Bentons connected to the Mayflower and the Pilgrims

MayflowerHave you ever wanted to find a tie back to a famous relative? I always thought it would be cool to say I’m a descendant of someone famous.

Now here’s a little link to some Benton family fame. This information comes from Joan Benton Barber… (her father is Rueben Clark Benton, the brother of Robert Hugh Benton. Robert Hugh Benton is the father of Gordon Benton, my grandfather). Joan has provided me with the genealogy of the Benton family back to some of the passengers on the Mayflower and the first settlers in Plymouth. Some of these ancestors were also present at that famous 1621 Thanksgiving that we celebrate each year!

I have also heard that Paul Benton may also have this information connecting the Benton’s back to the Mayflower. It would be nice for us to get that information together and verified with what you have.

So here is the genealogy according to Joan.

  • Robert Hugh Benton
  • Hugh Henry Benton married Mary Abbie Morse
  • Josiah Henry Benton married Harriet Buxton Niles
  • Nathaniel Niles married Silence Sawyer
  • Jonathan Sawyer married Tabitha Palmer
  • Ichabod Palmer married Phebe Broughton
  • John Broughton married Tabithia Kingsley
  • John Kingsley married Sarah Sabin
  • Samuel Sabin married Mary Billington
  • Francis Billington married Christian Penn
  • John Billington married Eleanor

John and Eleanor were on the Mayflower and settled in Plymouth. I am a 12th generation descendant of John Billington. Read on below for a little more details about our ancestor John Billington.

The Billington Family

John and his family (wife Eleanor and sons John and Francis) came over on the Mayflower and were part of the original Plymouth colony. Check out the mayflower history page for details

If you look at the details about John Billington we learn that ” The Billington family was Plymouth Colony’s troublemakers.” John was hung for murder in 1630 and his oldest son went missing before he died. We are decedents of his younger son Francis.

According to the Crime and Punishment in the Plymouth Colony page

“The first person executed for murder was Mayflower passenger John Billington, who was hanged in September 1630. He had gunned down John Newcomen, apparently the result of an ongoing quarrel.”

On a positive note Eleanor was one of only five adult women to survive the first winter and only one of four to participate in the famous 1621 Thanksgiving. This is according Eleanor’s mayflower history page.

Well there you have it. Please post any comments and any information related to this genealogy!

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21 Comments

  1. Oh my!! Very exciting to link back to the Mayflower and the Plymouth Colony!! I hadn’t realized that only 4 women survived to participate in the First Thanksgiving and your ancestor was one of them. Wow!!

  2. I actually didn’t have the Mayflower line info. There is a lot of info on the web about the above family members by doing a google search using “Mayflower history”. Apparently their son almost blew the whole ship up! As a link to another famous relative is “David Farragut”(1801-1870) a civil war hero. He was a US naval commander and at the battle of Mobile Bay and he is qouted as saying, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”. He is a second cousin twice removed to Mary Henry. Mary was married to Caleb Prouty, who was Josiah Henry Benton’s Maternal Grandfather. Also, Hugh Henry Benton, My Great Grandfather, was named after Mary’s Great Grandfather, Hugh Henry. Our Henry line goes back to Scotland and Ireland ( above info is from posts/fmily trees on Ancestery.com) By the way we have an LDS relative I discovered in Rescue, CA- Keith Benton. He has quite a few posts and has done quite a bit of research along our lines. Thanks Keith. And thank you Mike for all the work you are doing and sharing! Uncle , Paul

  3. Paul,

    Do you have an ancestry.com account? I do and I’d like to invite you to visit my trees and such so we can coordinate the genealogy. Also if have links to the other stuff on ancestry.com if you could post them… then we could have them documented here.

