Benoni Livingston, Benjamin

Benjamin Benoni

Fitzwilliam, NH

On September 16, 1819, Jaffrey, NH resident Benjamin Benoni (aka Benoni Livingston) married Jane Thomson in Fitzwilliam, NH. Both were listed as persons of color.  The couple remained in Fitzwilliam into the following year, as they appear on the 1820 US Federal Census.  Benjamin was aged 45+ and his wife was between the ages of 14 and 26 years old.  

Benjamin may have also gone by the names Benjamin Benona, Benoni Livingston, and/or Benoni Levingston, according to the burial records kept by the town of Fitzwilliam’s cemetery trustees and church records kept by Rev. Sabin of the 19th century.  A "Man of Colour" named Benoni Levingston was recorded by Rev. John Sabin as having died in Fitzwilliam of Consumption at the age of about 65 on March 1, 1823. He was buried on March 18, 1823 in a section of the cemetery known for its “colored burials”, on the south corner of the graveyard, north of Jack Moody’s child’s grave.  Benoni was thought to have been 65 years old at the time of his death.

(updated 10/13/2024, Jennifer Carroll)

SOURCE MATERIALS

Fitzwilliam Church Records, 1823- Familysearch.org

Fitzwilliam Town Cemetery Records, 1823- Town of Fitzwilliam, Cemetery Trustees Records.

Knudsen, Milli S. Editor, Til Divorce Do Us Part: Marriages and Divorces from Cheshire County, NH, from 1776-1899. Heritage Books, Inc.: Westminster, MD (2007). Historical Society of Cheshire County, Wright 929.37429.K58 2007

U.S. Federal Census, 1820- Ancestry.com

GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY

BENJAMIN BENONI was born c. 1758. He married JANE THOMSON (b.1794-1806) in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, on September 16, 1819. Benjamin died on March 1, 1823 in Fitzwilliam, NH. He is buried in the Fitzwilliam Town Cemetery.