William Case Benedict

Family reference: 352.231

	Born		22 May 1818	Fredericksburg, Lennox & Addington Co., Upper Canada
	Married	1st	about 1843	Rachel H. Bush at Fredericksburg, Ontario
		2nd	30 May 1858	Delia Lucina Lewis at Wisconsin
	Died	died	15 June 1887	Leavenworth, Kansas
		buried		at Leavenworth National Cemetery

Parents of William:

• Father: Ard Benedict
• Mother: Hannah Pringle

Children by Rachel Bush:

1. Sarah Eleanor Benedict; b. 1 May 1843; d. 28 Jan 1917
2. Mary Emily Benedict; b.25 Nov 1844; d.10 May 1823
3. Phoebe M. Benedict; b. abt. 1846
4. Harriet M. Benedict; b. abt. 1849
5. Augusta Benedict
6. Ard Benedict

Children by Delia Lewis:

1. Amos Lewis Benedict; b. 24 May 1860; d. 19 Jan 1921
2. Lydia Benedict; b. 2 Feb 1863; d. 4 Feb 1904
3. Edith Almira Benedict; b. 23 April 1864; d. 10 May 1935
4. Norman Pringle Benedict; b. 21 August 1867; d. 15 Feb 1879

The Parents of William Case Benedict

William's father was Ard Benedict and his mother was Hannah Pringle.

William’s Early Years

At this point not much is known about the early years of Ard and Hannah Benedict and their ten children. It is assumed that William, and all but his youngest two siblings, were born in Lennox and Addington County, Upper Canada.

William's father Ard had received a Land Grant for his service in the War of 1812, the grant was for property in Richmond Township, Lennox & Addington. The available records indicate Ard and his family resided on that property from 1817. By 1841 Ard had sold the property in Richmond Township and he and his family moved next door to Hungerford Township, in Hastings County.

William and Rachel

Rachel Bush was born about 1810 and died in 1857. She was one of eleven children born to John Bush and Sarah Dorcas Ross who resided in Sidney Township, Hastings County.

William and Rachel lived in Richmond Township, Lennox & Addington County for a time after their marriage as that is where their oldest daughter, Sarah, was born and baptised in 1843 and their second daughter Mary was also born 1844.

However, given Rachel Bush was somewhat older than William Benedict it is quite possible that she had been married already once, before her marriage to William.

William and Rachel appear together on the 1851 Census in Thurlow Township, Hastings County with four young children: Sarah 9, Mary 7, Phoebe 5 & Harriet 2 as well as two older girls, Elizabeth J 24 & Eliza M 18.

The two older girls while they too carry the Benedict last name on that census, implying they were also daughters of William, could not possibly have been his children given their ages and so far, nothing suggests they were his sisters either. They may have been, in fact, Rachel's daughters from a first marriage that William either adopted or they simply were absorbed into the family.

While nothing more has been found on Elizabeth J 'Benedict' and Eliza M. 'Benedict', two young women appear on the 1861 census (see Phoebe & Sarah) that might be in fact these girls who, by the 1861 census are married.

Further, it has been suggested, in some research, that Rachel and William also had a daughter Augusta and son Ard, born after the 1851 census, but so far nothing has been found to substantiate this, only the four daughters listed above appear on the 1851 Census.

Rachel Bush-Benedict died in 1857 and she and William's children, according to the limited information available, were obviously sent to live with other families in the community. It is quite possible the younger girls, Phoebe and Harriet, may have even been adopted at some point. And,if indeed William and Rachel had the two younger children, Augusta and Ard, then most certainly they were absorbed into another family and home by the 1861 Census and likely lost their Benedict surname.

William and Delia

When Rachel died, William Benedict up and left Canada or rather, abandoned his children, his life in Canada and moved to the USA never to return. According to some old family histories (Frances Becker), William simply vanished while on a trip.

William C Benedict married Delia Lucina Lewis, daughter of Amos Lewis and Lydia Doolittle, in 1858 in Wisconsin and went on to have a second family, four more children. It is not known whether William kept in contact with his daughters, by his first wife Rachel, but it would seem not.

On 2 May 1861 William C Benedict enlisted in Janesville, Wisconsin, his allegiance was the Union side, in the American Civil War (the 5th Wisconsin Infantry, Company "E", rank of Private). However William did not serve very long and was discharged in April 1862 because of Arthritis which was deemed not service related. Further, it looks like, according to the records, that William spent most of this enlisted year at Camp Griffin, sick.

William and Delia lived in Fayette County, Iowa by 1870 and then Filmore County, Nebraska by 1880.

There is a record in the Ancestry.com family tree filed by a Michael Benedict that states details for a William Case Benedict the information on his birth, death, marriage to a Delia Lucina Lewis and their children.

Residences

bef 1817 Richmond Twp. bef 1841 Hungerford Twp. 1851 Thurlow Twp. 1858 Wisconsin 1860 Census Union,Rock,Wi 1870 Census West Union Twp.,Fayette,Ia 1880 Census Grafton Precinct,Fillmore,Nebraska 1887 Kansas

The Final Years for William

William Case Benedict died on 27 June 1887 supposedly at a Veteran's Home in Leavenworth Kansas and is buried in the Leavenworth National Cemetery in Section 8 Row 1 Grave 32.

Footnotes

Census of 1851

Person	Occupation	Birthplace	Religion	Age	Sex	Status	District	Page
William C. BENEDICT	Labourer	Canada West	EM	34	M	married	8	15
Rachael H. Benedict	Spin'	Canada West	EM	40	F	married	8	15
Elizabeth J. Benedict		Canada West	EM	24	M	Spinster	8	17
Eliza M. Benedict		Canada West	EM	18	M		8	17
Sarah C. Benedict		Canada West	EM	9	M		8	17
Mary Benedict		Canada West	EM	7	M		8	17
Phebe M. Benedict		Canada West	EM	5	M		8	17
Harrieta M. Benedict		Canada West	EM	2	M		8	17

NOTE: the 1851 census on page 17, under residence if out of limits it states Bellville.

- 1851 Census for Canada West, Thurlow Twp, Hastings Co.; available at Ancestry.ca

-- JimBenedict - 13 Dec 2005 -- DonaldElliott - 20 Jun 2007 -- JimBenedict - 05 Sep 2007
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