Notes for: Benjamin Heath
BENJAMIN HEATH
By Betty Gillespie Pollack
Copyright August 2005
Permission to reproduce with credit granted
Note: See also February 2006 Addendum attached
BENJAMIN HEATH’s parentage, birth and early life remain a mystery. There are at least five Heath families in Massachusetts (which included the current Maine) in the 1600s and a couple of Heaths in VA (www.firstfamilies.org ). There were many more Heaths in the New England colonies by the 1700s. It is likely that Benjamin was related to one or more of them but to the best of my knowledge no genealogist to date has been able to document this. There are still several Heaths in Rumford ME and Gorham NH, which has both a Heath District and a Heath cemetery. What is known is that there is no relationship between Joshua Heath of Conway NH and Benjamin Heath. This is confirmed multiple sources: Mildred Heath, David Emerson Executive Director of the Conway Historical Society and the fact that no one related to Joshua is buried in Green Hill Cemetery in East Conway NH, which is the Benjamin Heath family cemetery. (1)
Benjamin was born between late December, 1749 and 1752, depending upon which source one uses. Calculating from his gravestone inscription which says that he was 89 years, 11 months of age when he died on Nov. 27, 1839, Benjamin was born in either late Dec. 1749 or early Jan. 1750. His federal pension papers and his marriage certificate say he was born in 1752 and that he was “from Barrington” Strafford Co., NH. The NH Bureau of Vital Records has no record of his birth or death, and almost all local Barrington records were destroyed by fire years ago. There were no Heaths in Barrington in 1730, according to “The Second Surveying and Proprietor's list of 1730” an excerpt from the book A History of Barrington, NH by Morton Wiggin. Thus when other researchers say Benjamin was born in Barrington NH, they are most likely extrapolating that information from his pension records which say he was “from Barrington”. What is known is that Benjamin married Dorothy (Dolly) Willey in Barrington on Sept 15, 1786. Having personally searched all land records in Carroll and Strafford counties NH, it can safely be stated that Benjamin never owned any land in the Barrington area.
It is more likely that Benjamin was from Gorham NH. Nettie White Wolcott, (2) a descendant, wrote a biography in August 1958 which is on record at the LDS Library (US/CAN Film 0854142 item 1). This file contains a letter written in 1938 by John Kelly (a descendant of Mary Brackett Heath Kelly, who was the daughter of Chandler who was the son of Benjamin). Kelly writes that his cousin, 80-year-old Edwin Heath, says “his father told him that Benjamin Heath entered the Revolutionary War from Gorham NH. His family lived in Gorham, and he left several brothers there. Their descendants are still living there. After the war, he came back to Conway, and married Dorothy Willey…and never went back to Gorham.” Edwin H. was the son of Jonathan W, who was the son of John Willis, who was the son of Benjamin. It is known that other Heaths from Conway as well as descendants of Benjamin’s daughter, Susan Heath Haley moved to Gorham NH and lived in the Heath District in the 1800s.
BENJAMIN’S REVOLUTIONARY WAR YEARS
Numerous records document Benjamin’s Revolutionary War service between 1775 and 1783. He saw it all! He enlisted in 1775 at Conway NH, served as a private in Captain James Osgood’s company, Colonel Bedel’s NH regiment for 18 months, and in Captain William Satterley’s Company, Colonel Hazen’s Congress Regiment for 6 ½ years and was discharged at Reading Hutts. He received an annual pension of $80.40 beginning in April 1818 under the Act of Congress of 1818. His lengthy service record contains the following statement. “…he was at the storming of Quebec, in the battles of Brandy Wine (sic), Germantown and at the capture of Cornwallis [Yorktown]; besides other small engagements-that from his reduced circumstances in life he stands in need of assistance from his Country for support….” He is said to have been a servant to General Washington for part of his service.
