Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

William Benson (b. 1812 - d. circa 1865)
MSA SC 5496-035544
Slaveholder in Clarksburg District, Montgomery County, Maryland

Biography:

William H. Benson, the son of William Benson, Sr., was born around 1812.1 Benson's farm stood near Middlebrook.2 He married Catherine Crawford on April 20, 1843.3 Their six children were James S. (b. 1844), Thomas E. (b. 1847), Sarah J. (b. 1849), Charles F. (b. 1852), Eugene H. (b. 1856), and John W. (b. 1859).4

Benson owned one eighteen-year-old female slave in 1850.5 In 1856, he owned one male slave, Rufus Jackson,6 who ran away that year and again in 1860.7

The 1860 slave schedule, taken in June, listed two slaves. They included a thirty-seven-year-old man and a thirty-five-year-old woman.8

William Benson died sometime between 1865 and 1870.9
 

1.  William N. Hurley, Jr. Our Maryland Heritage: The Benson Families of Maryland. Vol. 35 (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, Inc., 2002) 63.
     MONTGOMERY COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Land Records), Liber JGH 6, Folio 28, 1857-1858, MSA CE 63-7. John Crawford to William H. Benson of William, et al, March 31, 1857.
2.  Montgomery County District 2, Simon J. Martenet, Martenet and Bond's Map of Montgomery County, 1865, Library of Congress, MSA SC 1213-1-464.
3.  Maryland Marriage Record for William H. Benson and Catherine Crawford, April 20 1843, Montgomery County. Jordan Dodd, Liahona Research, comp. Maryland Marriages, 1655-1850. Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. www.ancestry.com.
4.  1850 U.S. Federal Census Record (MD) for William H. Henson, Montgomery County, Clarksburg District, Page 1, Line 17. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.
     1860 U.S. Federal Census Record (MD) for William H. Benson, Montgomery County, Clarksburg District, Page 8, Line 11. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.
     MONTGOMERY COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Land Records), Liber EBP 24, Folio 81, 1881-1881, MSA CE 63-34. William H. Benson, estate, to Catherine Benson, et al, April 13, 1881.
5.  1850 U.S. Federal Census Record (MD) -- Slave Schedule for William H. Benson, Clarksburg District, Page 1, Line 24. Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
6.  MONTGOMERY COUNTY, BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, (Assessment Record, Slaves), Date: 1853-1864, Location: 01/19/06/015
MdHR Number: 20,115-6, MSA Citation: MSA C1112-1. William Benson, 2nd District, Page 153.
7.  "$100 Reward." Montgomery County Sentinel 19 July 1856: 2. Maryland State Archives.
     "30 Dollar Reward." Montgomery County Sentinel 7 September, 1860: 1. Maryland State Archives.
8.  1860 U.S. Federal Census Record (MD) -- Slave Schedule for William H. Benson, Montgomery County, Clarksburg District, Page 1, Line 13. Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
9.  Montgomery County District 2, Simon J. Martenet, Martenet and Bond's Map of Montgomery County, 1865, Library of Congress, MSA SC 1213-1-464.
       1870 U.S. Federal Census Record (MD) -- Slave Schedule for Catherine Benson, Montgomery County, District 2, Page 59, Line 5. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.
       Hurley, Jr., 63.
 

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