Benjamin Eaton (1628 - 1712)

Born Mar 1628 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Hoskins) Eaton — married 4 Dec 1660 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony

Descendants

Died 16 Jan 1712 at age 83 in Plympton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

Benjamin Eaton was the son of Mayflower passenger Francis Eaton by his third wife, Christian Penn.^[1][2][3][4] Following the death of his father while he was still a young child, he was placed in the care of Bridgett Fuller for a term of 14 years. She was to leave him in school two years and then employ him, at whatever was needed and fit for him. She was not to turn him over to any other person without the Governor's consent.^[5] In 1643, he was placed in the care of John Winslow until he reached the age of twenty-one years. However, later that year he was back living with his mother and step-father.

He appears on a list of men aged 16 to 60 able to bear arms in August 1643, implying he was born before August 1627.^[6] In 1649, he was told to find work or the Plymouth courts would find it for him, and in 1651 he was in trouble for "vaine, light and lavicious carriage at an unseasonable time of the night."

He married Sarah Hoskins and probably had eight children. This is not certain, however, as none of the births or baptisms of his children are recorded, and he left no known will at his death. He was not admitted to the church in Plymouth until 1693 which may explain the lack of birth and baptism records.

Most records place him in Plymouth through most of his life. He was granted land in Middleboro in 1665, and his brother gave him land in Dartmouth in 1666. He was certainly living in Plymouth from 1690 until 1704. In 1711, he is called "of Plympton" for the first time and this is where he died in January 1712.

Birth

Born: March 1628, presumably in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony.^[2]

In January 1642/3, when he was placed in the care of John Winslow his age was given as "being about xv years in March next."^[7]

Marriage and Children

Married: Sarah Hoskins on 4 December 1660 in Plymouth. ^[3][4][8][9]

Children of Benjamin Eaton and Sarah Hoskins:^[2]

1. Benjamin Eaton. Born about 1663 (aged at least 21 in 1684).
2. William Eaton. Born before 1669. He died unmarried and without children while on an Canadian expedition to go against the French between July 1690 and 1 March 1690/1.
3. Hannah Eaton. Born about 1670 based on her marriage to William Soule about 1691. "Apparently the child of Benjamin Eaton." See the notes below, and notes on the page of Hannah Eaton.
4. Susannah Eaton. Born about 1672 based on her marriage to George Soule about 1694. "Apparently the child of Benjamin Eaton." See the notes below, and notes on the page of Hannah Eaton.
5. Ebenezer Eaton. Born about 1674 (died in his 62nd year in 1735). He moved to Maine by 1730. He died 25 July 1735 at North Yarmouth, Maine.
6. Rebecca Eaton. Born about 1676 (died in her 95th year in 1770).
7. Sarah Eaton.^[10] Born say 1678. The date is a rough estimate based on her marriage to Eleazer Rickard by 1698.^[11]
8. Experience Eaton. She is a possible child of Benjamin Eaton.^[12]

Death

Died: 16 January 1711/2, aged, in Plympton, Massachusetts.^[13][3]

Notes

• Additional children: Daughters Susannah and Hannah are not included the current Mayflower Families for Francis Eaton; however, they are given in the 2015 Mayflower Families in Progress. They are presumed correct, though the evidence needs to be placed on their profiles.^[14]

Common Errors to Avoid

Benjamin Edson? Some primary sources erroneously show his last name as "Edson" in his marriage record, which has led some genealogists to incorrectly show his name as "Benjamin Edson Eaton."^[15][16] Mitchell in his "History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater"and Savage in his "Genealogical Dictionary of the First Setters of New England" incorrectly state that Sarah Hoskin's spouse was Benjamin Edson, a possible son of Samuel Edson of Bridgewater.^[17][18]

Son of Francis Eaton, a "Mayflower" passenger and the 9th signer of the Mayflower Compact and Christina Penn.

Husband of Sarah Hoskins.

Father of Benjamin Eaton, Jr., William, Sarah, Ebenezer and Rebecca Eaton.

