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An American Family History

Benjamin Dwinnell 1726
 

"[L]iberty must at all hazards be supported.
We have a right to it, derived from our Maker.
But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us,
at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood."

-- John Adams, 1765

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A yeoman was a man who owned and cultivated a small farm. He belonged to the class below the gentry or land owners. A husbandman was a free tenant farmer. The social status of a husbandman was below that of a yeoman.

It was customary for the men and women to sit separately in meeting, and to choose a committee once a year to assign the seats to the congregation according to what each paid, considering also "age and dignity."
Chiildren of Dr. Michael
and Hannah Dwinnell
  • Thomas Dwinnell
  • Sarah Dwinnell Foster
  • Mary Dwinnell Gott Peabody
  • Michael Dwinnell
  • Stephen Dwinnell
  • Hannah Dwinnell Bowery Curtis
  • Jacob Dwinnell
  • Abigail Dwinnell Deering
    • of Dr. Michael and
    Elizabeth Fiske
  • Benjamin Dwinnell
  • Thomas Dwinnell
    • of Dr. Michael and
    Elizabeth Cave
  • Samuel Dwinnell
  • Elizabeth Dwinnell
    		•

    Benjamin Dwinnell was born on November 10, 1726 in Boxford, Essex County, Massachusetts. He was the son of Michael Dwinnell and Elizabeth Fisk. He was a yeoman.

    He married Mary Estey in 1750 when he was 24 years old. Their children and life together are described in detail in the section on Benjamin and Mary Dwinnell.

    When his father died in 1761 was willed the “house and barn, and my land and meadow in Topsfield.”

    In 1762 Benjamin Dwinnell was seated in church in “The mens 1st seat in ye west gallery [and] . . . Mr. Benjamin Dwinel’s wife was in the women’s 1st seat in ye east gallery."

    Benjamin served in Massachusetts Militia during the Revolutionary War. He was on the muster roll of Captain Jacob Gould's Company in Colonel Samuel Johnson's Regiment of Militia which marched on the alarm April 19, 1775.

    He died on July 29, 1805 at the age of 76 years in Keene, New Hampshire. He was buried in the North or Court Street Burial Ground in Keene with his wife, Mary.

    Various spellings of Dwinnell
    Doenell, Donell, Donnall, Donnell, Duenell, Dunnel, Dunnell, Dwaniel, Dwaniell, Dwainel, Dwennel, Dwinel, Dwinell, Dwinnel, Dwinnill, Dwonill, Dwynel
    Keene, Cheshire County, New Hampshire was settled after 1736 and was a fort protecting Massachusetts during the French and Indian Wars. It was called Upper Ashuelot. When New Hampshire separated from Massachusetts in 1741 it became Keene, New Hampshire. During King George's War, the village was attacked and burned.

     

         

    ©Roberta Tuller 2012
    tuller.roberta@gmail.com