Hezekiah* (MF) Bonham, Sr

1667 - Aft 1738  (> 71 years)

• Name	Hezekiah* (MF) Bonham
  Suffix	Sr
  Birth	6 May 1667	Barnstable, Barnstable Co, Massachusetts   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Religion	Episcopal clergyman
  Death	Aft 9 Jul 1738	Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey   [2]
  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. ____________________ 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.
  Person ID	I3220	Roots
  Last Modified	9 Oct 2015

  
  

  Father	Nicholas* Bonham, (immigrant),   b. 1631, Essex Co, England d. 20 Jul 1684, Piscataway Twp, Middlesex Co, New Jersey (Age 53 years)
  Mother	Hannah* (MF) Fuller,   b. 8 Oct 1636, Scituate, Plymouth Co, Massachusetts d. Aft 23 Aug 1686, Piscataway Twp, Middlesex Co, New Jersey (Age > 50 years)
  Marriage	1 Jan 1659	Barnstable, Barnstable Co, Massachusetts   [3]
  Family ID	F1548	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Mary Dunn,   b. 19 Jan 1672, Piscataway Twp, Middlesex Co, New Jersey d. 7 Nov 1699, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey (Age 27 years)
  Marriage	Bef Oct 1691	Middlesex Co, New Jersey   [2]
  Children	+ 1. Mary Dunn (MF) Bonham,   b. 4 Oct 1691, Piscataway Twp, Middlesex Co, New Jersey d. Bef 25 Feb 1779, Piscataway Twp, Middlesex Co, New Jersey (Age < 87 years) + 2. Samuel (MF) Bonham,   b. 6 Feb 1693, Piscataway Twp, Middlesex Co, New Jersey d. Bef 28 Dec 1743 (Age < 50 years) + 3. Hannah (MF) Bonham,   b. 14 Mar 1696, Piscataway Twp, Middlesex Co, New Jersey d. 21 Jan 1770, Hopewell Twp, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey (Age 73 years)   4. Sarah (MF) Bonham,   b. 14 Feb 1698, Piscataway Twp, Middlesex Co, New Jersey d. Aft 1719 (Age > 22 years)
  Family ID	F1547	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	10 Feb 2011

  
  

  Family 2	Ann Hunt, (2nd wife?),   b. 1678, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. Aft 1724 (Age > 47 years)
  Marriage	1700	Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey   [4, 5]
  Children	+ 1. Hezekiah* Bonham, Jr,   b. 1701, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. 1745, Hopewell Twp, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey (Age 44 years) + 2. Nehemiah Bonham, Sr (dna),   b. Abt 1702, Hopewell Twp, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. 1789, Loudoun Co, Virginia (Age ~ 87 years) + 3. Zachariah Bonham,   b. 1707, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. 1773, Cumberland Co, New Jersey (Age 66 years) + 4. Zedekiah Bonham,   b. 1707, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. Abt 1760, Piscataway, Middlesex Co, New Jersey (Age 53 years) + 5. Amariah Bonham, (dna),   b. 1709, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. Bef 22 Apr 1803, Middle Twp, Washington Co, Pennsylvania (Age 94 years)   6. Temperance Bonham,   b. 1710, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. Aft 1750, Woodbridge Twp, Middlesex Co, New Jersey (Age > 41 years) + 7. Rev. Malachiah Bonham, Sr. (dna),   b. 1713, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. 1789, Kingwood, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey (Age 76 years)   8. Amaziah "Amos" Bonham,   b. 1714, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. 5 Feb 1748/49, New Jersey (Age 35 years)   9. Jeremiah Bonham,   b. 1715, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. 1782, Shrewsbury, Monmouth Co, New Jersey (Age 67 years)   10. Ephaim Bonham,   b. 1716, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. Bef 1794, Pennsylvania (Age 78 years)   11. Josiah Bonham,   b. 1717, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. Aft 1747 (Age > 31 years)   12. Isaiah Bonham,   b. 1719, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. Aft 1721 (Age > 3 years)   13. Obadiah Bonham,   b. 1720, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. Aft 1724 (Age > 5 years)   14. Zephaniah Bonham,   b. 1722, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. Aft 1723 (Age > 2 years) + 15. Uriah Bonham, (dna),   b. 1724, Maidenhead, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey d. Bef 4 May 1809, Amwell Twp, Hunterdon Co, New Jersey (Age < 85 years)
  Family ID	F1545	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	10 Feb 2011

  
  

• Sources

  [S526] H. E. Bonham 1996, TITLE. [S387] Mayflower Families thru 5 Generations Vol 4. [S252] Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families by Amio Otis. [S7] Samuel J Bonham 1955, "The Bonham Family". [S536] Vol 21, p 248, Will of Samuel Hunt.