Benedict Alford August 26, 1716 After 1790 By: Bob Alford 2010 Benedict Alford was the oldest child of Benedict Alford and Abigail Wilson. He was born August 27, 1716 in Windsor, CT, according to Windsor Vital Records. Benedict had four younger siblings: 1. Abigail Alford - born Aug 3 1718, Windsor, CT, 2 years younger than Benedict 2. Alexander Alford - born Mar 31 1721, Windsor, CT, 5 years younger than Benedict 3. Jerusha Alford - born Apr 3 1723 Windsor, CT, 7 years younger than Benedict 4. Azuba Alford - born Feb 19 1727 in Windsor, CT, 11 years younger than Benedict We do not know much about his young life other than that he was raised on the family farm is central Windsor originally built by his Great Grandfather, Benedict Alford (see biography Benedict Alford 1619-1683) who was our immigrant ancestor. His Grandfather, Jeremiah Alford had died in 1709 without a will. When his Grandmother, Jane Hoskins Alford dies in 1715 she left a young family orphaned and the estate in question. Benedict s father, who was the oldest child of Jeremiah and Jane Alford, was 27 and newly married when his mother died. He struggled to keep the family farm intact and in the family. He got a judgment in Probate Court in 1718 that permitted him to buy the property from his siblings and by 1722 he had successfully paid them and obtained title (see biography Benedict Alford 1688-1764 for more information.) This most certainly had an impact on the young Benedict s life with his father struggling to pay off the farm. It is easy to imagine him working on the farm at a young age and the whole family living a frugal life during those years. Benedict married Jerusha Ashley. She was baptized January 20, 1722, and was the daughter of Joseph Ashley and Mary (Steele) Goodwin of Hartford, CT. According to the records of the Wintonbury Church (in what is now Bloomfield, CT) they were married Benedict married Jerusha Ashley They lived in Windsor, CT after they were married.
According to the Burke and Alvord Memorial, published in 1864, Jerusha had eight children: 1. Deidamia Alford - born Jan 13, 1744, Windsor, CT. 2. Abigail Alford - born Oct 23, 1746, Windsor, CT, died Jan 16 1747, Windsor, CT. 3. Abigail Alford - born Dec 3, 1747 Windsor, CT 4. Jerusha Alford - born Aug 21, 1750, Windsor, CT. 5. Alexander Alford - born Jun 25, 1752, Windsor, CT. 6. Lucrece Alford - born Mar 27, 1755, Windsor, CT. 7. Benedict Alford - born Feb 27, 1757, Windsor, CT, 8. Anna Alford - born Apr 7 1759, Windsor, CT. Notice that according to this record, Deidamia was born on January 13, 1744, but they were not married until August 7, 1744. It is quite possible, but it is also possible that the date of Deidamia s birth is incorrect. This needs further investigation/clarification. We believe the date of their marriage is correct because it comes from the church records. Jerusha died January 18, 1761. She is buried at the Old Burial Ground in Windsor, CT. Her youngest child was less than two years old at the time. Rebecca Owen came to take care of the children. She was 25 years old at the time. Benedict was 45. Rebecca was born November 28, 1736. She was the daughter of Elijah Owen and Hannah Higley Owen. Her father died when she was only five years old and her mother remarried in 1743. Rebecca Owen and Benedict Alford were married December 18, 1761. According to the Burke and Alvord Memorial, published in 1864, Rebecca had three children. This is not true however. We know she had seven children, four girls and three boys. This source also shows the wrong year for her son George s birth listing it as 1761 instead of 1764. The children of Benedict Alford and Rebecca Owen were: 1. Rebecca Alford born Oct 24, 1762 in Windsor, CT 2. Rosetta Alford born November 18, 1763 in Windsor, CT 3. George Alford born March 10, 1764 in Windsor, CT 4. Oliver Alford born October 27, 1767 in Addison County Vermont 5. Ashley Owen Alford born February 22, 1770 Rutland Vermont 6. Clara Alford born 1771. (We have no birth record for Clara, but there is a record of her baptism in Windsor CT dated November 3, 1771. We assume she was born in Vermont and brought to Windsor, the family home, to be baptized.) 7. Susan Alford born February 26. 1774 Rutland Vermont Sometime between 1764 and 1767, Benedict and his family moved to southern Vermont, which was then pioneer territory, claimed by Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York. People from all of these areas migrated to Vermont to establish claims for their respective colonies. The missing children in the Burke and Alvord Memorial are those that were born in Vermont.
Benedict s father died February 15, 1764 leaving Benedict the bulk of his estate. It is quite likely that once the affairs of the estate were settled, Benedict felt free to leave Windsor for the opportunities that awaited in Vermont. The Green Mountain boys were organized by Ethan and Ira Allen and their cousin, Remember Baker, for protection of the settlers from the sheriffs who came across Lake Champlain to enforce the claims of New York. Benedict's son, Alexander, later joined the Green Mountain Boys, and fought thereafter at Ticonderoga and Lake George during the Revolutionary war. Alexander was not the only one of Benedict s sons to fight in the Revolutionary War. His son Benedict, born in 1757 in Windsor served from 1776-1780. A copy of his military record is shown on the next page. This Benedict is not our ancestor. Charles B. Alford (my grandfather) is descended from Ashley Owen Alford, the fifth child of Benedict and Rebecca Owen (see biography of Ashley Owen Alford.) We do not know the exact date of Benedict s death. The 1790 cencus, taken in 1791, lists him as living in Ferrisburgh Vermont. His 75 th birthday was that year.
