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Brittany
Here is some information for you. There is a lot of information on the Benham line so if you are interested in other data then contact me direct at sboycec20@msn.com.
Here you go:
There is no explanation as to why John Benham was not mentioned in the will of his father.
John Benham, the 1st known of this particular branch of the family, migrated to the Holston Valley abt 1769 and settled on land, laying on the N Fork of the Holston River, adjoining the Hobbs family. He received several grants after the area became Washington Co. (Survey Book 1). He built "Benhams Fort", for settlement protection against Indian attacks. Ezekiel Hobbs in his pension application says in 1777 he was drafted to duty in Benham's Fort and remained there one month. In 1778 and 1779 he was employed / drafted as a guard.
John Benham married Mary Hobbs, Daughter of Vincent, b. MD. In 1792 he purchased 350 acres...from Charles Cocke of Russell County for 60 pounds (DKB 1-234). This was shortly prior to the formation of Lee Co., 1792-3. Then the land fell within the boundary of a new county... The Hobbs descendants give information that indicate John Benham was a resident of Lee Co. but the writer has been unable to find records to establish proof.
John Benham died in 1800 in Washington Co., VA. His will named all 11 of his children.
John leaves this testimony in his will: "I John Benham of Washington Co. and state of VA, weak in body but of perfect mind and memory, thanks be given unto Goad and calling unto mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die do make and ordain this my last will and testament, that is to say principally and first of all I give and recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God that gave it, and my body I recommend to the earth, to be buried in decent Christian burial at the discretion of my executors. Nothing doubting but as to the general resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God. And as touching such worldly estate wherewith it has pleased God to bless me in this life I give...."
In Apr 1825 Mary Benham of Lee Co, Va conveyed 120 acres of the original tract of 350 acres purchased by John in 1792 to James Bennum (Benham) and Peter Tittle for $850. (DBK 3-10)
In June 1802 Mary Benham and her sons, Vincent, William and John who inherited the land by terms of the will from their deceased father, John Benham, conveyed 120 acres to Drury Fletcher for 20 pounds (DBK 1-302)
Reference: Annals of Southwest Virginia - 1769 - 1800
The Slaying of John Douglas at Little Moccasin Gap
By Emory L. Hamilton
From the unpublished manuscript,
Indian Atrocities Along the Clinch, Powell, and
Holston Rivers, pages 28-30.
This incident has perhaps suffered more abuse as to correct date than any event on the frontier. L. P. Summers, in his History of
Washington County, has John Douglas and William Benham chasing the Indians who had captured the wife and children of Capt. Isaac
Newland, near Abingdon in 1789, thirteen years after young Douglas had been killed. Just what age John Douglas was when slain is unknown, but he must have been a fairly young, unmarried man, yet, old enough to have served in the militia as a Sergeant under Capt. William Cocke, August 5, 1774. (1)
Captain William Russell Wrote to Colonel Preston, on July 7, 1776, (2) saying:
Dear Colo. - I wrote you yesterday in great haste intendent to send of the express immediately, but he, being disappointed, shall
enclose that one in this. I omitted giving the account of two men (no names Given), being killed at Blackmore's Fort last week, and since I
left Fort Chiswell, poor John Douglas got killed in Little Moccasin Gap, on his way to Clinch. Captain Daniel Smith saw his bones yesterday
(July 6th) arriving over here.
As evidenced by Captain Russell's letter, John Douglas was probably killed either on July 5th or 6th. Tradition has it that Douglas was
accompanied by his friend William Benham, and that they, as was customary of most people traveling from Abingdon to the Clinch settlements, had stopped in Little Moccasin Gap, and were seated on a large flat rock, eating their lunch when a rifle cracked and Douglas was killed. A bronze plaque has been placed on the rock, probably by the D. A. R., and just east of the spot a wayside has been built, known as the "John Douglas Wayside", perpetuating the memory of this incident.
It has been written that John Douglas was living in the vicinity of Abingdon at the time, but of this I can find no confirmation. He, at the time, was a young unmarried man, and his parents, Edward and Sarah George Douglas were living on a 400 acre tract of land on both sides of Clinch River at the Flour Ford in Scott County, VA, where they had settled in 1776. The Douglas family and that of Captain John Blackmore had intermarried. Sarah Douglas, a sister of the slain John, having married Thomas, a son of Captain John Blackmore, and Almore Douglas was married to a daughter of Captain John Blackmore to the Nashboro settlement when he rafted down the Clinch to that place in 1779.
There was a connection between the Douglas, Benham and Hobbs families which may account for John Douglas' friend William Benham being with him at the time of the slaying. For the foregoing data I am indebted to Gordon Aronhime, of Bristol, VA.
A man named John Benham settled on the north side of the North Fork of Holston River in 1769. William Benham was likely his son. He, the elder Benham owned about a thousand acres of land along the Holston River, about four miles or less below the village of Holston. John Benham was evidently a brother-in-law of the elder Vincent Hobbs. Benham had a son named Vincent, and the Benhams and Hobbs lived next farms to each other, coming to the area about the same time. John Benham (died 1800) had a fort between those near Saltville (that of Jeremiah Harrison) and the Anderson Blockhouse near Big Moccasin Gap. Benham had built his fort before the Revolutionary War. William Benham married Mary Kendrick.
John Douglas had probably been visiting with his friends and kindred, Benhams and Hobbs over at Holston, and was returning to the Clinch, along with William Benham when he was slain.
At a court held for Washington County, VA, on September 30, 1777, Edward Douglas (his father) was granted administration of the estate of John Douglas, deceased, with his securities being William Wilson and Richard Stanton, the latter living on Stanton's Creek, below Dungannon, in Scott County, VA. The appraisers of the estate were John Blackmore, Blackmore's Fort, Andrew Davis who lived at the mouth of Stoney Creek, near Blackmore's Fort, and Alexander Ritchie, Sr., who lived on Clinch River, below Dungannon in Scott County.
Who were the two men that Captain Russell says were killed at Blackmore's Fort?
(1) Shelby Family Papers, Vol. I, Item 412, Library of
Congress
(2) Draper Mss 4 QQ 53.
Contact: Rhonda Robertson at: rsr@mounet.com
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