Benjamin was born in 1627. He passed away in 1712.

BURIAL
Hillcrest Cemetery
Plympton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA

Sources

1. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, vol. 1: A-F. (Boston: NEHGS, 1995): page 609. AmericanAncestors.org link.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} The Mayflower Descendant, vol. 42 (1992): pages 13-14. "Benjamin Eaton".
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Wakefield, Robert S. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: volume 9, Francis Eaton. (Plymouth, 1996): pages 7-8.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} “Francis Eaton” at Mayflower.AmericanAncestors.org website. (NEHGS, accessed 6/14/2019, free).
5. ↑ Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet. Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England Court Orders, vol. I 1633-1640. (Boston, 1855) page 36.
6. ↑ Shurtleff, Nathaniel ed. Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, vol. 8: Miscellaneous Records 1633-1680. (Boston, 1857): page 187.
7. ↑ Davis. Records of the Town of Plymouth, vol. 1 (1889): page 12.
8. ↑ Plymouth. Vital Records of Plymouth, Massachusetts to the year 1850, vol. 1 (Camden, Me., 1993): page 663. AmericanAncestors.org link
9. ↑ Shurtleff, Nathaniel ed. Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, vol. 8: Miscellaneous Records 1633-1680. (Boston, 1857): page 22.
10. ↑ The Mayflower Descendant, vol. 43. (1993): pages 3-6. "Four New Found Generations of Benjamin² Eaton Descendants".
11. ↑ The age sometimes found of before 1672 comes from the mistaken belief that her first child was born in 1688.
12. ↑ The Mayflower Descendant, vol. 38 (1988): page 189. "Another Grandchild of Francis Eaton?"
13. ↑ Plympton. Vital Records of Plympton Massachusetts to the year 1850. (Boston, NEHGS, 1923): p. 475
14. ↑ Soule, John E., and Terry, Milton E. “George Soule of the Mayflower and his Descendants for Four Generations.” Mayflower Families in Progress, revised by Louise Walsh Throop, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2015, pages 28-29.
15. ↑ "Plymouth Colony Records," in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register for the Year 1855, Volume IX, 1855, page 314.
16. ↑ For example, "Benjamin Edson Eaton," geni.com
17. ↑ James Savage, "A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settleres of New England," Little, Brown and Company, 1860, page 102.
18. ↑ Nahum Mitchell, "History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater," 1840, page 151.

• Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, vol. 1: A-F. (Boston: NEHGS, 1995): page 609. AmericanAncestors.org link.

• Wakefield, Robert S. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: volume 9, Francis Eaton. (Plymouth, 1996): pages 7-8.

• The Mayflower Descendant, vol. 38, no. 2, (July 1988): page 189. "Another Grandchild of Francis Eaton?" by Robert S. Wakefield.

• The Mayflower Descendant, vol. 42 no 1 (January 1992): pages 13-14. "Benjamin Eaton", by Robert S. Wakefield FASG. AmericanAncestors.org link.

• The Mayflower Descendant, vol. 43, no. 1, (January 1993): pages 3-6. "Four New Found Generations of Benjamin² Eaton Descendants", by Barbara Lambert Merrick.

• Plymouth. Vital Records of Plymouth, Massachusetts to the year 1850, vol. 1 (Camden, Me., 1993): page 663. AmericanAncestors.org link

• Davis, William T. Records of the Town of Plymouth, vol. 1 (Plymouth, 1889): page 12. Archive.org link.

• Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet. Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England Court Orders, vol. 1 1633-1640. (Boston, 1855) page 36.

• Shurtleff, Nathaniel ed. Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, vol. 8: Miscellaneous Records 1633-1680. (Boston, 1857): page 22, page 187. Archive.org link, HathiTrust.org link.

• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 28 February 2020), memorial page for Benjamin Eaton, Sr (1627–16 Jan 1712), Find A Grave Memorial no. 12509260, citing Hillcrest Cemetery, Plympton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by ReLyRoTh (contributor 46556292).