06-156 Benjamin Birdsall 1743

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06-156 Benjamin⁶, Benjamin⁵, Samuel⁴, Benjamin³, Nathan², Henry¹

Benjamin Birdsall was born in 1743 to Benjamin Birdsall (1720) and Martha Smith. Benjamin m. Rachel Carpenter in 1765 (she b. 1747, d. May 7, 1843) in NY. Benjamin d. March 13, 1834.

Tricia Birdsall states in her research:

1764

A Benjamin Birdsall appears in The Records of New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly referred to as Quakers. The meeting was in The Oblong, commonly referred to as Quaker Hill, on 20 Sep 1764. It is likely, but not certain, that this is BenjaminG11 Birdsall since Nathan Birdsall (b. 1705), the

brother of his grandfather, SamuelG9, was the first settler on Quaker Hill in 1728 (or 1731), and Nathan’s brother Benjamin (b. 1691, d.1754) was one of the first owners. Nathan encouraged family and other Quakers to join him in settling the Oblong. BenjaminG11 would have been 21 at the time.

Note: “The Oblong in Pawling: A History of a Quaker Hill Community in the Hudson Valley,” (see Appendix) states that by 1742, fifty families had settled Quaker Hill and they built their own meeting house. By 1764, the community had grown so large they had to build a larger meeting house.

It appears that all of Benjamin and Rachel Birdsall’s children were born in New York, prior to moving to New Brunswick. All seven children were married in New Brunswick, but according to E. Stone Wiggins in A History of Queens County, N.B, none of the family still lived in Queens County in 1876.

Per Ancestors and Descendants of John B. Birdsell by Tricia Birdsell, 2021:

1783

The Spring Fleet of Loyalists sailed from Sandy Hook at the mouth of New York Harbor and arrived at the mouth of the St. John River in Parrtown (now Saint John), Nova Scotia (now New Brunswick) on May 18, 1783. There were a number of other Fleets with the main body of Loyalists arriving between the middle of May and the middle of November, 1783.

We know that Benjamin and his family arrived in one of these fleets because his name appears in the List of New Brunswick Loyalists in the Appendix of the book The Loyalists of New Brunswick, by Ester Clark Wright.

This list in the image below shows the name of the head of families or single men 18 years and upwards, their former homes, their service during the Revolution, and their first grant.

Note that although there is a Isaac Birdsall/Birdsill listed, IsaacG12 was only 11 years old, too young to be head of a family. However, he could have been a blacksmith since it was common for Quakers to be involved in small-scale local trades and to train their children at a young age.

Children of Benjamin Birdsall and Rachel Carpenter, surname Birdsell:

07-353 Elizabeth, b. Jan 6, 1765 in Queens County, Long Island, NY, m. Coles Carpenter on July 20, 1788 (he b. May 23, 1761, d. 1807). Elizabeth died after 1865 (per Carpenter Family book, she lived to over 100 years and had nine children) Coles Carpenter and Elizabeth came to New Brunswick in 1783 and located his farm and homestead at Richmond Corners, Queens County, NB.

07-354 Hannah, b. 1770, m. Archaelus Purdy Jr, d. 1883

07-355 Phoebe, b. Sept 14, 1771, m. Gilbert Merritt on Jul 18, 1790, d. Feb 27, 1868

07-356 Isaac, b. 1772, m. Rachel Brundage on Jul 20, 1788, d. 1827. They moved to Wentworth County, Ontario in 1826

07-357 Benjamin

07-358 Deborah, b. 1778, m. Joseph Gidney on Jun 21, 1796, d. Oct 3, 1839

07-359 Sarah, b. 1782, m. Nathaniel Vail on Mar 11, 1799

Source:

Ancestors and Descendants of John B. Birdsell, by Tricia Birdsell, 2021

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