Individual Details
Benjamin Chadwick
(4 Mar 1759 - )
Benjamin Chadwick, eighth child of James and Ruth (Hatch) Chadwick left
the parental roof in Falmouth, when young, probably a mere child and no
definite knowledge of him was ever obtained by his family in Falmouth.
The only statement concerning him, made by his family, is obtained in a
letter of John, his brother, written at Dartmouth, Mass., Aug. 10th,
1782, to his brother Gear in No. Carolina, in which he says among the
family matters - "Brother Benjamin is at some of the West India Islands,
I suppose, if he be living. Doubtless you have heard that he was left
there at the first of this (Revolutionary) war. By being young and
foolish, he engaged in the British service ----- (illegible). We hear he
intends to come home when a chance presents".
There are various traditions about Benjamin. One that he went to sea,
deserted the ship at Jamaica and became a wealthy planter, another that
he enlisted in the British navy and became an officer of high rank. (It
is known that the Chadwicks became distingusished Naval officers in
England.) Still another, that he was so abused by the Captain of the
ship with whom he sailed that he died at Jamaica and the story of his
desertion at the port was an invention of the captain to cover up his crime.
This was the belief of his father James. An extensive correspondence
with the U. S. Consul in the leading ports of the West Indies has failed
to discover any such person.
The effort to find this lost pleiad will not be abandoned.
the parental roof in Falmouth, when young, probably a mere child and no
definite knowledge of him was ever obtained by his family in Falmouth.
The only statement concerning him, made by his family, is obtained in a
letter of John, his brother, written at Dartmouth, Mass., Aug. 10th,
1782, to his brother Gear in No. Carolina, in which he says among the
family matters - "Brother Benjamin is at some of the West India Islands,
I suppose, if he be living. Doubtless you have heard that he was left
there at the first of this (Revolutionary) war. By being young and
foolish, he engaged in the British service ----- (illegible). We hear he
intends to come home when a chance presents".
There are various traditions about Benjamin. One that he went to sea,
deserted the ship at Jamaica and became a wealthy planter, another that
he enlisted in the British navy and became an officer of high rank. (It
is known that the Chadwicks became distingusished Naval officers in
England.) Still another, that he was so abused by the Captain of the
ship with whom he sailed that he died at Jamaica and the story of his
desertion at the port was an invention of the captain to cover up his crime.
This was the belief of his father James. An extensive correspondence
with the U. S. Consul in the leading ports of the West Indies has failed
to discover any such person.
The effort to find this lost pleiad will not be abandoned.
Events
| Birth | 4 Mar 1759 | New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts Bay, British America | |||
| Baptism | 4 Mar 1759 | Falmouth Congregational Church, Falmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay, British America |  |
Families
| Father | James Chadwick (1725 - 1786) |
| Mother | Ruth Hatch (1733 - 1786) |
| Sibling | James Chadwick Jr (1753 - 1826) |
| Sibling | Capt John Chadwick (1749 - 1821) |
| Sibling | Gear Chadwick (1751 - 1803) |
| Sibling | David Chadwick (1755 - ) |
| Sibling | Job Chadwick (1756 - 1832) |
| Sibling | Elizabeth Chadwick (1762 - 1828) |
| Sibling | Ichabod Chadwick (1763 - 1844) |
| Sibling | Judah Chadwick (1765 - 1816) |
| Sibling | Lot Chadwick (1768 - 1846) |
| Sibling | Henry Chadwick (1770 - ) |
| Sibling | Sarah Chadwick (1772 - ) |
Notes
Baptism
Falmouth > Falmouth Congregational Church Records; Vol· 1-2Ancestry Image 30/168
p 45
1759
Mar 4
Benjamin son of James and Ruth Chadwick Baptized
Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
Source Citation
Title: Falmouth Congregational Church Records; Vol· 1-2
Source Information
Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).