Benjamin Churchill (1740 - 1796)

Born 1740 in Bushy Park, Middlesex, Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Died 6 Apr 1796 at about age 56 in Christ Church Parish, Middlesex, Virginia

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Biography

Benjamin was the son of Armistead Churchill and Hannah Harrison. He was bequeathed 2000 acres of land in Prince William County in the will of his father dated 21st August 1758, contingent on that land not being sold to settle his estate. Benjamin was not named an executor of his father's estate, as were the elder sons of his father. It is by this fact estimated he was yet a minor and his birth year is only estimated.

He was again named in the will of his mother Hannah Churchill dated 15th March 1776 at Middlesex. She bequeathed to this son 10 enslaved individuals, to wit; George Abraham, Patt and her daughter Mary, Peggy and her daughter Juns, Nanny, daughter of Sarah, & John, son of Jenny with their increase, and William Sypha_ until he should be set free. His sister Betty Jones was to receive 18 enslaved individuals, including three apparent members of the above William Sypha_ family.

Benjamin remained in Middlesex County. He married a likely widow named Dorothy but had no issue. He made his will dated the 1st of April in 1796 wherein he bequeathed all of his estate to Dorothy for the remainder of her life, then the part of his estate which came to him from their marriage, to her probable kin Thomas Boswell, Jr., son of Mechan Boswell of Gloucester County.

The remainder of Benjamin's estate after the death of Dorothy Churchill was bequeathed to his nephew, Thomas Churchill, son of his brother William. He died a few days after making his will.

Sources

• [1]Will of Armistead Churchill (his father). Middlesex Wills Book E, p. 177.
• [2]Will of Hannah Churchill (his mother). Middlesex Wills Book F, pgs. 83 & 84.
• [3]Benjamin Churchill, executor, advertising sale of household furniture & goods of Hannah Churchill. Purdie's Virginia Gazette, Williamsburg, Virginia, 20 Sep 1776.
• [4]The Parish Register of Christ Church Middlesex County, Virginia From 1653 to 1812. The National Society Of The Colonial Dames In Of America In The State of Virginia. Wm. Ellis Jones, Steam Book & Job Printer. Richmond, 1897. p. 198.
• [5]Will of Benjamin Churchill. Middlesex Wills (un-numbered vol.) 1795-1798, pgs. 96 & 97.