James Irwin Benham

Other Events:

• Occupation: Farmer
• Census: 1850, Union Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; as James Benham, farmer, in the household of James Benham
• Census: 1860, Union Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; as James Benham, farmer, head of household
• Census: 1870, Union Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; as James Benham, farmer, head of household
• History / Bio: 1882; The History of Warren County, Ohio (Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1882) p1050

Notes:

FUNERAL INVITATION...
James I. Benham,
Born at Lebanon, O Oct 18, 1830
Dead of Malarial Fever, at
Easom, Tex. Oct. 9, 1885

Martha J. Benham,
Born at Lebanon, O, August 4, 1835
Died of Malarial Fever, at
Easom, Tex. Nov. 1, 1885

Funeral Services will be held at the West Baptist church, Lebanon, O., Sunday, November 22, 1885, at 2 P.M., conducted by Revs. T. A. Brandar and J. P. Scott. Friends are invited.

History / Bio:

Union Township
James I. Benham, farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born on the place where he lives Oct. 19, 1830; is a son of James and Lydia (Moore) Banham. His father was born in Washington Co., Penn., August 9, 1784, and was a son of Peter Benham, who settled in Newport, Ky., in the winter of 1793 and 1794, where he resided one year, when he returned to Pennsylvania, where he died in 1799. His widow, with her children, came to Warren Co., Ohio, the following year, and settled on land now owned by A. J. Keever, in this township. Robert Benham, the Indian fighter, and the man who figured so prominently in the early history of Ohio, was a brother to Peter above mentioned, Grandmother Benham lived with her children where she settled, till her death, which occurred in 1805. the children were: Robert, James, Peter, John, Ann and Martha, all deceased but Martha, who resides in Orange Co., Texas. James Benham was three times married: first, in 1818, to Mary Robinson, who died soon after; secondly to Mary Russell, Dec. 9, 1827; lastly to Lydia Irvin Moore, by whom he had six children, three living, viz.: James I., Rebecca and Martha; the deceased died in infancy. Mr. Benham, Sr., was a continuous resident of the county, and a prosperous farmer. He served six years as Justice of the Peace, and in all ways was a successful man; he died Aug. 13, 1869; his last wife departed this life Oct. 12, 1847. Our subject was married, Feb. 2, 1853, to Martha J., daughter of Stephen Probasco, of a pioneer family of this county. Four children have been born to them, three living, viz.; Peter P., James E. and Kate; Frank deceased. Mr. Benham owns 124 acres of land in the home farm and 56 acres in Turtle Creek Township. The home place is well improved, and shows the thrift and enterprise of its owner. Since 1852, he has been in Texas lands, having bought at that time 1000 acres of timbered land, and he is now engaged in working the timber into lumber. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge of Lebanon, Council, Chapter and Commandery.

James married Martha Jane Probasco on 2 Feb 1853 in Warren County, Ohio, United States. Martha was born on 4 Aug 1835 in Turtlecreek Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; died on 1 Nov 1885 in Easom, Texas, United States; was buried on 22 Nov 1885 in Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Peter Probasco Benham was born on 30 Nov 1854 in Warren County, Ohio, United States; died on 28 Nov 1931 in Union Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; was buried on 1 Dec 1931 in Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio, United States.
2. James Ellsworth Benham was born about 1861; died after 1882 in Warren County, Ohio, United States.
3. Katie M. Benham was born on 16 Mar 1875 in Union Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; died on 29 Oct 1911; was buried in Oct 1911 in Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio, United States.
4. Stephen Frank Benham was born on 2 Nov 1858; died on 28 Jul 1860; was buried in Jul 1860 in Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio, United States.

Other Events:

• Military: Officer in the Revolutionary War
• Religion: Universalist
• Census: 1840, Union Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States
• Census: 1850, Union Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; as James Benham, farmer, head of household
• Census: 1860, Union Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States; as James Benham, in the household of Joseph Bone
• History / Bio: 1882; The History of Warren County, Ohio (Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1882), p713

Notes:

History / Bio:

Union Township
James Benham was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania August 9, 1784, and died in Union Township, Warren County, Ohio at the age of eighty-five years and sixteen days. His father, Peter Benham, removed with his family to the present site of Newport, Ky., in the winter of 1793-94, where he stopped on a tract of land belonging to Capt. Robert Benham. The next year, Peter Benham returned to Pennsylvania on business and died there, leaving in Kentucky his widow and five children, James, John, Peter, and two daughters, afterward Mrs. Thompson Lamb and Mrs. Nathan Smith. The widow removed to lands near Turtle Creek, purchased with the proceeds of Peter's estate. She died in 1805, when her eldest son, James, was just twenty-one years old. At his mother's request, he promised her not to marry until his young sisters were grown up, and to keep them together. True to his promise, he remained single until 1818, when he married Miss Mary Robinson; in 1821, he married Miss Mary Russell, and in 1827 he married Mrs. Lydia Irwin. By his first two marriages he had no children; by his third wife, his children were James I., Mrs. Rebecca Snook, Mrs. Martha Stokes and Mrs. Lizzie Bone. James Benham was twice elected Justice of the Peace, but he never sought office. His long life was passed as a quiet farmer; in politics he was a Whig, and afterward a Republican; in religion he was for the last forty or fifty years of his life a Universalist. Gen. Durbin Ward, who was the intimate friend of James Benham wrote soon after his death: "The writer who knew him as the highest type of humanity--an honest man--and who loved him for nearly thirty years, mourns the loss of the wisest man he ever knew, and whose daily life he would be glad to be good and great enough to follow as an example."

