John Bent (bef. 1596 - 1672)

Born before 20 Nov 1596 in Weyhill, Hampshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Martha (Unknown) Bent — married 1624 in England

Descendants

Died 27 Sep 1672 after age 75 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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John Bent migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

John Bent was born about 20 Nov 1596 (christened 25 Nov) in Penton-Grafton, Co. Hants, England. He was son of Robert Bent and Agnes Gosling. Elizabeth I was still the queen.

He emigrated with his wife and five children 24 April 1638 on the Confidence from Southampton to Massachusetts, settling in Sudbury.^[1][2]

John Bent was one of the original settlers of Sudbury, Massachusetts.

John Bent was made a freeman in 1640 -- meaning he was both a member of the church and by extension, allowed to vote and take part in town affairs.

He was appointed to layout a road in 1648 Sudbury, Middlesex Co., MA:

An important road laid out in 1648 was that from Watertown to the Dunster Farm, or the "Old Connecticut Path." The record states, "Edmund Rice and Edmd Goodenow, John Bent and John Grout, are appointed to lay out a way between Concord and Sudbury.^{[citation needed][3][1]}

He died 27 Sep 1672 Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts^{[citation needed]} His wife, Martha died in Sudbury, May 15, 1679, well along in years.

Who was Martha, wife of John Bent?

Was Martha, wife of John Bent, of the Blanchard family? Helen Schavett Ullmann says not in this brief article in the NEHGR, Vol 153 page 219. "there is a gap in the Wyhill registers" and "The surname of his wife Martha is unknown." Thomas Blanchard is identified as the husband of John Bent's sister Agnes, leading to confusion. John and Martha Bent accompanied Peter Noyes to New England, and they named a son Peter. Ms Ullmann raises the possibility that Martha may have been connected to the Noyes family. ^[4]

Last Will and Testament

Dated 14 Sept 1672 Sudbury, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts^[5] The original will is in the Middlesex Registry of Probate at East Cambridge, Mass.^[5]

The fourteenth of September in the yeare of the lord god one thousand six hundred seventy two I John Bent senior of Sudbury in the County of Midlsex in new England, being weake in boyd, yet in pfect memory blessed be the lord for it, Revoaking all other wills, doe make this my last will and testament, And doe dispose of my worldly estate as followeth,

Imprimis I doe make Martha my beloved wife, and my oldest sonne Peter Bent my lawfull executors to this my will,

Item I give and bequesth unto Martha my beloved wife, my new dwelling house after my decease, with all my Barnes and other out housing thereunto Belonging, with all my lands both meadow and upland, and two thirds my right in Commonage, excepting that pt of my lands which I have given formerly to my sonne Joseph Bent as will appeare in a deed made and signed to the sayd Joseph Bent, also excepting apcell of land being my right in the new grant, which I shall dispose of a swill further appear, To have and to hold quietly to enjoy and possesse during her naturall life, or soe long as she remaynes a widow, also my will is that after the decease of Martha my beloved wife, or in case she shall marry that then my housing and lands which I have left to her shall returne unto my sonne Peter Bent and his heyres forever, also I give and bequeath unto Martha my beloved wife all my stock of chattels and moveables, household goods with all other utensells upon the premises, & debts & dues, she the sayd Martha paying all such legacies as I shall dispose of in this my will,

Item I give and bequesth unto John Bent my sonne Twenty pounds to be payd the one third pt therof within ayeare after my decease the other two thirds after the decease of Martha my beloved wife or at her marriage,

Item I give and bequesth unto Agnis Rice my daughter the summe of ten pounds to be paid within a yeare after my decease that is to say the one third pt of it and the other two thirds after the decease of Martha my beloved wife or at her marriage.

Item I give my daughter Martha How, ten pounds to b epayd withn ayeare the one third part and the other two thirds after the decease of Martha my beloved wife or at her marriage,

Item I give and bequesth unto Hannah Bent toe daughter of my sonne John Bent the one half of my land lying in the new grant to remayne in the possession of her father until she comes of age, also I give unto John How the oldest sonne of my daughter Martha How the other halfe of my new grant, and to remayne in the possession of Samuel How his father until he comes of age.

Item I give and bequeath unto Peter Bent the oldest sonne of Peter Bent my sonne foure pounds to be payd within ayeare after my decease,

Item I give to John Rice the sonne of my daughter agnis Rice foure pounds to be payd within ayeare after my decease, ::

Item I give to Joseph Ben my sonne one third pt of my right in Commonage after my decease, also my will is that wheras I have made a deed to Joseph Beny my sonn of apt of my land, that he the sayd Joseph Bent shall quietely enjoy the same without molestation & have it owned according to law, also whereas I formerly gave to peter Bent my sonne foure acres of meadow upon condition that it should remayne to his then dwelling house at laniham for ever without any allination from the premises, my will is that it shall soe remain

Also my will is that Henery Rice [son-in-law] and John Stone [one of the first settlers of Sudbury] shall be overseers to this my will In witness whereof I have hereunto put my hand and seale.

Witness Hereunto John Bent

John Stone

John Rice

Sworn in courte 8-2-1672 by ye witnesses subscribed T.D.R. [Thomas Danforth, Recorder]

Note: - the initials at the end of the above are for Thomas Danforth, Recorder. Henry Rice was the eldest brother of Edward Rice who married John Bent's daughter. Both came with their father Edmund Rice, who was among the first settlers of Sudbury. John Stone was one of the first settlers of Sudbury, a son of Deacon Gregory Stone of Cambridge. Lanham, or laniham as it is written in the will, was, and still is, a school district in the south part of the town. The word senior is interlined in the original. Perhaps it should be added that as March was at this time called the first month, the eighth month was October.

