Jonathan Beckwith

  Noted events in his life were:

• Baptism: From Family Search org, 24 Sep 1721, New London, New London, Connecticut. Name: Jonathan Beckwith
Sex: Male
Christening Date: 24 Sep 1721
Christening Place: New London, New London, Connecticut, British Colonial America
Christening Place (Original): New London, New London, Connecticut, United States
Father's Name: Jonathan Beckwith
Mother's Name: Elisabeth

Other information in the record of Jonathan Beckwith
Name: Jonathan Beckwith
Sex: Male
Christening Date: 24 Sep 1721
Christening Place: New London, New London, Connecticut, British Colonial America
Christening Place (Original): New London, New London, Connecticut, United States
Father's Name: Jonathan Beckwith
Mother's Name: Elisabeth

Digital Folder Number: 007608619
Microfilm Number: 1011944
Originating System: ODM
Indexing Batch: C54001-3

Citing this Record
"Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2S9-W4C : 7 January 2020), Jonathan Beckwith in entry for Jonathan Beckwith, 1721.

• History: Joshua Hempstead Diary Records, Connecticut Historical Society, 27 Aug 1753, Lyme, New London, Connecticut. Mond 27 August 1753 I was about home in the morn & then Into Town to the Prison house to administer the poor mans oath to Jonathan Beckwith ye 3d of Lyme.

Note: This may not be for this Jonathan Beckwith as the sufix of the 3rd does not fit unless his grandfather was actually Jonathan, not John. No other Jonathans appear in the early ancestry for the Beckwiths. This Jonathan had a son Jonathan who would qualify as Jonathan ye 3d but he would have been about five years old in 1753.

• Family History: The Ancestry of Emily Jane Engle, Dean Crawford Smith, 1992, page 237. JONATHAN BECKWITH (Jonathan, John, Matthew), baptized New London, CT 14 May 1721 (NL Ch 1:138), but born circa 1714; died Newark, Wayne Co., NY age 97 in 1807 (Beckwith Notes, 2:41); married at Robinson Houghton's farm, New London 22 November 1741 (Hempstead Diary, p.384) GRACE STRICKLAND, born circa 1720, died Newark, NY 1817, age 97 (Beckwith Notes 2:41), daughter of SAMUEL and ELIZABETH (WILLIAMS) STRICKLAND (see Strickland Chapter).

A month following their published intentions to marry, Joshua Hempstead noted that "I went up to John Smiths to take the Examination of Grace Strickland who Complains She is with child by Jonathan Beckwith" (Hempstead Diary, dated 3 March 1741, p.374).

In the Justice of the Peace Court records kept by Joshua Hempstead and donated to the Connecticut State Archives, Hempstead recorded the interrogatories brought when Grace was presented for fornication, as follows:
Att a Court Held in New London in the County of New London March the 3d 1740/41 Present J. Hampsted Justice of the peace Grace Strickland Single Woman of New London aforesaid appeared before this court and upon oath confest that She was now with Child by fornication and that Jonathan Beckwith of sd New London was the Father of her sd Child and prayed process against the sd Beckwith for the maintainance of the sd Child which was granted

Questions asked the sd Grace Strickland upon oath

First When was it that the sd Beckwith did beget you with Child? Ans In the beginning of November Last

Ques. Where was you when he begat you with Child? Ans at my fathers house in N London

Ques had the sd Beckwith Carnal Knowledge of yor Body more than once or twice? Ans yes Divers times all which is against the Peace &c and ye good and wholsome Laws of this Colony

She was ordered to return to court at a later date, presumably after the birth of the child, but her return was not noted. This child, Mary Strickland, was baptized at New London Church 26 July 1741 (NLCh 1:30), four months before her parents' marriage.

It was probably this Jonathan who was the "Jonathan Beckwith ye 3d of Lyme" to whom Joshua Hempstead administered the poor man's oath 27 August 1753 (Hempstead Diary, p.614).

Jonathan Beckwith brought suit against Henry Latimore for £2 debt at the Justice of the Peace Court in New London 12 June 1773. Through an attorney, Latimore did not challenge the fact that he owed Beckwith money, but claimed a point of law, that Beckwith was not worth enough money to stand the bond to enter the suit. Jonathan brought Joshua and Jonathan Beckwith, likely his younger brother and son, into court to stand bond, but lost the suit anyway (NLJP, unpaginated).

