A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
The topic for Week 16 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is – STEPS. This week I’m bringing my husband’s side of the family into the “It’s All About Family” family.
My husband Mark is a Benson with a lineage back to 1495 in Yorkshire England through 12 generations.
His 7th great grandfather, Christopher brought his family, including 6th great grandfather, John Benson to “the New World” in 1693. John married, lived, and died in Newport Rhode Island in 1722.
5th great grandfather John Hendrick was born in Newport RI in 1720. He married in the Second Congregational Church in Newport. He raised a family in North Carolina, and died in 1803 in Washington Georgia.
4th great grandfather, William Carroll Benson was born in 1755 in North Carolina. He married in 1772, moved to Barren Plains Tennessee, and raised 11 children. He died in 1831.
3rd great grandfather William Carroll Benson Jr, was born in 1783 in Barren Plains Tennessee. He made his way to an area of Illinois which is now Williamson County named for his donation of land. He was one of the original settlers of the area and there is a lot of information on him. He died in 1856 in an area of Williamson County Illinois
Joseph William Benson was born in 1825 in Marion Illinois and remained there until his death in 1876. He fought in the Mexican American War of 1846-1848 and was registered to fight in the Civil War but I don’t know if he did. He’s the only Benson that didn’t move away from his birth place!
Mark’s great grandfather, Archibald Lee Benson was born in 1867 in Marion, Williamson County, Illinois. He and his wife and children moved to Shawnee Oklahoma just prior to 1910 and he died there in 1948.
Grandfather Cletus Harold Benson was born in 1907 in Oklahoma. He and Mark’s grandmother divorced and He died in 1963 in Sacramento California.
Mark’s dad Cletus Harold Jr was born in Oklahoma and he and Mark’s mom made their way to Oakland California after their marriage in the late 1940s.
Mark was born in California and lived there until 1995 when we made our way to Wallingford Connecticut, my hometown, to live and here we are today. Not Leaving!
It’s funny to think that all those miles of travel, all those steps around the United States and we find ourselves one state away from where the Bensons began life in America!
It's All About Family 