~ Thomas Benedict: A Southold Founder Who Literally Went Up The Creek ~
BY DANNY McCARTHY
In Whitaker’s Southold on page 17 it reads –{&}- I quote:
????“… Thomas Benedict, from Nottingham, England, came to New England in 1638, and not long afterwards to Southold, where he and his wife, Mary Brigham, five sons and four daughters were born. They removed to Huntington, and then to Jamaica. But he proposed, in 1664, with some other men of the latter place, to settle at Elizabeth. He did not fulfil this purpose. He crossed the Sound and acquired citizenship in Norwalk, Connecticut. This became the permanent home of many of his descendants. The Southold creek, which connects Long Creek with Peconic Bay was for generations after his removal from its shore called Thomas Benedict’s Creek, or, by abbreviation, Tom’s Creek….”
????Information is shared about Thomas Benedict yet again with some repetition in Whitaker’s Southold on page 58 and I quote:
????“… Thomas Benedict was a native of Nottinghamshire, England. He came early to Southold and settled in Hashommuck {stet} {Here is where Hashamomuck {aka (also known as) Arshamomaque is located in Southold Town {betwSouthold and Greenport!}:
In “Southold History Society (Now Southold Historical Museum) Guide to Historic Markers on page 9 where it reads: “ARSHAMOMAQUE (HASHAMOMACK {stet}on page nine I got reminded that there is an “OLD FAMILIES’ BURYING GROUND” located there.
??HERE WE GO
????On page 12 in?Southold Historical Society Guide to Historic Markers is definite assistance -&- I quote:
????“… Hashamomack was the first place of English occupation in Southold Town, founded by English speaking people in New York State. By letters patent from the Earl of Sterling, seekers of Sperrits Resin (turpentine) {stet} came to dwell on ye Neck called Hashamomack… (There was a “probably earliest” Thomas Benedict Mill there where there is a “Location of Road Side Marker: west side of Mill Creek Bridge, Main Road, Southold – Arshamomaque.
????GUESS WHAT?
????Southold Historic Society Guide to Historic Markers is available from Southold Historical Museum: https://www.southoldhistorical.org/product-page/guide-to-historic-markers”}on the east side of the creek which derived its earliest name from his own. It was first called Thomas Benedict’s Creek, later Thomas’s {stet} Creek, then Tom’s Creek, and now Mill Creek. The house in which he lived was not far from the Sound. His five sons and four daughters were born in Southold. He subsequently removed to Huntington, thence to Jamaica, Long Island, and afterwards settled at Norwalk, Connecticut. He was a prominent man in each of these places. See the Benedict Genealogy, by his descendant, Henry M. Benedict, of Albany, New York {stet}….”
Perhaps this is not-that-far-from-a-missing-link:
Let's see what former Southold Historical Society { YES -{!}- stet } Director Donald M. Bayles had to say in his published paperback volume SOUTHOLD'S FOUNDERS had to say about THOMAS BENEDICT:
On page 3 in SOUTHOLD'S FOUNDERS it reads -{&}- I quote:{
"THOMAS BENEDICT was born 1617 in Nottinghamshire, England. In 1638 he emigrated to the Mass. {Massachusetts} Bay Colony in 1637. Which is correcwhicht? {stet} He did buy land at Hashamomuck in 1649 and built a house not far from the Sound on the east side of the creek which would become known as Tom's Creek and later Mill Creek. His five sons and four daughters were born in Southold. He moved to Huntington before 1657 and Feb. {stet} 27, 1659 sold his house, barn and property at Hashamomuck to Thomas Rider. He finally settled at Norwalk, Conn. where he died about 1689-90...." SOUTHOLD'S FOUNDERS is available from Southold Historical Museum:
Maybe these are a help:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Benedict/
Aha -{!}- This says Thomas Benedict was a Deacon {???}:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33427648/thomas-benedict/