Benjamin, Joshua, 1686-1734

Joshua Benjamin (1686-c.1734), early American Naval Commander, was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1686, which at that time was an active shipping town. He was the sixth child of Abel Benjamin (c.1632-1713) and Amity (Amathea) Myrick (born c.1648). Benjamin entered the shipping trade at a young age and between 1709 and 1713, served the British Navy on board the following men-of-war: Devonshire, Northumberland, Greyhound, Kent, and Lusitania . In the 1710s and 1720s, he was master of the Brigantine Sarah and the Brigantine Young Henry, and commander of the ship Welcome, all of which sailed between Boston, the West Indies, and London. Benjamin married Abigail Phipps in 1724; they had four children: Joshua (born 1725), Katherine (born 1727), Abigail (born 1730), and John (born 1782). Joshua Benjamin, Sr., died around 1734, likely at sea. In his will he remembered his wife, his sister Abigail, brother-in-law Samuel Phipps, and niece Mary Smith.

From the guide to the Joshua Benjamin journal, Benjamin, Joshua journal, 1716-1734, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)