Jonathan and Grace (Strickland) Beckwith, of Lyme, sold nine acres on Royces Mountain in New London 5 January 1774 to Jonathan Beckwith Jr. Grace's siblings, Priscilla Hambleton and husband James, Annie Davis and husband John, Sarah Holt and husband John, and Lucretia Davis and husband Joseph, were also parties to this deed, which disposed of land that their father, Samuel Strickland, had left in his will to be equally divided among his five daughters (NL Deed 27:140).

On 30 January 1789, Jonathan and Grace Beckwith of Montville, CT deeded land in New London to Samuel Strickland Jr. (NL Deed 27:2). On 10 February 1789, Jonathan and Grace Beckwith of Montville deeded land in Montville to Clement Bishop (Montville Deed 2:290). Both deeds were acknowledged 10 February 1789.

The published series Beckwith Notes contains many mistaken identifications and jumbled family groupings. In the family of Jonathan and Grace (Strickland) Beckwith was listed a daughter "Jane." The source of this information was a descendant of the family who no doubt wrote out his responses in a letter in the last century. We believe that it is possible that the word "Irene" was misread by the compilers of Beckwith Notes as the more common name, "Jane." No independent verification of a daughter Jane can be found, but an Irene Beckwith was closely involved with Samuel and Jonathan of this family, both before her marriage and after it. Another possible origin for the daughter "Jane" is that son Samuel married a woman named Jane, who may have been remembered as "Aunt Jane" by the western branches of the family who were informants for Beckwith Notes.

None of this couple's seven children had recorded births, except Mary, who was born and baptized before her parents' marriage. Jonathan Beckwith left no will listing his children, and the family was mentioned only in passing by the diarist Joshua Hempstead. The following reconstruction is drawn from deeds and the probate of son Jonathan.

When Jonathan died suddenly in 1774, the settling of his estate was a very complicated matter. For a number of years, young Jonathan had been in business with his brother, Samuel, as a trader dealing in goods and land. The brothers had taken loans from various people, and Jonathan's portion of the debt had to be paid back. Samuel, taking a bond with his father, Jonathan Sr., became administrator of the estate. Among the creditors to be paid back was Grace Beckwith, who received £7 "for land and money I let him have in seventy-three" (NL Probate #356). This must have been young Jonathan and Samuel's mother.

Irene Beckwith loaned Samuel and Jonathan Beckwith Jr. £12 plus 6s cost, which Samuel repaid in May of 1775 from his brother's estate. We believe it was this Irene who married Reynold Way. Reynold purchased one hundred acres from Samuel Beckwith 2 September 1788 and sold it back to him 7 March 1797 before moving north to New Hampshire. Stephen Beckwith, who at the time lived in Springfield, Luzerne Co., PA, took fifteen acres of land in Lyme bounded by Reynold Way, from William Moon for non-payment of a debt, then sold it to Reynold Way, who sold it back to Samuel later that month.

In his move to New Hampshire, Reynold Way settled in Newport, the same town in which Jonathan had drawn lot 19 as an original proprietor in 1764. This right was taken by Jeremiah Clement in 1765 and Jonathan never lived on the land. Jonathan and Grace may have stayed briefly in Marlow, NH with their daughter, Irene (Beckwith) Way's family, before going to New York.
The Newport, NH connection may have been a coincidence, but it is unlikely that Irene, as a young single woman, would have loaned money to any but a family member, and the continued connection shown by her husband to Samuel and Stephen in the land dealings in the following twenty years argues for a family relationship. Samuel Beckwith married Reynold Way's sister, Jane. They are buried next to Reynold and Jane's father, Joseph Way, in the Chesterfield cemetery in Montville, CT. While Jane's relationship to Reynold could explain the extended land dealings between the two families, it would not explain Irene's loan to Samuel and Jonathan Beckwith.


It has been claimed that Irene Way was the daughter of Jesse Beckwith, whose son Jesse Beckwith deposed that he had "stood by the side of the said Reynold Way" at his marriage, implying that he was Reynold's best man (Revolutionary War Pension Application W15462). Although Jesse Jr. was a near neighbor, his father's will shows that he was not a brother to Irene Beckwith (9 May 1796, NL Probate #346).

