Isaac Bennett^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]}

1757 - 1845  (~ 95 years)

• Name	Isaac Bennett
  Born	Bet. 1750 and 1757	Virginia, United States   [6]
  Gender	Male
  Residence	1800	Somerset, Pennsylvania, United States   [7]
  	Brothersvalley
  Residence	1830	Ridgeway, Orleans, New York, United States   [8]
  Residence	1834	Ridgeway, Orleans, New York, United States   [9]
  Died	15 Apr 1845	Ridgeway, Orleans, New York, United States   [10]
  Buried	Boxwood Cemetery, Ridgeway, Orleans, New York, United States
  Person ID	I8779327499	Master Tree | Isaac Bennett Descendants
  Last Modified	24 Aug 2011

  
  

  Father	Isaac Bennett, Sr.,   b. Bet. 1710 and 1732, England, United Kingdom
  Family ID	F8026690670	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Hannah
  Married	Abt. 1775
  Children	+ 1. Aquilla Bennett,   b. Abt. 1775, Virginia, United States ,   d. 1869, Pennsylvania, United States  (Age ~ 94 years) + 2. Jesse Bennett,   b. Abt. 1777, Somerset, Pennsylvania, United States ,   d. 26 Feb 1813, Toronto, York, Ontario, Canada  (Age ~ 36 years)   3. John Bennett,   b. Abt. 1784, Pennsylvania, United States   4. Hannah Bennett,   b. 1785, Pennsylvania, United States ,   d. 26 Jan 1859, Scarborough, York, Ontario, Canada  (Age 74 years)   5. Jacob Bennett,   b. 10 Apr 1795, Fayette, Pennsylvania, United States ,   d. 1 Feb 1882, Winterset, Madison, Iowa, United States  (Age 86 years)   6. Regina Bennett,   b. Pennsylvania, United States
  Last Modified	24 Aug 2011
  Family ID	F8026690669	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - Bet. 1750 and 1757 - Virginia, United States Residence - Brothersvalley - 1800 - Somerset, Pennsylvania, United States Residence - 1830 - Ridgeway, Orleans, New York, United States Residence - 1834 - Ridgeway, Orleans, New York, United States Died - 15 Apr 1845 - Ridgeway, Orleans, New York, United States Buried - - Boxwood Cemetery, Ridgeway, Orleans, New York, United States  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Notes

  Life & times of Isaac Bennett after moving to New York from Pennsylvania. He moved from Brothersvalley, Pennsylvania after 1804 and is found in Medina, New York in 1809. Aquilla Bennett Sr. told to his grandson, George Albert Bennett that: ?As a young child, he boiled salt in kettles with his father, Isaac Bennett, in Medina Twp, Orleans Co., NY. ? Isaac's first attempt in the making of ?White Gold? (salt) was in 1813, but the enterprise was not sucessful. In 1818 he came into possesion of a unprofitable saltworks from the Holland Land Company. From 1818 to 1823, Isaac & family were in the business of salt production. Since Aquilla mentioned boiling the salt, it would make sense that Isaac's other son's, Jacob & Jesse also had a hand in this line of work. This saltworks was located on the east bank of Oak Orchard Creek in Oak Orchard village. Here he sunk a well 150 feet into the ground & found a good brine, which could be boiled down to get the salt. He then contracted Israel & Seymour Murdock to furnish him with 64 kettles, which they acquired in Utica, NY and had shipped by lake, to the mouth of Oak Orchard creek. The Murdock boys then hired several teams to bring the heavy kettles to the works, arriving one day before Isaac's stipulated delivery date, once delivered they received their pay in gold. (By the end of this business venture Isaac had upwards of 70 kettles boiling.) Making salt it seems was a labor intensive, dangerous & mundane job. After drawing the brine water to the surface it was emptied into the large boiling kettles, (some possibly set out in large bowls in the sun to evaporate). Men stood over the kettles, stirring the fetid smelling water with long wooden paddles. While this may sound like a hot job it was also very dangerous! Mention is made of men being severly scaled by the boiling brine and worse, falling in the huge kettles which ultimately led to their deaths. Issac sold his salt for between $5-$10 a barrel ( $10 in 1825 had the same buying power as $217.90 current dollars) It appears then that Isaac was a fairly wealthy man, since it is stated about his saltworks: ?furnishing a large portion of all the salt used in this portion of the country.? Isaac a wise businessman, could see the handwriting on the wall with the building of the Erie Canal. Once the Erie Canal was complete, salt could be shipped from Salina (now Syracuse) and purchased for a much cheaper price, which in turn would hurt his profits. He decided to sell his business in 1823 to Henry Boardman, who abandoned the business once the canal was completed. There is much more to be found about Isaac Bennett. There is much documentation that shows he also amougst other ventures, made a pretty good living buying and selling very large tracts of land in Pennsylvania, West Virginia & New York. We think that he died around 1835 in New York.... Written by Lisa Hoffius. A huge Thanks goes to cousin David Sidney Bennett (Maryland) also a descendant of Isaac Bennett. After David's father passed away last year, he came into possesion of many notes written by his ancestors, leading to the discovery of where Isaac Bennett wandered off to after his years in Brothersvalley Twp., Somerset Co., PA.

