| 6. | Hezekiah* (MF) Bonham, Sr was born on 6 May 1667 in Barnstable, Barnstable Co, Massachusetts (son of Nicholas* Bonham, (immigrant) and Hannah* (MF) Fuller); died after 9 Jul 1738 in Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey. Other Events and Attributes:
- Religion: Episcopal clergyman
Notes:
It it believed that he was born during his father's migration from Massachusetts to New Jersey. According to Jack D. Ross, Hezekiah was born in Barnstable Township, Barnstable, Maryland. At the death of his father he was made executor of thill along with his mother, although he was not of legal age. Thus, he surely had the confidence and respect of his father.
He was accepted as a townsman of Piscataway 2 Jan 1687/8 apparently on coming of age. He married in 1690 Mary Dunn, daughter of Hugh Dunn and Elizabeth Drake, one of the immigrant families of Mass. Hugh Dunn mentioned Hezekiah in his will. ry was born 19 Jan 1671 in Piscataway. They had four children: Mary, Samuel, Hannah and Sarah, their births being preserved in the Piscataway records." Family tradition indicates that he was an Episcopal clergyman. He was a farmer by trade.
During the period 1690 to 1699 there were numerous land transfers made by Hezekiah and his wife Mary, including receiving a patent for land at Piscataway in 1695. "Bonham's lot," also "Bonham's creeks," and "Nicholas Bonham's land" are spn of in different conveyances.
On 1 May 1697 Hezekiah Bonham received confirmation of a grant of 182 acres "in right of his late father Hezekiah Bonham, Thomas Ffarnewoorth and Daniel Lippington." Hezekiah Bonham and wife Mary later sold two of these tracts.
On 9 Oct 1697 Hezekiah Bonham of Piscataway and wife Mary sold land in Piscataway part of which was the "remainder of land held by Bonham in the right of Daniel Lippentone"
Hezekiah and wife Mary sold further land in Piscataway to Edward Slater on 27 Oct 1698. (Lippentone and Slater were brother-in-laws).
One Sunday in about 1697 or 1698 Hezekiah, who was credited with being a religious man and one of influence in the church, was found working by the very religious Edmund Dunham, his brother-in-law. Hezekiah's sister Mary had married Edmund Dm in 1681. Mr. Dunham was the first white child born in Piscataway township, and his father, Benjajah Dunham, is said to have settled here years before any other Englishmen arrived. Oliver B. Leonard in writing on "Piscataway Planters" says "Edmund Dunham grew to be an influential member of society, and became a lay preacher, helping to mold the tender consciences and direct the religiously inclined of the pioneer community." At that time Edmund was pastor of the Baptist Church of Piscataway. Because Edmund found Hezekiah working on Sunday he took him to account. To quote Morgan Edwards on the incident:
"Bonham put Dunham to prove that the first day of the week was holy by divine institution. How the debate was carried on is not known; but it is known that the above attack was the thing which set Mr. Dunham to study the subject; and that cing the seventh day of the week was the effect. In a short time after 17 people sided with Mr. Dunham which opened a prospect of having a Sabbatarian church in Piscataway; to prepare for it Mr. Dunham went to Westerly, (RI) and there received ordination at the hands of Rev. William Gibbons; and in 1705 he and his party were formed into a church," the Seventh Day Baptist Church of Piscataway.
Hezekiah was not among the organizers. He had moved to Hunterdon in West Jersey in about 1698 as he appears in no record of any kind in Piscataway after 1698, except the sale of further land in Piscataway to Edward Slater on 27 Oct 1698. (Lintone and Slater were brother-in-laws). Evidently the property was sold after their move since on 18 March 1698/9 he appears in a list of inhabitants of Maidenhead when Gov. Jeremiah Basse and others, as agents, sold 100 acres to the inhabitants of Maidenhead for 5 shillings, for a meeting house, school and burial ground, thus indicating that he had an interest in that section of New Jersey.
(my note: there is no evidence of this 2nd marriage and 15 children)
Mary Dunn died Nov 7, 1699 and he remarried in 1700 in Hunterdon Co. By his second wife he had 15 more children, some thirteen of whom bore names ending in the Biblical "iah". Hence they are called the"iah" BONHAMS. These children were Heze, Jr.; Nehemiah; Zachariah; Zedekiah; Amariah; Temperance; Malachiah; Amaziah; Jeremiah; Ephraim; Josiah; Isaiah; Obadiah; Zephamia; and Uriah.
On 28 Aug 1701 he is mentioned as an abutter in Middlesex Co,; on 26 Aug 1703 he was among those who consented to an agreement between Dr. Daniel Coxe, Esq. and Thomas Revell, on behalf of purchasers of land in Maidenhead and Hopewell Townsh
On 1 Jan 1712/3 he contributed money to organize a new county (in this document he is Hezekiah Bonham, Sr., indicating that a younger Hezekiah, not necessarily his son, was in the town).
On 24 Nov 1722 he witnessed the will of Jonathan Stout of Hopewell Township.
In 1723 he was a judge in Hunterdon Co.
On 6 Nov 1730 his original signature appears with others on an agreement to sell the town lot to the highest bidder.
On 21 April 1732 his bond is mentioned in the codicil to the will of Daniel Howell of Trenton.
On 9 July 1738 his signature appears on the will of Henry Merson, the last known recording of his name. The exact date of his death and burial place are unknown.
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There is some debate as to the identity of his second wife. According to "Mayflower Families through Five Generations," Vol 4, p 37, "Hezekiah Bonham does not appear in the Hunterdon Co. court records but is mentioned in the following document, none of which mention a second wife or any other children." It also states "This claim may have originated in misinterpretation of the will of Samuel Hunt of Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, dated 15 Jan 1717/8 in which he decreed that his real estate was to be partititioned among Samuel Hunt's heirs by son Samuel, by Hezekiah Bonham, and by John Prince."
According to "The Bonham Family" by Samuel J. Bonham, pg 9, she was Ann Hunt, daughter of Ralph or Samuel Hunt. This theory is derived from the will of Samuel Hunt, New Jersey Archives, Vol. 21, p 248.
According to "Bonham and Related Family Lines" by H. E. Bonham 1996, says on page 229, that Hezekiah's second wife was Mary Bishop, daughter of David & Mary (Alger) Bishop according to the will of David Bishop 07 Jan 1684 where he mentions a Hezekiah Bonham married to his daughter Mary. However, in 1684 Hezekiah, son of Nicholas, was 17 years old and it was four years later that he married Mary Dunn in 1690. There must have been another Hezekiah Bonham; although, according to references, there was no evidence of another Hezekiah Bonham.
Hezekiah* married Mary Dunn before Oct 1691 in Middlesex Co, New Jersey. Mary (daughter of Hugh Dunn, (Immigrant) and Elizabeth Drake, (immigrant)) was born on 19 Jan 1672 in Piscataway Twp, Middlesex Co, New Jersey; died on 7 Nov 1699 in Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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1738 - 1825 (86 years)