Benjamin Haxton (1705 - abt. 1774)

Born 16 Jun 1705 in North Kingstown, Kings, Rhode Island

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1774 at about age 68 in Dutchess, New York Colony

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Biography

Benjamin was born in 1705. He was a minor when his father died in 1717. The guardian appointed for him was Samuel Kingsley, whom Benjamin sister's had already chosen as their guardian.^[1]

He had by his father's will a third of the homestead land. In time, he bought up most of the land that had be given to his brothers.

By early 1732, he had married Anne Smith, daughter of William and Patience (Harris) Smith.

Benjamin was described as a “mariner” when in June 1737 he sued his brother James for non-payment of a debt, a suit in which Benjamin was the winner (Co. Court Rec., Kingston, R.I.). In 1745/1746 a Benjamin Haxter was serving as ship’s carpenter on the Sloop Charming Betty, 70 tons 10 guns 60 men, with Thomas Fry Captain. ^[2] Now, the Sloop charming Betty was a privateer of renown and in the 1740’s was taking a very active part in Colonial history. The ship was chiefly engaged against the French, who were England’s chief rival in those days, and oftenest in the waters around Bermuda (R.I. History 9:90). Howard Chapin in his “Bermuda Privateers 1739- 1748” (1923) mentioned the activities of the Charming Betty under Captain Freye in the neighborhood of Bermuda; and we known that Benjamin Haxton was a member of the ship’s crew in just that period.

Privateering is a hazardous occupation – destructive of both life and goods. In 1747 the Clinton of New York and The Charming Betty of Rhode Island fought two French frigates for three hours, killing and wounding many Frenchmen; but in the end themselves were carried off to Cape Francois by the French ships ^[3].

Whether it was because of events like these, or whether the coming on of middle age made Benjamin desire to settle down to a quieter life, for one reason or another Benjamin decided to quit the sea and somewhere around this time he removed his family to Dutchess County, New York. It was a momentous step, and for him a tragic one. The only account we have been able to find of it is a paragraph in The Commemorative Biographical Record of Dutchess County, N.Y., (1897). In sketching the like of a great grandson of Benjamin and Anne, the compiler says: While a resident of Greene County, New York, and was killed by Indians while repairing the roof of his mill.^[4]

Frank Doherty, in his work The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, gives additional details about Benjamin's life, especially after the move to Dutchess County.^[5] Benjamin was in Newport, RI possibly as late as 1749, but was in Beekman, Greene County as early as 23 Mar 1754 when he took a lease on a farm. He was taxed in nearby Rombout from 1767 through 1772. Family tradition says that his death at the hands of Indians was between 1750 and 1755, but Doherty argues that it must have been much later, probably not until 1774. He also names the following children:

• Andrew - b. abt. 1730, m. Abigail Woodin
• Eleanor - m. Samuel Brown 9 Jul 1794 at Westerly, RI
• Benjamin - b. 19 Apr 1737?, m. Mary ___
• Jeremiah - b. 18 Jan 1744, m. 1st Amey Sweet, 2nd Rhoda Akin
• James Levi - b. 1744 [prob. twin], m. ____ Bennett
• Nathaniel - m. Sarah ____
• Sarah - b. abt. 1755, m. Jabez Spencer

Sources

1. ↑ N.K. Probate Records
2. ↑ Civ & Mil. List of R.I., p 695.
3. ↑ Chapin: Bermuda Privateers 1739-1748 (1923)
4. ↑ Haxton Genealogy and Allied Lines – By C. Vale Mayes and Bertha Clark book, Copyright 1979 – Library of Congress Card No. SN 78-7005, Ancestry World Tree Project: Manuel ID 127757696 my date 10/20/2003
5. ↑ Frank J. Doherty, The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, New York: An Historical and Genealogical Study of All the 18th Century Settlers in the Patent, Vol. 6 (Pleasant Valley, NY: Frank J. Doherty, 2001), pp. 289-90. Accessed at AmericanAncestors.org, Dutchess County, NY: The Settlers of the Beekman Patent (Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2016), ([1]: 4 Nov 2022).

• * Ancestry.com, Clark, Bertha W; A Haxton genealogy. Boston, Mass.: unknown, 1956. page 9 - 12. Almost all the text above can be found in this book.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #141817882

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Tara Leahy for creating Haxton-20 on 13 Jul 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Tara and others.