Cyrus Benedict

	Born	28Dec1774	New Milford, Litchfield County, Connecticut
	Married	05Dec1799	Hannah Barker	Peru, Clinton County, New York
	Died	07May1828	Cardington, Ohio

Parents:

• Father:Aaron Benedict; 1740-1816
• Mother:Elizabeth Knowles 1741-1821

Children:

1. Anna Benedict: m Ebenezer C Daniels 1801-
2. Sylvester Benedict: 1805-
3. Clarinda Benedict: m John Longshore 1807-
4. Nicholas Benedict: 1810-
5. Eli Benedict: 1812-
6. Daniel Benedict: 1814-
7. Lewis Benedict: 1816-1831
8. David Benedict: 1819-
9. Henry Benedict: 1821-
10. Cyrus Benedict Jr: 1823-
11. Charles Benedict: 1826-1841

Hannah Barker and Family

Hannah was from Peru, Saratoga County, New York, the daughter of Nicholas and Clarinda Barker. She d 24Aug1862. Hannah m 2nd William Gridley.

This and That

HISTORY OF ALUM CREEK FRIENDS SETTLEMENT
The first settler was Cyrus Benedict, his wife, three children, and Adam Vanduser in 1809. He built a cabin near South Woodbury in 1811. Meetings were held in a house from 1813-1815. The first church was built of logs in 1816. Land purchased in 1817 for a meetinghouse and graveyard is the present site of the church. The first building of today's church was in 1857. The most enduring houses in the area were constructed of brick by Reuben Benedict and David Osborne in 1828 and Aaron Benedict in the 1830's. The Reuben Benedict house served the community as a "Temperance Hotel" during the stagecoach era. The 1825 the Worthington-New Haven Road was completed and these buildings, among others, were used to shelter slaves.

ALUM CREEK FRIENDS AND THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
The Alum Creek Friends were legendary among UGRR circles for their skill and success in spiriting folds to Canada. Friends involved were David Osborn, Griffith Levering, William Taber, Miicajah Dillingham, and three generations of Benedicts: Reuben, Aaron, William, and a second Aaron, Gardener, Daniel, and Aaron L., who had a $1,000 bounty placed on his head by Southerners. Cousins Mordecai and Livius Benedict drove wagonloads of fugitives up to Joseph Morris in Marion County when they were but six years old. In 1835, a slaveholder and two accomplices came to the Alum Creek Settlement to reclaim his slave property, a mother and her three sons. When the mother refused to leave, William Benedict sent word to the church for help just as the Friends gathered for the Quarterly Meeting. Soon, 25 to 30 people confronted the slaveholder, including Justice-of-the-Peace Barton Whipple who read the penalties for kidnapping - a fine up to $1,000 and 10 years in the penitentiary. At this, the two hirelings fled to the woods. One of them remarked he couldn't understand how all those people appeared so suddenly, as if "the Quakers rose right up out of the ground!" he exclaimed.

Sources

Benedicts to America, Vol II, Pg 44
285. Cyrus6, (Aaron5, Gideon4, Joseph3, John2, Thomas1)
b 28Dec1774, m Hannah Barker of Peru, Saratoga County, NY., d 7May1828 at Cardington, Ohio. She d 24Aug1862. Farmer. He lived in Peru Twsp., Clinton Co., NY, then moved in 1809 to Peru Twsp, Morrow County, Ohio. He built first cabin there ab 1809. Hannah m 2nd Wm Gridley. Memorial stones are still there to mark the site of the First home in this unbroken forest. CH:
1) Anna, b 22Feb1801, m Ebenezer D Daniels
2) 293. Sylvester, b 25Jun1805
3) Clarinda, b 21Sep1807, m John Longshore
4) 294. Nicholas, b 15Jan1810. Lame
5) 295. Eli, b 22Feb1812
6) 296. Daniel, b 15May1814
7) Lewis, b 7May1816, d 25Feb1831
8) 297. David, b 24Jan1819
9) 298. Henry, b 1Mar1821, m Eliza F Stanley. Had Joseph of Wash., D.C. & Rebecca, & Elizabeth Ann
10) 299. Cyrus Jr., b 3May1823, m 2Aug1844 Hannah, dau John & Sarah Cope, b 14Aug1826, Omro. Wis.
11) Charles, b 29Aug1826, d 10Nov1841

QUAKER MARRIAGES PERU MONTHLY MEETING CLINTON COUNTY, NEW YORK ON THE WEST SIDE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN, AS ESTABLISHED 4th of 7m. 1799
Cyrus Benedict, son of Aaron and Elizabeth of Peru Hannah Barker, daughter of Nicholas and Glarinda Barker of Peru Married, 5 of 12m, 1799 at Peru

MARRIAGE INTENTIONS. MENS MEETING. PERU MONTHLY MEETING. CLINTON COUNTY, NEW YORK
Cyrus Benedict and Ann Barker, 1st Intention, SI of 10m, 1799; 2nd Intention, 28 of 11m, 1799 Reported accomplished, 2 of 12m, 1800

QUAKER REMOVAL. CERTICATES PROM PERU MONTHLY MEETING, CLINTON COUNTY, NEW YORK
Cyrus Benedict, wife Hannah and children, Anna, Sylvester and Glarinda, from Peru to Short Greek, Ohio; 23 of 7m, 1812

Footnotes

-- SandeeToo - 08 Jan 2010
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