The Stories in the Stones: The Bennet Family

The following post is offered courtesy of Jeff Stevens and the Friends of Middleborough Cemeteries as part of an ongoing series The Stories in the Stones.

THE STORIES IN THE STONES - The Bennet Family

Jeff Stevens - Friends of Middleborough Cemeteries

The Burial Ground at the Church on the Green contains a treasure of historic grave stones. The most significant events in the lives of our ancestors are cut into this local slate with the names, dates, and brief details of long or often too short lives. The sweep of generations can be seen in a handful of stones from just one family. Reading the details is a quick look through a family's tragedies or the celebration of the lives of its distinguished patriarchs and beloved mothers.

The Bennet family (also written as Bennett) is an example. They lived in Middleboro from its earliest colonial days. Deacon John Bennet came originally from England, landed in Virginia, moved to Salem and then to Middleboro. His stone tells us he died on March 21, 1718, at 76 years. His wife, Deborah, died the next day. Deacon John was a selectman and served as town clerk for 13 years, according to the Weston history of Middleboro.

Markers show that Ebenezer Bennet and his wife Esther buried three "stillborn" children, a son in 1741, and two daughters, one in 1744 and the second in 1746. In 1743, another daughter, Lydia, lived for less than a month. Another stone tells us that at least one daughter, Patience, lived to adulthood, dying in 1781 at age 44. Ebenezer himself is listed on his stone as "Died in the Bay of Hondorieas August 26th, 1751". Esther lived to be 70 and died in 1776.

Another stone lists "Mrs. Mary Bennett widow of Mr. Nehemiah Bennett who died January 26th 1790 Aged 27 years 1 month & 20 days. Her infant lies buried by her side." Life and death were always closely associated in colonial Middleboro.

Not all Bennets died early. Mercy Bennett was Deacon John's daughter-in-law and lived to be 99 years, 10 months, and 20 days old. She was born in 1699 and died in 1799. The Middleboro history lists her as a woman of "unusual intelligence" and tells that she walked all the way to Plymouth with two other girls during a great snowstorm "to attend public service."

Other Bennets served in the American Revolution and the Civil War. Their stones are marked with SAR (Sons of the American Revolution) or GAR (Grand Army of the Republic for the Civil War) markers.

One family plot shows us triumphs and tragedies, heroes and housewives, early settlers and dedicated public servants. All this and more can be seen at our local burial ground. Hundreds of stones tell of these everyday heroes and heroines who lived through difficult and historic times. A walk through the rows of stones lets a person piece together the stories and follow the lives and deaths of these early citizens of our town.

Sadly, these pictures of past lives and local history are rapidly falling apart. Many of the stones are badly damaged and weathering of the stones is destroying these wonderful works of art, making it difficult or impossible to read the inscriptions.

Illustration:
Bennet Family Stone, Cemetery at the Green, Middleborough, MA, photograph 2011 by Jeff Stevens.

The Stories in the Stones: Reverend Sylvanus Conant

I am pleased to offer the following post by Middleborough educator Jeff Stevens as part of an on-going series written for the Middleboro Gazette on behalf of the Friends of Middleborough Cemeteries.   Mr.Stevens is well versed in the history of Middleborough's early cemeteries, and his "The Stories in the Stones" series proposes to consider the rich cultural and social heritage contained within Middleborough's historic cemeteries through the stories of some of those interred within them.  It is hoped to post additional stories here as they are written.  To learn more about the Friends of Middleborough Cemeteries, or how you can help, click on the icon at the end of the post. 

THE STORIES IN THE STONES - The Rev. Silvanus Conant

Jeff Stevens - Friends of Middleborough Cemeteries

Middleborough’s cemeteries are full of stories. The men and women who founded this town and lived here over the last 300 plus years have left us thousands of gravestones to mark their final resting places. Each stone is often the final sign of the person’s existence. Some exploring in our many historic sources help fill us in on the life stories behind the stones.

The Rev. Silvanus Conant has a large slate stone in the right front section of the Church on the Green Cemetery. He is pictured in his clerical collar, with two angels looking down on him. The stone tells you that he was a “truly evangelic minister” and an “amiable pattern of charity in all its branches”. It then says he died of the smallpox and is buried three miles away. Beside his gravestone is one for his wife, Abigail, who died at age 28 and beside her, a stone for their son, Ezekiah, who died at just seven days old. Is there more to his story?

The History of the Town of Middleboro by Thomas Weston tells us that Rev. Conant was a Harvard grad who was called to be the 4th minister of the Church on the Green after years of congregational infighting between the “New Lights” and the “Old Lights”, conservative and liberal elements. Conant united the two sides and was well loved by his congregation. Judge Peter Oliver attended this church, as did colonial Governors Hutchinson and Bowdoin. Benjamin Franklin visited one Sunday. A contemporary said of him, “He was full of sunshine, radiant with hope, trusting in his God, and believing in man.”

The Rev. Conant was an avid patriot in the time leading up to the American Revolution. He served as a chaplain in a patriot regiment and his inspiring words led to 35 church members volunteering for service.

In 1777-78, Middleborough was struck by the pestilence when smallpox swept into town. The Rev. Conant and eight of his flock died at the “pest house” in the Soule neighborhood and all nine have stones in the Soule Street Smallpox Cemetery on the corner of Soule and Brook Streets. His stone says that he died in “the 58th year of his age and the 33rd of his ministry”. Silvanus Conant may be the only person buried in Middleborough with two gravestones. Thomas Weston reports, “It is said that upon his death there was weeping in every house in town, at the loss of one of their best and dearest friends.” Not a bad legacy for a dedicated minister and enthusiastic American patriot and quite a story behind his two gravestones.