Smedley "Smith" John Benedict

Family reference: 352.254

	Born	8 Dec 1830 or -31	Sheffield Twp., Lennox & Addington Co., Ontario
	Married	23 March 1858	Harriet Augusta Dustin at Kent Co., Ontario
	Died	28 July 1909	Wallaceburg, Ontario

- Family album of photos and documents.

Parents:

• Father: Smedley Benedict; 1800 - 1867
• Mother: Catherine Dafoe; 1805 - 1887

Children:

1. John Smedley Benedict; b. about 1859
2. Samantha Benedict; b. about 1863
3. Minnie Benedict; b. about 1863
4. Caleb Moore Benedict; b. about 1868

The Parents of John Benedict

The father of Smith was Smedley William Benedict, a son of a Revolutionary soldier, born in the United States and coming north with his family to Upper Canada. Smedley disappears from the records and his final location is unknown at this time. Smith’s mother was Catherine, from the Dafoe family who originally were from Switzerland and also became United Empire Loyalists after the American Revolutionary War. Her final resting place may be in Oxford County, Ontario, according to a headstone there.

Smith’s Early Years

Smith and Harriet

Smith Benedict traveled sometime to the southwest reaches of Ontario near Lake St. Clair. In 1858 he was a resident of the township of Dawn. In the adjacent township to the west, in Sombra, the Dustin family was farming. Caleb’s daughter Harriet met the young man from Sheffield and they married in Kent County on March 23, 1858.

The Final Years for Smith

The Wallaceburg News reported the passing away of Smith [image in photo album]:
After a lingering illness, the death of Smith John Benedict occured at the home of Fred Pettiler, on Wednesday, July 28th.
Mr. Benedict was 77 years of age and is survived by two sons, Smedley and Caleb, and one daughter, Mrs. Ed. Vallier, all of Wallaceburg.
Deceased was born in Sheffield Tp., Lennox and Addington, and followed farming nearly all his life. He married Miss Harriett Dustin, who died about seven years ago. Mrs. Benedict gained great fame as a healer of cancer and many came for miles to take her treatment.
The funeral of the late Mr. Benedict was conducted on Friday afternoon last by the Methodist minister, Rev. W. G. Howson. The pall bearers were Messrs. Drummond, Dechene, Wm. Myers, Wm. Yates, Ford and S. Hodges.
Among those who attended the funeral were Mr. and Mrs. Dustin, of Waubuno and Mr. and Mrs. McLellan of Petrolia.

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Footnotes

Marriage: The marriage of John and Harriet is shown in the Ontario Marriage Registration as: John BENEDICT, 25, Township of Dawn, Sheffield, s/o Smithey BENEDICT, married Harriet A. DUSTIN, 19, Sombra, Sombra, d/o Caleb DUSTIN, witn: John DUSTIN, Sombra, 23 March 18581.

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Death Register: for county of Kent, division of Wallaceburg. Death on July 28/09 of Smedley John Benedict; white male; born Dec 1831; aged 78 years and 8 months [Note: death and age indicate birth year of 1830]; born in Hungerford Twp. [Hastings Co., Ontario]; died at Wallaceburg; occupation of "Gentleman"; widower; father was Smedley Benedict and born in Hungerford Twp.; mother was Mary Defoe [note: disagrees with above name], no birthplace; cause of death was carcinoma of the liver. See the photo album for image.

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Census of 1861

Person	Occupation	Birthplace	Religion	Age	Sex	Status	District	Page
BENEDICT, J.	Labourer	Canada West	EM	29	M	married	4	52
H.		Canada West	EM	22	F	married	4	52
J.		Canada West	EM	2	M	-	4	52

- 1861 Census for Chatham Twp, Kent Co., Ontario; available at Chatham Library Historical Society; Chatham, Ontario.

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Census of 1871

Person	Sex	Age	Birthplace	Religion	Origin	Occupation	Status	Page
BENEDICT, John	M	38	Ontario	W. Meth.	English	Jobber	married	21
Harriet A.	F	31	Ontario	W. Meth.	Scotch		married	22
John S.	M	11	Ontario	W. Meth.	Scotch			22
Samantha A.	F	8	Ontario	W. Meth.	Scotch			22
Caleb M.	M	3	Ontario	W. Meth.	Scotch			22

- 1871 Census for Chatham Twp, Kent Co., Ontario; Foloi 2F3-017 to -088; available at Chatham Library Historical Society; Chatham, Ontario.

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Census of 1881

Person	Sex	Age	Birthplace	Status	Religion	Origin	Occupation	Page
BENEDICT, John	M	48	Ontario	married	Ch. of England	English	Farmer	4-24
Harriett	F	41	Ontario	married	E. Meth.	German		4-24
Samantha	F	18	Ontario		E. Meth.	English		4-24
Caleb	M	13	Ontario		E. Meth.	English		4-24
John S.	M	21	Ontario	married	Ch. of England	English	Labourer	4-24
Catherine	F	25	Ontario	married	E. Meth	English		4-24
George P.	M	4	Ontario		E. Meth.	English		4-24

- 1881 Census for Chatham Twp, Kent Co., Ontario; available at Chatham Library Historical Society; Chatham, Ontario.

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Census of 1891 (Chatham Twp.)

Person	Sex	Age	Relation	Status	Birthplace	Birth-Father	Birth-Mother	Religion	Occupation	Page
BENEDICT, John	M	58		married	Ontario	U.S.	Ontario	M.E.	Farmer	C.6.08
Harriet	F	51	wife	married	Ontario	Ontario	U.S.	M.E.		C.6.08
Caleb	M	23	son		Ontario	Ontario	U.S.	EM.E.	Farm Labour	C.6.08

- 1891 Census for Chatham Twp, Kent Co., Ontario; available at Chatham Library Historical Society; Chatham, Ontario.

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Census of 1901 (Village of Wallaceburg)

Person	Sex	Relation	Status	Birth Date	Age	Born	Origin	National	Religion	Occupation
BENEDICT, John	M	head	married	8 Dec 1832	68	Ont	English	Canadian	Meth
Harriet A.	F	wife	married	29 Dec 1839	61	Ont	Scotch	Canadian	Meth

- Canada 1901 Census for Wallaceburg, Ontario, District 45, Subdistrict h-3, microfilm reel T-6459.

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Sources

1. The Ontario Vital Statistics Project; for births, deaths, marriages, census and more. Website: www.rootsweb.com/~onvsr

-- JimBenedict - 08 Jan 2006
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