Revolutionary War Service Record of Bededict Alford(4) son of Benedict Alford(3) A payroll of Capt. Simeon Wright's Company in Col. Warren's Regiment of Militia in the service of this and the United State commencing 7th of November, 1778, ending 13th, both days included. Name: Benedic Alford Days: 7 Wages per month: 2.10.0 Total: 0.11.8." [0 pounds, 11 shillings, 8 pence]. Jan. 28, 1779 paid per James Claghorn." Source is "ROLLS OF VERMONT SOLDIERS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 1775-1783", prepared and published under the direction of Martha T. Rainville, the Adjutant General, 1998, Volume 1, page 97 Benedict (the son) also had a son named Benedict and they moved to Ohio in 1835. The death records of Troy Township in Ohio show that he died there on May 25, 1838 at the age of 82.
Benedict and Rebecca were active in Real Estate in Vermont and the land records provide a history of their transactions. April 30, 1773 100 acres of land were surveyed for Benedict Alford at the foot of Mt. Equinox, about one mile south of Manchester, Vt. See Proprietors Record Book, Vol. I, page 168, Manchester Center. January 14 &15 1775 Rebecca Alford, wife of Benedict, of Manchester Vt., bought two parcels of land along the Otter Creek in the Town of Rutland, Vt. Town of Rutland Land Records Volume II., pages 188-189. January 16, 1775 Benedict Alford of Manchester sold 180 acres of land in Manchester, Vt. Manchester Records Book Volume II, page 147. February 16, 1775 Benedict Alford of Manchester, Vt. purchased a parcel of land along the Otter Creek in the southwest quarter of- the Town of Rutland, Vt. Rutland Land Records, Volume I, page 109. In 1776 the inhabitants of the frontier were driven from their homes by the British army. Benedict and his family traveled to Windsor, CT., returning after a short time to Rutland. March 16, 1780 Benedict Alford became one of the original owners of land in newly created development of the Town of Chittenden,.adjoining the towns of Pittsford and Rutland. The original map of the town shows the name Benedict Alford on two separate lots.. April 13, 1783 Israel Ellsworth of Pittsford, Vt. sold to Rebecca Alford; wife of Benedict, 100 acres of land in Salisbury, Vt. Rutland County Land Records, Book 4, page 245. May 10, 1785 Benedict Alford and Rebecca, his wife, sold 100 acres of land in Rutland. This deed was witnessed on May 12, 1786 by Ashley Alford. Town of Rutland Land Record Book 2, page 121. May 30, 1786 Benedict Alford of Rutland, Vt., purchased 300 acres in Manchester, Vt. Manchester Land Records, Vol. 2, page 105. September 4, 1786 Benedict Alford and Benedict Alford, Jr., both of Rutland, Vt., sold a house and land on the west bank of the Otter Creek in the Town of Rutland. Land Record Book 2, page 41, Town of Rutland. September 4, 1786 Benedict Alford of Rutland bought 600 acres on the original rights of Walter Franklin and Isaac Winn in the Town of Ferrisburgh, 166 acres in the Town of Charlotte, and land in the Town of Monkton, Vt., all in Addison County. Ledger No.1, page 57, Town of Ferrisburgh. The 1790 Census, taken in Vermont in April and May, 1791, lists Benedictus Alford", living in Ferrisburgh as "Head of Household". This must have been Benedict Alford, b. 1716. It also lists "Benedick Alvord" in the town of Georgia, Franklin County, with his family consisting of "1 free white male over 18, 2 free white males under 16, 3 free white females l. This must have been the family of Benedict Alford, Jr., b. February 27, 1757. We do not have a record of Benedict s death, but from this census we assume it was sometime after 1791. Special Note: The above was taken directly from the work by Scott Alford titled The Tree of Life. I can remember a trip to Rutland Vermont, sometime in the early 1950 s, that we took when I was a small boy. We had been at Lake George, NY on vacation, and were on our way home to Connecticut. My father (Scott Alford) stopped in Rutland to do genealogy research. He did this often, and when he did my brother and I would wait in the car with our mother. I remember being very bored waiting for him and he coming back to the car quite excited about all the data he had found. I assume that the above information was gathered on that trip.
The Times of the Life of Benedict Alford Benedict was born into the established colony of Windsor CT, which had existed for over 80 years by the time he was born. At the time of his birth England and France were still at war over who would control the colonies. By the time of his death The United States of America was a free and independent country. The population of the colonies grew from a little over 200,000 to well over 2 million. It was also a time of religious resurgence with the Great Awakening taking place in New England and the established colonies imposing blue laws that today would be considered at best silly and at worst a serious imposition on personal freedom. There was still a lot of wilderness to be settled, and Benedict came from a line of pioneers. Vermont, where Benedict moved his family, in the 1760 s, was untamed wilderness at the time. Ohio was the western frontier where Benedict s grandson was to settle a century later. Most importantly, this was the time of the American Revolution. Benedict and his family were chased out of Vermont by the British in 1775, and two of his sons fought in the war, Alexander with the Green Mountain Boys and Benedict in the Continental Army. Benedict lived to see the birth of the nation.
So How am I Related to Benedict Alford? If you can trace your ancestry to the Rev. Charles Burdick Alford and his wife Margaret, who were my grandparents, you are a descendant of Benedict Alford. Benedict was the great, great grandfather of Charles B. Alford. Simply determine how many generations you are descended for him and add that number of Greats. If you are not sure who Charles B. Alford was, see his biography which will tell you who some of his descendants were, and perhaps you can establish a relationship. If you are a more distant cousin who is descended from one of the early generations you can do your own generation counting. In this case please contact us and let us know who you are. I hope you have enjoyed meeting Benedict and thinking about what his life was like. Had he not lived, married, and had and raised his family the way he did, none of us would exist today. All the information in this biography is historically accurate to the best of my knowledge. With genealogy, new information often comes to light that contradicts the old. If you are aware of any errors I have made or corrections or additions to this that should be added, please let me know. Bob Alford