Probate Inventory

30 NOV 1672 Sudbury, Middlesex Co., MA

JOHN BENT’S INVENTORY, 1672

An inventory of the estate of John Bent senr of Sudbury in the County of midlsex in the macachusets Colony in new England deceased this life the twenty seventh of Septembe one thousand six hundrd seventy two. Taken by us whos names are underwriten.

Imprimis

The dwelling houses Barnes and other housing & lands adjoining to the house prisd at 60-00-00

The meadow14-00-00

Six kowes & a steer25-00-00

Four oxen & two calves17-00-00

Ten sheep05-00-00

Swine07-00-00

Horses07-00-00

Corne in the barne20-00-00

Clover In The Barne06-00-00

Cart plows & other utensils03-00-00

His land called the new grant30-00-0

In the bed chamber

His wearing clothes10-00-00

His armour02-00-00

One flocke bed with blanckts boulster and pillows03-00-00

Six payer of sheets pillow Tecks & Table linen04-00-00

Two chests & two boxes00-15-00

One feather bed & boulster one Coverlit one payer of blanckts one pillow04-00-00

One bed Three blanckets and Two pillows01-00-00

Two brasse kettles Two brasse skillets one mortar one warming pan02-12-00

One iron pot two trammels one spit one Gridiron one pott one andiron one payer of tongs one flesh forcke 01-00-00

one frying pan one hammer one payer of pincers, Sheers00-10-00

six peuter dishes two basens Two saucers one plate Spoones Two tinn pans & candlsticke a chamber pot two smoothing irons one knife02-13-00

his books01-10-00

a sadle one pillion & cloth one panel and bridle01-10-00

Provision in ye house02-10-00

Wooll one Hatchall sacks01-03-00

One cloth Thre barrels one tub a churn Two payles four bottles Two kettles(?) one poudering tub milke vessels & other wooden vessels02-10-00

Four Tables Chayres & Chushins one forme sieves a meale trough & other lumber02-16-00

Spinning wheels cards one cheese press and a Cannoe01-00-00

The land at the river side80-00-00

A brasse pot00-10-00

Wollen yarne02-10-00

A Bond from Joseph Bent16-00-00

In mony02-00-00

For Rent05-00-0

Rent due from my brother Joseph, Henery Rice, John Stone

Peter Bent appearing before the Honll Capt Danll Gooken & ye Recorder of ye Couny 31-11-1672 and being sworne do say that this is a true Invenetory of the estate whereof his father Jno Bent dec'ed, was seized: and that if any more appeare he will ad the same hereunto

As attest

Thomas Danforth Recorder

The original inventory is in two columns, the second and narrower column beginning with the words 'His Bookes.' It is not as easily read as the will, with which it is preserved. “Rent due from my brother” refers to Henry Rice's brother Joseph Rice. The whole amount of the inventory is ?344-19-00.

Children

1-4 born Weyhill, Hampshire, England; 5 and 6 born in Sudbury, Mass.:

1. Robert, bap. Jan. 10, 1624/5 in Weyhill;^[6] d. in Newbury, Mass, Jan 3, 1648, age 23.
2. William, bap. Oct. 24, 1626 in Weyhill;^[7] d. young probably.
3. Agnes, b. about 1631.
4. John, bap. Jan. 24, 1635/6 in Weyhill.^[8]
5. Joseph, b. May 16, 1641.
6. Martha, b. about 1643.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Bent, Gilbert Oliver. Who Begot Thee? Some Genealogical and Historical Notes (Press of D. Clapp & Son, 1903) Page 7. (warning: contains some inaccurate information about which wife emigrated with him.
2. ↑ Bent Family in America, (1902):p 11.
3. ↑ Allen H. Bent, The Bent Family The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1894) v.48 #3, pp.288-289; contains inaccurate claim that wife Agnes died on way over.
4. ↑ Some Notes on John Bent of Sudbury, Massachusetts, vol 153, page 219-220 of NEHGR
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Bent Family in America, (1902): p. 257-258.
6. ↑ Robert Bent in the Hampshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1536-1812. Hampshire Archives and Local Studies; Winchester, Hampshire, England; Anglican Parish Registers; Reference: 78059/1/1. Ancestry.com. Hampshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1536-1812, database on-line. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2023 ($).
7. ↑ William Bent in the Hampshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1536-1812. Hampshire Archives and Local Studies; Winchester, Hampshire, England; Anglican Parish Registers; Reference: 78059/1/1. Ancestry.com. Hampshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1536-1812, database on-line. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2023.
8. ↑ John Bent in the Hampshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1536-1812. Hampshire Archives and Local Studies; Winchester, Hampshire, England; Anglican Parish Registers; Reference: 78059/1/1. Ancestry.com. Hampshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1536-1812, database on-line. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2023. ($)

• Some Notes on John¹ Bent of Sudbury, Massachusetts... by Helen Schavett Ullmann. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vol 153 (1999), pages 219-220. NEHGS Member link.

See also:

• Felton, Edgar C. The English Ancestors of John Bent, of Sudbury. Place of publication not identified: publisher not identified, 1895. Pages p.45-46 (About a hundred years old, this source is still considered accurate in all but two instances - see NEHGR vol 153, pages 219-220.)
• Bent, Allen H. The Bent Family in America (David Clapp & Son., Boston, 1900) pp. 11-13.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #80496372
• "Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89Z7-PCMX?cc=2106411&wc=MC1M-83D%3A361613501%2C364522001 : 22 May 2014), Middlesex > Deeds 1706-1716 vol 14-15 > image 167 of 720; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts.

Acknowledgements

Deborah Anne Welder, Merryann Palmer, Buck Howe, Richard Draper, Pam Carter,