The following quote is from “The History of Benjamin Heath”, written by Percy Hill, retired exec of American Telephone and Telegraph: "Benjamin Heath enlisted in the armed forces of the Colony of New Hampshire at Conway in 1775. From July to Jan 1777 he served under Colonel Bedel in Captain James Osgood's Company of Rangers, Captain Wilkins Company in Canada, and Captain James Shepard's Company. He was at the storming of Quebec. In 1777 he joined Captain William Satterlee's company until the end of the war. He was in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown and at the siege of Yorktown and surrender of Cornwallis. He was honorably discharged at Reading Flats, NY". Sources: New Hampshire Revolutionary Pension Records Vol/18 p 191-3; Hammonds State Papers Vol. xiv; Revolutionary Rolls Vol. I, Page 735; Vol. XV, p 167,246,247,288,319,502. Family Bible and Cemetery Records NH and ME, and Town Vital Statistics"
While serving under William Saterlee, Benjamin was one of the "Green Mountain Boys" and was in Quebec in 1776. He is so listed in the book "New York in the Revolution as Colony and State” by James A. Roberts, compiled by Frederic G Mather, Second Edition 1898, published by Fort Klock Historic Restoration, Indian Castle Church, Berry Enterprises.
BENJAMIN’S MARRIAGES
Benjamin was married twice. There is an old, broken gravestone in the Green Hill cemetery, East Conway, Carroll County, NH in the back of the cemetery away from the site where Benjamin and his second wife Dolly Willey are buried. Only part of the inscription survives: “Betsy, wife of Benjamin Heath died”. This may be Benjamin’s first wife or it may be Betsy Carpenter Heath, wife of Benjamin Heath Jr. Mildred Hill Heath, who is caretaker of the cemetery, told me in 2001 that Benjamin Sr. was definitely married twice. This piece of oral family history is now confirmed. On Nov 25, 1784 Benjamin Heath of Conway, NH and Betty Lewis of Brownfield ME filed marriage intentions. The certificate was granted on Dec 8, 1784 and they were married the same day by Rev Fefsenden. (Fryeburg ME Marriages p. 27, Original Town Records of Fryeburg p. 324 and 406) Note that Brownfield and Fryeburg/Conway are geographically close. One may speculate that Betty/Betsy died in childbirth because Benjamin married Dolly Willey less than two years later on September 15, 1786, in Barrington NH according to their official marriage certificate which is available from the NH New Hampshire, Bureau of Vital Records.
BENJAMIN’S CHILDREN
Benjamin and Dolly had nine children; it is not definitively documented whether most of these children were born in Rumford ME, Fryeburg ME or Conway NH. Nor are most of their birthdates definitively known. Different researchers including May Martin Gray (my father’s aunt, daughter of Betsey Heath, 1934 signed statements), Nettie W. Glover (1930s DAR fact sheet in my parents records), Nettie White Wolcott (1943 and 1958 publications), Karen Heath Penman’s rootsweb page, Dana Edgecomb a descendant through Benjamin Jr. (June 2000 email to Judith McGinty a descendant through John Willis), Marilyn Oberg (researcher at Conway Historical Society with whom I met in 2001), and Sally Long Tenero, a descendant through Susan G. Heath Haley, pose different dates. My focus has been on documenting the Chandler Heath line, thus I have not conducted definitive research on Benjamin and Dolly’s other children. For the benefit of future researchers, I offer the following tentative conclusion:
Susan G. is believed to have been born on 21 Oct 1787; John Willis--Oct 31, 1791 (known); Chandler Graham--Oct 19, 1795; Benjamin Jr. was born most likely in 1796 or 1798; Sarah-1798; Lewis-1802 or earlier; Oliver Griswold-1804 (year certain); George-1806 or earlier; and Adeline-1808 (year certain).
Dana Edgecomb (email to Judith McGinty, June 2000) and Marilyn Oberg (conversation and notes at Conway Historical Society 2001) have suggested that Joseph Heath, born in 1817 might be a tenth son. I do not believe this is correct since records on file at the Fryeburg Historical Society (Edith Proffetty bible) say Joseph’s parents were Benjamin and Elizabeth Heath. Benjamin Heath Jr. and Elizabeth Carpenter were married in 1814. Note also that Joseph is not named in Dolly’s pension distribution at her death in 1850. Thus Joseph is most likely Benjamin and Dolly’s grandson, not their son. [See Joseph Heath biography which follows that of Benjamin Heath Jr.]
