Benjamin Gurney (c. 1704 – before 1772)
Plymouth County farmer whose 1730 liaison with Jane Harden produced Benjamin (G9) before his 1731 marriage to Sarah Morse; the split sends Cummington and Rochester lines in different directions.
Highlights
- Three traceable land transactions in eastern Plymouth County. With his father (G11), bought land from Samuel Tinkham, Middleboro, on 28 October 1730 — three lots of upland and one lot of meadow about two acres (Plymouth Registry 39:79). Sold the same after his father's death on 3 May 1749. On 7 November 1731 acquired eight acres at Middleboro from Sam Eddy Jr. (Plymouth Registry). Held a Rochester homestead farm later divided among sons Lemuel, Benjamin, and Levi by deed dated 1 January 1800 (Plymouth County land deed 95:139, Genealogical Society film 559,140). 3
- Likely father of Benjamin (G9) through Jane/Jean Harden. Secondary compiled genealogy identifies G10 as the father of Benjamin (G9), baptized at Abington in 1730 as Benjamin, son of Jean. The primary baptism does not name the father, so this should be treated as a strong compiled-genealogy identification supported by the Harden-side record chain, not as a direct baptismal statement. 48
- Moved from the Bridgewater–Abington corridor into the Middleboro–Rochester corridor. The traceable arc of his life runs from a Weymouth birth, through the Abington–Whitman area in early adulthood, into Middleboro from 1730–31, and finally to Rochester, where he died before December 1772. 2
- His Rochester homestead was divided among three sons in 1800. The 1 January 1800 division of the homestead farm at Rochester among sons Lemuel, Benjamin, and Levi (Plymouth County land deed 95:139) is the most concrete glimpse of his estate post mortem. The recorded division also confirms the names of three of his sons. 6
Children
| Name | Dates | Mother | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Gurney | bpt. 30 May 1730 – d. 28 Sept. 1805 | Jane / Jean Harden | G9 in direct line; baptized as Benjamin, son of Jean; later confirmed as John Harden's grandson. Father identification rests on secondary compiled genealogy and the broader evidence chain. 78 |
| Lemuel Gurney | Sarah Morse | With his brothers, divided the Rochester homestead farm 1 January 1800. 6 | |
| Benjamin Gurney | b. c. 1743 | Sarah Morse | Later same-name half-brother; likely distinct from G9 and relevant to the Rochester homestead / two-Benjamin disambiguation problem. 4 |
| Levi Gurney | Sarah Morse | With his brothers, divided the Rochester homestead farm 1 January 1800. 6 |
The family has a two-Benjamin problem. Benjamin G9, baptized in 1730 as son of Jean/Jane Harden, is distinct from the later Benjamin in the Sarah Morse child set who appears to fit the Rochester homestead division and later Middleborough/Rochester records. 468
Narrative
Benjamin Gurney G10 lived his entire life within the working farms and small towns of eastern Plymouth County, Massachusetts. He was born around 1704 at Weymouth, into the household of his father Benjamin G11 and Rebecca Staples; he reached adulthood in the Abington–Whitman line area, where the family had held land since the previous generation. The difficult opening event of his adult life should now be stated with sharper evidence discipline: secondary compiled genealogy identifies him as the father of Benjamin (G9), who was baptized at Abington on 30 May 1730 as Benjamin, son of Jean. The newly located John Harden will confirms that the child later known as Benjamin Gurney was John Harden's grandson and makes Jane/Jean Harden Spear the best-supported mother, but neither the baptism nor the will directly names G10 as father. 148
His married life with Sarah Morse from 1731 onward generated a family group that Plymouth County deeds preserve in fragments. With his father he bought Middleboro land from Samuel Tinkham on 28 October 1730 (Plymouth Registry 39:79) — three lots of upland and a small meadow lot of about two acres — and sold it on 3 May 1749 after his father's death. He purchased eight further acres at Middleboro from Samuel Eddy Jr. on 7 November 1731, presumably the family's working farm in that town. By the latter part of his life he had moved on to Rochester, where he died before December 1772.
The fullest after-death record is a 1 January 1800 land deed (Plymouth County 95:139) by which his sons Lemuel, Benjamin, and Levi divided the Rochester homestead. It is from this deed that his sons by Sarah Morse are known. The deed also implies that Benjamin (G9) — the son by Jane Harden — was treated as a separate descent: by 1800 G9 was already established in Cummington, having sold his own Abington land in 1770 and purchased into Town No. 5 the same year. The split between the Plymouth County and Hampshire County branches of his children's families therefore traces back to Benjamin G10's two relationships, with the Cummington / New York / Indiana line in this project descending exclusively from the earlier liaison with Jane Harden.
Citations
- Birth c. 1704 at Weymouth, parentage from
data/ancestors v26.json, G10 entry. ↩ - "Died before December 1772" inferred from absence in subsequent Plymouth County records.
data/ancestors v26.json, G10 entry. ↩ - Plymouth Registry 39:79 (Tinkham purchase, 28 October 1730; sold 3 May 1749); Plymouth Registry, 7 November 1731 (Eddy purchase, 8 acres Middleboro); Plymouth County land deed 95:139 (Rochester homestead division, 1 January 1800), GS film 559,140. Cited in
data/ancestors v26.json, G10 entry. ↩ - "John Gurney, US 1636," The Neverending Hobby, public compiled genealogy. Use as secondary compiled genealogy for the G10 / Jane Harden relationship, G10's identification as father of Benjamin G9, the Sarah Morse child set, and the later same-name Benjamin. Source ID:
neverending-hobby-john-gurney-us-1636. ↩ - Middleborough Public Library, "Marriages by Men's Name," marriage index PDF, entry for Benjamin Gurney and Sarah Morse, 14 June 1731; marriage index PDF. Source ID:
middleborough-marriages-by-mens-name. ↩ - Plymouth County land deed 95:139, GS film 559,140 — Rochester homestead farm divided among sons Lemuel, Benjamin, and Levi, 1 January 1800. Cited in
data/ancestors v26.json, G10 entry. ↩ - See Benjamin Gurney (G9) fact sheet; G9's baptism is recorded in Vital Records of Abington, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850, vol. 1, as Benjamin, son of Jean, baptized 30 May 1730, C.R.1. Source ID:
abington-vr-1850-vol1. ↩ - Massachusetts. Probate Court (Plymouth County), Probate records, 1686–1903; with index and docket, 1685–1967, Plymouth County Probate Court record book, manuscript pp. 383–384, will of John Harden of Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, blacksmith, dated 17 September 1751, proved 7 October 1751; FamilySearch catalog; p. 383 image; p. 384 image. The will confirms Benjamin Gurney as John Harden's grandson and names daughter Jane Spear; it does not name Benjamin Gurney G10 as father. Source ID:
plymouth-probate-john-harden-1751-will. ↩