    Thanks

  4. This is awesome – My sister did a geneology search for my sons – Brandon and Jeremy – They are also the 12th Great Grandsons of John Billington – The separation occurs in the Sabin Family – We are descendants of Israel Sabin – We live in the Hudson Valley in NY

  5. Hi: My name is Rob Sawyer, and I live in Mitchell Ontario Canada, A number of years ago after my grandmothers funeral, I was discussing a little history of the Sawyer Family with an elderly relative who told me our descendants came to North America on the Mayflower. I never followed up on this until I began thinking of it, on being quite a thing to track the family tree. Just thought I would mention it and see maybe where it goes

    Rob

  6. Michael,
    You have it wrong. Robert Hugh was my father’s brother. Their father was Hugh Henry Benton, who was my grandfather. Thanks for correcting this error. Cousin Joan

  7. Stacey Smith:

    I am looking into the roots of Israel Sabin. He was born in Titchfield, England . His life from Titchfield to the Plymouth Colony is a mystery. Did he sail on Mayflower !!? Is there evidence that he was a Puritan and spent time in Holland.?

  8. I have just started doing some research of my own on our family tree. My dad told me years ago that we were descendants of Francis Billington and I would love to get more information. Do you have any other information on the Billington family?

  9. @Diane

    At this time I don’t have any more information on Fracis Billington Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful

  10. I am doing my genealogy and I am a descendant of John Billington also. I am in the process of trying to locate information. My grandfather was Harry Peckham the son of Elisha Peckham married to Sarah Hill Sabin, dau of Alfred Sabin and Eliza Lewis, son of Samuel Sabins and Olive Brown,son of Samuel Sabins and Sarah Hill, son of Elijah sabins and Susannah Sharp and back to Samuel Sabin and Mary Billington. I am having problems with all the Samuels and lack of documentation.

  11. Samuel Sabin born 9 Jul 1757 Married Sarah Hill
    Elijah Sabin born 9 Feb 1721 married Susannah Sharp
    Samuel Sabin born 27 Nov 1664 married Ruth Read
    Samuel Sabin born 20 Nov 1640 married Mary Billington

    I am having a problem with wife of Elijah Sabin any help with her line would be appreciated. The only names so I have found is Francis Sharp and Grace Cowgil

  12. Hi,
    I am the great grand daughter of Hugh Henry Benton. My grandfather was Robert Hugh Benton and my father is Wayne Hedges Benton. I have recently begun to work on my geneaology and this website has been most helpful. I live in Wisconsin.

  13. Hi Julie, I am also the great granddaughter of Hugh Henry Benton; Robert Hugh was my grandfather. Contact me directly if you like. I have much info and am happy to share. Debby

  14. Hi Joan,
    Did you have a book about our ancestors up to Robert Hugh Benton? I thought my dad had a book from you, but it was lost.

  15. Hi there!
    I am writing to you because my sister and I have been searching our ancestors for a long time and we thought maybe you could help us in some way. Our great, great grandfather was named Josiah Cooper. We think he was born near or in Newbury, Massachusetts around 1795. He was under the guardianship of Amos Carleton in 1809. In 1832, he changed his name to Henry Franklin Benton. We assume he changed his name because he became divorced a few months before the name change. The divorce file states that his wife committed adultery. Henry remarried in 1835 and moved to Leominster, Masachusetts. He died in 1855. We are trying to find out who Josiah/Henry’s parents were. All the records state his parents were unknown. We really wonder where Josiah got the name of Henry Franklin Benton. If you see any connection with your family we would love to know!!! Thank you!! Peg Clark

  16. There is a poting from Debby (Benton) Luttenberger on this site.
    Can anyone tell me how I can get hold of Debby. She has some Hoernig/Potter ancestors and relatives in common with me.

    Chris Malcolm, NZ

  17. Joan, Thank you for the update. I have corrected my post accordingly. Here is the change:

    Now here’s a little link to some Benton family fame. This information comes from Joan Benton Barber… (her father is Rueben Clark Benton, the brother of Robert Hugh Benton. Robert Hugh Benton is the father of Gordon Benton, my grandfather).

    Please verify the changes are correct.

    Sorry that I did not respond earlier. I get a lot of spam messages and had missed your comment. I will be more careful in the future and am excited and thankful for all your amazing work.

  18. Mike,
    I just joined the Plantagenet Society and was approved. Also, I joined the Magna Charta and have all the proof.
    Merry Christmas
    Cousin Joan

  19. @Chris Malcolm Just saw your post on this site. You can reach me at tomndebby@comcast.net. I’m happy to share any info I may have on the Hoernig or Potter lines.

    I have a public tree on ancestry.com. Benton-Luttenberger Family Tree

    Debby

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