Benajah Strong (1740-1836)

Capt. Benajah Strong, b. 22 Feb 1740 in Woodbury CT., d. 22 May 1836, Lansing, Tompkins Co, N.Y. seems to be the primary link to Reuben, either as his father or grandfather. Here is the history from Dwight's:

He was 6 ft. 2 in. in height, enlisted in the French War, was a Captain of a volunteer company of soldiers in the Revolutionary war, and was present at the burning of Danbury, Ct. He removed about 1782, to Athens, Greene Co, N.Y., where he bought the confiscated farm of a tory officer, and the rights and privileges of the ferry between Athens and Hudson. He removed afterwards to the Great Bend of the Susquehannah, near Binghamton, N.Y. and after three years residence there to Ithaca, N.Y., whence (on account of the sickliness of the place) he removed after two years to Lansing, Tompkins Co, N.Y. (then Milton) where for a dollar per acre he bought two thousand acres of land, now worth on hundred dollars per acre(1871). He was entitled to a pension as a Revolutionary soldier but would never apply for it, or allow any of his family to do so,as he said that he gave his services freely to his country. He was a member of the Baptist church.After the death of his wife, Jane, in 1816, he m. in 1818,for 2d wife Mrs Abigail Powers, neé Newland widow of Elder Lemuel Powers, a Bapt. clergyman at Stillwater, N.Y. She was the mother of the first wife of Pres. Millard Fillmore.

Although the children listed in Dwight's are all born in Woodbury between 1762 -1778, the 1800 census shows 2 boys, aged 10-15 in his household. That would be the right age for Reuben and none of the others fits. It would also mean another boy in that age group may have been born along the path to Lansing. Benajah Jr is also listed in 1800 with boys of a similar age but his known sons would account for that. It's an interesting possibility.

Further research on Benajah Strong provides further evidence that he is our man. The children in the 1800 census were potentially the children of the youngest daughter. However, she is mentioned as having married but left her husband early with no children. This also matches with the 1800 census.

More on the Benajah family

More work on Benajah Sr.'s sons. 1. Dea. Benajah, (b. 1763, d. 1851) also lived in Lansing. He had a son named Benajah b. 1786 in Newburgh NY; Samuel, b. 1788 (birthplace unknow); Truman b. and Hinman D., b 1794 (unknown). Truman is listed as unmarried in Lansing in Dwight's as is Hinman D. These are in the same generation with Reuben.

2. Amos (b. 1771) lived in Lansing. He can be ruled out as the potential father, based on names in an 1825 deed conveying to legal heirs that named sons: Willis, Freeman, Amos, William, Hiram, and Charles.

3. Salmon (b. 1772) had many children but the first was born in 1797, too late for Reuben to be in his family.

4. Simeon Prime, (b. 1774) married in 1799 so also too late.

I believe this leaves us with either Benajah Sr being the father with children unlisted and born along the way like son Benajah's son somewhere in NY, or Jr. with an unlisted son somewhere along the line. Not too promising. Where's the missing link?

Possible link to Thomas Strong

There has been an interesting development in the search for our ancestry through Reuben Strong of NY. Mervin Strong has enrolled in the DNA study and is the closest match to my DNA yet, with only 2 differences out of 37 markers. Of note, is that his line traces back to the Itacha, NY area where Reuben lived and thus increases the odds of Reuben being part of the Benajah Strong family that settled there. This demonstrates the value of DNA in narrowing the search among the many lines emanating from Elder John Strong. The first data that came out suggested we might be related to either John Jr or Jedediah, sons of Elder John Strong. The more data that has now be submitted changes that to suggest Thomas is the line to investigate. We were definitely interested in Benajah, who we found in Lansing NY when we spent a week in Ithaca looking for Reuben's family, but couldn't find any paper evidence that they were related. The DNA provides evidence for the relationship but there are always questions unanswered that could be clarified by more people participating. For those interested in the data, here are links to the Strong DNA information:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~donegalstrongs/dnaresults.htm

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~donegalstrongs/15388.htm

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~donegalstrongs/118848.htm

Mervin's line is as follows, from Dwight's History of the Strong Family, and he is related to Thomas. (Thomas>;Adino>t;Adino>t;Benajah>t;Salmon>;William J.>t;Giles>;Edward Charles>;Charles Edward).

Benajah is the key since he is the patriarch of the Lansing, NY family and is the likely progenitor for Reuben as either father or grandfather. He was born in Woodbury CT, son of Adino Strong Jr and Deborah Prime. He married Jane Cochrane in 1761 and his children of record were born there. He was a Revolutionary War soldier and is cited in those records as are his sons Truman (who died in service) and Benajah Jr. In 1782 the family moved to Athens, Greene Co, NY where he took over the farm of a tory officer. They moved later to the Great Bend in the Susquehannah, near Binghamton, NY and after 3 years to Ithaca, NY. Two years later, they moved to Lansing where he bought 2000 acres of land for $1/acre.,He was a member of the Baptist Church. His wife died in 1816 and he remarried a widow, Abigail Powers, nee Newland in 1818 (she is noted as the mother of the wife of President Millard Fillmore). Benajah died in 1836 and is buried in the Strong Graveyard near Lansing.

The challenge is connecting Reuben is the lack of paper evidence and the dates. By census reports, Reuben was born between 1780 and 1790, likely towards the end since his wife Mary Abbott was born in 1791. That could mean that, if he is a son of Benajah, he would have been born in NY, either Athens or Binghamton, and we have no records of that. He also could be a grandson although he isn't in any of the published family records of Benajah Jr, Amos or Salmon. Benajah Jr was born in 1763 and his first son Benajah was born in 1786, the right time period, in Newburgh, NY (another place to look). His second son, Samuel, was born in 1788.

Benajah Sr's second son is Amos, b. 1771 and married Polly Goodwin. Unfortunately there is no information in Dwight's about this family, thus is of interest, although he would have been a little young to be Reuben's father.

All of these boys married Lansing girls and thus are in the area at the right time for Reuben.

We will continue to investigate