Joseph Benson (1640-1705/6), 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 Week 46 theme: "Wartime"

Joseph Benson, my 9th great grandfather, was born in 1640, two years after his parents John and Mary Benson along with two children under age 4 emigrated aboard the ship Confidence from Caversham, Oxfordshire, England to Hingham in New England. Joseph was the first of the family born in America. His early years were spent in Hingham before the family moved to Hull. 

Benson locations at Hingham and Hull, Plymouth Colony - Google Earth map

After his father's death, Joseph bought out his brother's share of the estate and remained in Hull. He married Sarah Bass in about 1666 and had a family of 8 children with her, all born in Hull. Their second child was Sarah Benson who grew up to marry Joseph Pratt; this couple became my 8th great grandparents.

Living where and when he did, it was almost inevitable that Joseph would be called upon to serve in King Philip's War in 1675-76. Several other ancestors were also involved, two of whom have been written about in stories earlier this year: John Wickes and Joseph Turner. King Philip's War  (aka the Great Narraganset War) was an armed conflict between the indigenous people of the northeastern colonies and the  English colonists and some of their indigenous supporters. (With the benefit of historical hindsight, I find it much easier to sympathize with the original inhabitants than with my colonial ancestors.)

The King Philip War - a raid on the settlers. Engraving from The Providence Plantations for 250 Years, Welcome Arnold Greene, 1886. (Public Domain from Wikimedia Commons)

Joseph became a soldier and first appears in the muster rolls of those serving under Captains Johnson and Jacob on 24 March 1675 with the following notation: "02-16-00" (perhaps payment?). Then in the "List of Capt. Johnson's Company" made at Dedham 10 December 1675, he is named among the six men listed from Hull. Captain Isaac Johnson was the older brother of my 9th great grandfather Humphrey Johnson who also served in the same Company.

The Company consisted of 75 men from Hull and the surrounding settlements (Roxbury, Dorchester, Milton, Braintry, Weymouth and Hingham). 

It was one of the two companies that led an attack in the Great Swamp Fight in Rhode Island on 19 December 1675. Captain Johnson and three other men were killed and eight were wounded as they charged a Native American fort in a 3-hour battle. No mention is made of either Joseph Benson or Humphrey Johnson having been among the wounded; both survived the War.

The Great Swamp Fight Monument
Photo by Innapoy 16 July 2013
Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons License ( GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation)

Joseph died in Hull on 2 January 1705/6. For his service, in 1733 he was awarded a grant of land in Narragansett #5, Souhegan East (now Bedford, NH) that was claimed by his son and heir.

Some Resources:

• Benson, Fred H., The Benson Family Records, The Craftsman Pres(s: Syracuse, N.Y., 1920; available online at HathiTrust at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005729634
• Bodge, George M., Soldiers in King Philip's War; containing lists of the soldiers of Massachusetts Colony who served in the Indian War of 1675-1676; Printed for the author, Boston 1891, accessed 8 October 2025 on Internet Archive; pages 111-115 at https://archive.org/details/soldiersinkingph00bodg
• Britannica online article about "King Philip's War"  at https://www.britannica.com/event/King-Philips-War