Maxwell, Benjamin

title
Lt.
first name
Benjamin
last name
Maxwell
gender
male
birth, death year
1737, 1829
role
enslaver
race
white
location(s)
Charlemont, MA  

Bio

Benjamin Maxwell (1737-1829) was the seventh of nine children born in Bedford, Massachusetts, to Hugh Maxwell I and Sarah Corbett. Benjamin's parents emigrated from Ireland to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 1730s. Four of Benjamin's older siblings were born in Ireland, including his more well-known brother Colonel Hugh Maxwell, who commanded the Third Massachusetts Regiment in the American Revolution. 

Benjamin married Annar Winslow in 1762. The couple had 11 children. In 1775, Benjamin and his brother Hugh and settled their families in a section of Charlemont, Massachusetts, that later became the town of Heath. Like Hugh, Benjamin became a prominent member of the town and also took part in the American Revolution, serving as a Lieutenant in Captain Rice's minuteman company. Benjamin Maxwell died in Heath, Massachusetts, in 1829, aged 92.

According to Allan Healy's history of Charlemont, the papers of Benjamin Maxwell include a bill of sale for the purchase on April 27, 1767 from Nathaniel Dunkell of "a negro child about 12 months old for six pounds, thirteen shillings, fourpence." 

Enslaved persons:

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