LAND AND CENSUS RECORDS
Land records provide evidence of Benjamin’s whereabouts beginning on March 15, 1784 when he purchased 360 acres of land in Fryeburg, Oxford County, ME from Joseph Lewis (perhaps Betty Lewis’s father or brother) for 16 pounds 10 shillings. He sold this land on June 20, 1798 to David Page for $1.
Benjamin is listed in the 1790 census as living in Strafford County NH with three females who would likely be his wife Dolly, daughter Susan G. and one other female. That census reported no males under age 16. Conway was in Strafford County at that time. Benjamin has not yet been definitively located between 1798 and 1804. There are three Benjamin Heath’s listed in the 1800 census, but none in the Fryeburg/Conway area. The two in Maine are in Kennebec and York counties, and there is one in Rockingham Co NH. Note that most of the Strafford County NH census records are missing for the years 1800 and 1820, according to the LDS Guide to NH records.
Most likely Benjamin and family moved sometime before 1795 until 1804 to the Rumford ME area, since his son Chandler Graham Heath self-reports in his pension application that he was born in Rumford in 1795. Additionally George Heath’s son, George A., says that his father was born in Rumford. However, no Oxford Co ME land records have yet been found to document Benjamin’s presence in Rumford.
Benjamin is positively placed from April 17, 1804 when he bought land in East Conway, NH. According to the 1810 census, Benjamin, Dolly, three boys (of 4-Oliver, George, Benjamin Jr. and John), and five girls (Susan, Sarah, Adeline and 2 others) were living in Strafford County NH. Thus son Lewis most likely died before 1810, and according to his obituary Chandler was not in his father’s household after age 6 or 7.
Benjamin Heath “of Batchelder’s Grant in the County of Oxford and Commonwealth of Massachusetts” sold land in Conway, NH to his son, Chandler Graham Heath for $200 on May 21, 1819. In Fall 2001 Mildred Heath of Center Conway, NH, took me to Benjamin’s grandson Chandler Jr.’s land where Chandler Sr. died in 1888. If my memory is correct, the land I visited is the same land that Benjamin sold to son Chandler in 1819.
Benjamin’s Revolutionary War pension papers dated July 20, 1820 (#23273) document that he was living in Fryeburg ME with his wife, Dorothy, age 54 who was “infirm and old” and two of their children, Oliver, age 16, and Adeline, age 12. His pension file contains a declaration that he was living in Conway, NH on Dec 5, 1826. He was granted a pension of $8 per month effective April 11, 1818. (#5515). Note that Fryeburg ME and East Conway NH are about 3-5 miles apart. The area was once part of MA and the state line between NH and ME shifted at various times.
Benjamin and Dolly were living in Conway in the household of their son John according to the 1830 census. Sons Oliver, Benjamin Jr., and George and their families were living adjacent to them.
BENJAMIN’S DEATH AND DOLLY’S PENSION
Benjamin Heath died Nov 27, 1839. Gravestone inscriptions in Green Hill Cemetery, East Conway, NH confirm Benjamin’s date of death. According to the inscription, Benjamin lived to a ripe old age, 89 years and 11 months.
As a widow Dolly applied for a pension on July 11, 1843 under the Act of Congress of July 7, 1838. She was granted a pension of $80 per year. Dolly died July 29, 1850 at age 85. Her pension of $80 per year from July 1848 to 29 July 1850 was paid “to Susan Haley, Adaline (sic) Burbank, Sarah Stevens, Oliver G. Heath, Benj’n Heath and John W. Heath, only surv’g child’n”. Note that Chandler Graham Heath is NOT mentioned. He had moved to Wisconsin in the 1840s and was in the California gold fields in 1850. Also sons Lewis and George are not mentioned. Mildred Heath told me in 2001 that Lewis died young and may have been killed by Indians. Nettie Glover’s records state that Lewis died young. It is curious why George is not listed since if my records are correct he had two sons, including George A. who was born in 1836.
