military Service, , Citing various published state rosters, United States; FHL microfilm 101711081.
  • (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLYG-YV98 : 1 March 2021), Benjamin Ames, Dec 1775; citing Military Service, United States, Citing various published state rosters, United States; FHL microfilm 103140774.