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Family of Benjamin VESEY and Dorothy SPEAR
Benjamin VESEY b. 1764 Mar 234096 at (bapt) Christ Church, Braintree, MA4096. d. abt Oct, 18285336 at prob Perry, OH5336.
Dorothy SPEAR b. 1758~2846 at Braintree, MA2846.
Married2846. There is some doubt that Benjamin Vesey married Dorothy Spear.
Stewart2846 has Dorothy Spear, b ~1758, dau of Samuel Spear and (as his second wife) Mary Ford, married Benjamin Vesey. Also mentioned of Mary (Ford) Spear: "Five of her children removed to Braintree, Vt., about 1790," referencing "The Speare Family," Charles L Speare, 1938, p 12,13.
Sprague841 and Bass831 say of Benjamin only: "to Braintree, Vt. in 1785, to the west in 1815." Benjamin Vesey appears as in the list831 of selectmen for Braintree, VT, between the years 1793 and 1811.
Benjamin was married (at least) twice. He married, probably first, Eunice (perhaps) Lamb. The death record1520 for son James Madison Vesey lists his mother as "Eunice Vesey." "Pioneer Women of Perry [Ohio]"828 has "Benjamin and Eunice (Lamb) Vesey" arriving in Perry in 1816. There appears to be no other records for Eunice, either indicating her first name or surname.
Bass831, p 182, regarding sisters of Samuel Spear: "The third m. a Vesey, probably Benjamin; went to Ohio about 1815." Stewart2846 has Dorothy Spear, born "about 1758," a daughter of Samuel Spear and Mary Ford, and brother of the above mentioned Samuel Spear, married (without reference) Benjamin Vesey. Speare5487 also has Dorothy Spear, born "about 1758," a daughter of Samuel Spear and Mary Ford, married (without reference) Benjamin Vesey. Speare has Dorothy came from Braintree, Mass. to Braintree, Vt., perhaps with her other two sisters and her brothers, but "one record gives her coming to Braintree, Vt., as about 1800. She went to Ohio with her sister Hannah in 1815. No record of her family." Regarding Dorothy Spear, it appears that both Stewart and Speare either had the same source, perhaps Bass, or Stewart repeated Speare's information. If Dorothy Spear had married Benjamin Vesey in Vermont, then Dorothy moving to Ohio "with her sister Hannah" is a strange phrase, as is "no record of her family," as many of Benjamin Vesey's children were born2230 in Braintree, Vt., and later appear in other records. Without further information, the marriage of this Dorothy Spear and Benjamin Vesey is doubtful. It may be that Stewart and Speare (and Bass?) confused the marriage2852 of Benjamin's grandfather Benjamin, and Dorothy Spear (born in Braintree, MA), the daughter841 Samuel Spear and Elizabeth Daniel.
Pioneer Women of Perry (OH)" mentions "(Mrs Benjamin) Eunice Lamb Vesey," mother of several sons and five daughters. Four daughters are specifically named: Abigail, Rebecca, Vashtia and Rowena; Elizabeth would be the fifth daughter. The death record1520 for son J M Vesey lists "Eunice Vesey" as his mother.
Benjamin's marriage832 to Rebecca Graham in 1826 is certain. Benjamin later divorced Rebecca ~1828, assumed from notices of divorce in the Painesville (OH) Telegraph830, published Dec 18, 1827, and Jan 4, 1828. As the will5336 of Benjamin Vesey, signed Mar 5, 1828, does not mention his wife, it is assumed they were divorced (or the marriage otherwise considered dissolved) by March, 1828.
Because of the doubt that Benjamin married Dorothy Spear, Eunice is herein listed as the mother of Benjamin's children. As J M Vesey's mother is listed1520 as Eunice, it is all but certain that Eunice was the mother of the children born after ~1810.
The will5336 of Benjamin Vesey mentions "oldest son" Jonathan Vesey; "three youngest sons" Madison, George and Harris Vesey; Betsey Ford, Rebecca Butler, Abigail French, "daughters" Roena Calwell and Vashta Graham. He signed his will Mar 5, 1828. The will was proved and approved Oct 20, 1828.