NOTES:
A chart listing all the descendants of Benjamin Heath covered in this paper is included in the Appendix.
(1) As I write this I am in communication with other Heath descendant/genealogists in an effort to solve the mystery of Benjamin’s parentage, birth and early life. Eight Heaths are listed in the 1790 census in Grafton County, NH. Gorham was situated in Grafton County from 1771 unti1803 when Coos County was established. The 1790 Heaths of Grafton County are Jacob, James, Jesse, John, Jonathan, Josiah, Peter, and Samuel. The oldest Heath grave in the Heath Cemetery in Gorham is James Knox Heath, born 1798 or 1808, died April 8, 1878. According to Sally Tenero, a living descendant, James Knox Heath’s son James MacIntyre/ Madison Heath married a descendant of Susan Heath Haley, daughter of Benjamin. Another son of James Knox Heath (whose wife was Eliza Willey) named Thomas Willey Haley Heath is also buried there, as is John Lord Haley, son of Susan Heath and William Haley. It is therefore worth researching whether one of the Heaths in the 1790 Grafton County census was James Knox’s father and perhaps Benjamin’s brother.
(2) Nettie W. Glover of Pasadena CA (a 1930s source of information to my father through his Aunt May Martin Gray) and Nettie White Wolcott of Pasadena CA (1943 documents at Bethel ME Historical Society, also published in Copeley’s New Hampshire Family Records, p. 320, and a 1858 document at the LDS FHL library--FHL US/CAN Film #0854142, Item 1) are the same person. Both Netties cite their parents as Frances C. Heath and Lewis White. See my summary of her work at the end of this paper.
BENJAMIN HEATH’s LAND AND CENSUS RECORDS:
By Betty Gillespie Pollack
Copyright August 2005
Permission to reproduce with credit granted
March 15, 1784: Benjamin Heath bought 360 acres of land from Joseph Lewis for 16 pounds 10 shillings in 64th part of town of Fryeburg--location described in detail. Book 64, p 39B Fryeburg ME Register of Deeds (Note: Benjamin married Betty Lewis Dec 8 1784. Could Joseph be her father?)
1790 Census Index: Benjamin Heath was living in Strafford County, NH. Listed on p. 100, Age ranges in household: 01-00-03-00-00 (One free white male and 3 free white females).
June 20, 1798: Benjamin Heath sold the above land to David Page for 1 dollar. Book 64, p. 39A Fryeburg ME Register of Deeds
1800 census index: Benjamin has not been found. There are 3 Benjamin Heath's listed, two in Maine, p. 1206--Kennebec Co and p. 938 in York Co. and one in Rockingham Co NH, p. 802. The LDS Guide to NH Records says most of Strafford Co NH 1800 and all of Strafford Co NH 1820 census records are missing.
Note that Chandler reports his birthplace in 1795 as Rumford. As I write this, my next research project is to search for land records for the 1790s until 1804 for the Rumford area.
April 17, 1804: David Page sold land in Conway NH to Benjamin Heath of Conway NH for $200, Book 128, p. 206 Dover NH Register of Deeds. This land is described in detail but no acreage is cited.
1810 Census: Conway, Strafford Co. p 581. Benjamin and 3 boys (Lewis--age 16-26; Oliver (under age 10) and either Ben Jr., George, Chandler, or John (age 10-16--note 3 of these, including Chandler, were undoubtedly out of the household); Dolly and five; daughters were Adeline under age 10; Sarah age 10-16; Susan (age 16-26, which supports a birth date of 1787) and two others age 16-26.