James married Lydia Moore on 20 Dec 1827 in Butler County, Ohio, United States. Lydia was born about 13 Sep 1798; died on 12 Oct 1847 in Warren County, Ohio, United States; was buried in Oct 1847 in Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Baptism: 31 May 1759, Monmouth County, New Jersey, British Colonial America; Address:
  Old Tennent Church
• Residence: Between 1793 and 1794, Newport, Campbell County, Kentucky, United States; for one year before returning to Pennsylvania
• Death: 1799, Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States

Notes:

Benham, Peter; (bro. of Capt. Robert); to Ky. 1793, where he d 1799; widow to Ohio 1800, d 1805; issue-- Robert, *James, Peter, **John, Ann, wife of Thompson Lamb; Martha, wife of Nathan Smith. *James, Union Township, b Washington Co. Pa. Aug. 9, 1784 - d Aug. 13, 1869; m (1) Mary Robinson; (2) Dec. 9, 1827, Mary Russell; (3) Lydia Irvin Moore, who d Oct. 12 1847; issue-- James, Rebecca, Martha and three others; James Jr. b.

Peter married Elizabeth Ellsworth. Elizabeth was born about 1753; died in 1805 in Warren County, Ohio, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Betsey Ellsworth
• Residence: Abt 1800, Union Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States

Other Events:

• Baptism: 1 Jan 1725, Monmouth County, New Jersey, British Colonial America; Address:
  Dutch Reformed Church
• Military: Between 1776 and 1778; American Revolutionary War - Sergeant/Ensign

Notes:

...The New Jersey Colonial Documents, marriage records, list the three marriages of this Peter Benham. He first married in 1747 to Anne (or Anna) James, daughter of Robert and Amey James. She died in 1758
...Peter married the second time on Apr 2, 1759 in New Jersey as Peter Benham of Middlesex to Hannah Clayton of Monmouth, New Jersey.
...Peter married the third time on Feb 24, 1761 as Peter Benham of Freehold, New Jersey to Catharine Wessel of Freehold, New Jersey. She outlived him and was granted letters of administration on his estate in Loudon County, Virginia. These letters were obtained Jun 12, 1780 and the bond posted was for 1000 pounds. From the amount of the bond, Peter left behind a small estate. He left no will and consequently Peter's eldest son, John, under the English law succeeded to the estate.
...Feb 12, 1781 James and his brother Nathaniel, orphans of Peter were bound to Samuel Cox by the Loudon County Court through the Wardens of Shelbourne Parish. I have spoken to the Rector of Shelbourne Parish and he advises that at the time this took place the Parish had almost as much jurisidiction over the welfare of the citizens of Virginia as the state courts. Shelbourne Parish is the Episcopal Church.
...Upon visiting the Daughters of American Revolution Headquarters in Washington, D.C. I found that numerous persons had established their ties with Peter Benham.
...These DAR records show that Peter served as a sergeant in Captain West's Company and also designated as Captain's Reuben Briscoe 3rd Virginia Regiment (1776 - 1778). Documentation for this is found in Colonel Thomas Marshal and Colonel William Heth's report of AGO Court records, Loudon County Virginia.
...I also found in the accounts of the United States for the Militia of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, Book A, page 282 where Peter furnished sundries for the Militia of the just mentioned states and was paid 30 pounds.
...Peter was a military sergeant of Carters Company, 10th Regiment which is recorded in the Colonial and State records of North Carolina Volume 1 - 16, page 1120 and Polio, North Carolina Revolutionary Army Accounts, Volume 2, page 8.
...While living in Loudon County Virginia Peter was appointed an Ensign on May 1778 in the Virginia militia. His appointment appears in "Legends of Loudon" by Harrison Williams, page 126 and also in the book "Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War" by McAllister, pages 210 and 213.
...Page 205 of the HISTORY OF THE OLD TENNENT CHURCH, by the Reverend Frank R. Symmes, 1904, under Early Baptismal Records, is the following: "Peter Benham had baptised: John, Robert, Peter, Richard, Amey, and Catharine, all baptized at once, presented by their father and their mother-in-law Hannah which had been (illegible) Clayton, May 31, 1759."
...It appears that Peter Benham after his marriage to Catharine Wessell in 1761 moved to Loudon County Virginia. His six older children were left behind in the care of their grandmother Catharine (Van Dyke) Benham. (Source: Compiled by James Lee Wignall, Following the Footprints on the Sands of Time, 1986)

Peter married Anne James on 2 Apr 1747 in Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey, British Colonial America. Anne (daughter of Robert James, Sr. and Amey _____) was born on 29 Jan 1727 in Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey, British Colonial America; died in 1758 in Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey, British Colonial America. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]