It is interesting to note that Irene and Reynold named their eldest daughter Rebecca, perhaps for Irene's childless sister, Rebecca, who married Robert Latimer. Rebecca is not a Way name, and is rarely seen in Beckwith families. Robert Latimer witnessed the 1788 deed between Samuel Beckwith and Reynold Way. Jonathan Sr. and his wife, Grace, moved to Newark, NY, and lived until their deaths with daughter Rebecca and her husband Robert Latimer.

The Beckwith Notes claimed that this couple had a son Daniel, born say 1740s, who married one Chloe Warner, of Herkimer Co., NY and removed to Wayne Co., PA. No independent evidence has been found to support this, despite a concerted search, so he is omitted here.

Children, surname BECKWITH:

i. MARY (perhaps surname Strickland), baptized New London, CT 26 July 1741 (NLCh 1:30).

ii. JONATHAN, born New London, CT say late 1740s; living 1 February 1774, died by 1 October 1774 when an administrator's bond was signed (NL Probate #356).

iii. SAMUEL, born Lyme, CT circa 1750; died Salem, CT 25 August 1826, age 76 (gravestone, Chesterfield Cemetery, Montville); married say 1774 JANE? WAY, born Lyme, CT 22 December 1758 or 1759, died Salem November 1825, age 66 (grav ese Chesterfield Cemetery, Montville), daughter of Joseph and Mary (Smith) Way (see Way Chapter). Revolutionary soldier.

Children (named in research report by Gordon Remington 8 June 1992), surname Beckwith:
1) Strickland, born say 1774 (Lyme Deed 21:97)
2) Mary, born circa 1775
3) Jonathan, born circa 1778 (Montville Deeds 3:236-7; 4:522,
565; 6:16-7)
4) Russell, born circa 1780
5) Samuel, born circa 1790
6) Silas, born circa 1792
7) David, born circa 1794 (gravestone, Chesterfield Cemetery)
8) Joseph Charles, born circa 1796

iv. IRENE, born Lyme, CT circa 1752; died Newport, NH 30 April 1847, age 95 years (gravestone, Maple Street Cemetery, Newport); married Lyme, CT 20 oy 1777 (Revolutionary Pension Application W15462) REYNOLD WAY (see Way Chapter).

v. STEPHEN, born Lyme, CT circa 1763; died Lodi Plains, Washtenaw Co., Michigan 30 August 1830 (Beckwith Notes, 6:39); married before 1793 HANNAH YORK, born Voluntown, CT 22 April 1772, died probably Lyons, Ionia Co., MI March 1863, daughter of Amos and Lucretia (Miner) York. School teacher.

Children, see NGSQ 80:165-184), surname Beckwith:
1) Lucretia, born Wyalusing, Luzerne (now Bradford) Co., PA
7 November 1793
2) George M., born Wyalusing 14 September 1794
3) Dan W., born Wyalusing 3 February 1797 (family Bible in
the possession of Mark Denman of Danville, IL)
4) Sebastian D., born probably Wyalusing circa 1793-99
5) Grace Strickland, born NY or PA 1 February 1800
6) Minor York, born probably Milo, Yates Co., NY circa 1802-3
7) Jefferson Hiram, born probably Milo, NY circa 1803
8) Norton Hadley, born probably Milo or Newark, Wayne Co., NY
circa 1803-1810
9) Melissa E., born Newark, Wayne Co., NY circa 1814-5

vi. | REBECCA, born Lyme, CT circa 1764-70; died near Newark, Wayne Co., NY 2 July 1843 (Beckwith Notes, 2:41); married after 1789 ROBERT N. LATIMER, born circa 1756-66, died Newark, Wayne Co., NY 12 January 1852, age 95 (Newark, NY cemetery inscription). No known children.

Jonathan married Grace Strickland, daughter of Samuel Strickland and Elizabeth Williams, on 22 Nov 1741 in Lyme, New London, Connecticut.

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Marriage Banns: Joshua Hempstead Diary Records, Connecticut Historical Society, 8 Feb 1741, Lyme, New London, Connecticut. Sund 8 Feb 1740/41 Jonathan Beckwith & Grace Strickland published.

• Marriage: Joshua Hempstead Diary Records, Connecticut Historical Society, 22 Nov 1741, Lyme, New London, Connecticut. Sund 22 November 1741 in the Evening I went out to Jonat Hamiltons at Robinsons Houghtons farm & maried Jonat Beckwith & Grace Strickland.