May 21, 1819: "Benjamin Heath of Batchelder’s Grant in the county of Oxford and Commonwealth of Massachusetts" sold land in Conway NH to Chandler Heath for $200, Book 130 p. 393, Dover NH Register of Deeds
1820: Benjamin’s pension papers dated July 20, 1820 say he was living with wife, Dorothy, age 54, (who was "infirm and old" and children Oliver, 16, and Adeline, age 12 in Fryeburg, ME. He received a pension under the Act of Congress of 1818.
Dec 5, 1826: Benjamin's pension file contains a declaration that he was living in Conway on this date.
1930: Benjamin and Dolly were living with son John and his family according to the 1830 census for Conway, Carroll, NH on p 161. John is listed living next to brothers Oliver, Benjamin Jr., and George. The census shows a male between ages 70-80 and a female between ages 60-70 in John's household. The others are a male and female ages 30-40--John and Mary. The children are males, one under age 5, one age 5-10 and two females one under age 5 and one age 5-10.
BENJAMIN HEATH ADDENDUM
By Betty Gillespie Pollack
Copyright February 2006
Permission to reproduce with credit granted
NEW INFORMATION:
Benjamin Heath and his first wife Betty Lewis had a daughter, Elizabeth who was born in Conway NH on 29 December 1785, date calculated from her death record. Elizabeth Heath Warren died 26 July 1874 at age 88 years, 6 months, 28 days in Newburyport MA (death record #157, p 245). Oral family history related to me by one of Elizabeth’s descendants is that Elizabeth’s mother died when she was very young and that when Elizabeth was two months old she was sent to live with her grandmother in York ME. Her father was said to have moved to Ohio and possibly had a family there. Benjamin visited Elizabeth only once during her lifetime when Elizabeth was 12 years old. Elizabeth’s death record says that her mother, Betty Lewis, was born in Yale or York ME (script very hard to read) and her father was Benjamin Heath, no birth place cited.
THE SEARCH FOR BENJAMIN'S BIRTH, PARENTAGE AND SIBLINGS
This addendum is the product of on site research conducted in multiple locations in New Hampshire and Maine in October 2005 and further document research conducted in winter 2005/6. In brief, I have not been able to locate parents or brothers of Benjamin Heath nor have I been able to locate where he lived prior to his service in the Revolutionary War. It is possible but not proven that he was born in Canterbury Rockingham NH on19 May 1749.
Records searched include colonial census, vital records, deeds, probate court and biographical materials. Where possible I traced all Benjamin Heaths born prior to 1760 in these documents.
There is no evidence that Benjamin Heath or any Heath of his generation lived in either Gorham NH or Rumford ME. Our Benjamin is not the Benjamin Heath born in Haverhill MA May 21, 1738. That Benjamin was the son of Caleb Heath and Susannah Emerson whose genealogy is well documented in several Bartholomew Heath genealogy publications. Benjamin born 1738 is quite certainly the Benjamin Heath who moved to Canterbury, Rockingham NH, had several children there and is named in the 1790 and 1800 Canterbury census records. Note that Benjamin born 1738's father Caleb Heath and his brother Caleb Heath Jr. lived nearby.
It is possible that our Benjamin is the Benjamin Heath born May 19, 1749 in Canterbury, Rockingham NH but that has not been proven. That birth record does not cite parents.
A "Benjamin Heath and Hezekiah, son of Benjamin Heath" were baptized in Canterbury in 1753 but there is no definitive proof of exactly who he was. It is also possible but not proven that our Benjamin may have been a son of Benjamin Heath, born April 4 1713 in Haverhill MA and his wife Sarah Easman/Eastman, widow of Robert Emerson. They were married by 1745 and had two children whose births were recorded in 1745 and 1747.
Haverhill MA became part of NH in 1741. It was sometimes called Plaistow and was incorporated as Hampstead in 1749. After splitting off from MA NH did not keep vital records on the newly acquired territory until about 1753 when the church began keeping records, according to the authors of Our Family Legacy (pp. 241-42). Thus there are no systematic vital statistics available for the years 1749-1753, the period when our Benjamin was born. Consequently we may never find definitive proof of our Benjamin's birth, parentage and/or siblings.