  
  

• Sources

  [S8072387513] The Ashbridge Book, Relating to Past and Present Ashbridge Families In America, Wellington T. Ashbridge, (1912, The Copp Clark Company Ltd, Toronto). The grandfather of Jesse, Aquilla et al, emigrated with family to Virginia taking up an immense tract of land there. From Virginia they moved to Pennsylvania, thought to be somewhere near the Susquehanna River as they often spoke of it. Becoming probably dissatisfied, the grandfather returned to England, the family remaining in America until during some Indian war or raid the father, who name is thought to be Issac Bennett, was killed and scalped after which the mother and chldren moved to Canada. Mrs. Bennett did not like her new home in Canada and went back to Pennsylvania with her daughter Jinny and son Jacob who afterwards moved to Iowa, where he had property. Some years afterwards he again visited Canada, bringing his sister Hannah Barton, a widow. [S16144775060] Pioneer History of Orleans County, New York, Thomas, Arad, (Genealogical Publishing Com, 2002), 314. The Holland Company cut out roads to the brine springs north of Medina, and built works for making salt. But little salt was made until the works passed into possession of Isaac Bennett, in 1818. [S16144775061] Pioneer history of the Holland purchase of western New York, Jewett, Thomas, (Jewett, Thomas & co., 1849), 558. The salt works at Oak Orchard were first worked by Israel Bennett, in 1818. He bored about 150 feet, and obtained water tolerably strong. At one period he had seventy pot ash and caldron kettles set, and furnished most of the salt consumed in all the northern portion of the purchase. Henry Boardman became the proprieter in 1823. [S16144775061] Pioneer history of the Holland purchase of western New York, Jewett, Thomas, (Jewett, Thomas & co., 1849), 526. The following list embraces the names, generally of the first sex, (sometimes more and sometimes less) of the person who took contracts, and in most instances, became pioneer settlers, in all the townships upon the Holland Purchase, in which no contracts were taken previous to Jan 1st, 1807: ... T. 15, R. 1. 1808. John Barrett Elliott Barrett, Isaac Bennett, Samuel Crippen, ... [S16144775063] Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Smith, Henry Perry (Signor, Isaac Smith ed.), (D. Mason & Company, 1894), 332. As early as 1805 the salt springs on lot 3, north from Medina, were operated by the Holland Land Company, but without great success. It is elsewhere noted that roads, called salt spring roads, were opened by the company to these springs from different directions. From 1818 to 1823 Isaac Bennett conducted these works and furnished most of the salt used in the northern part of the Holland Purchase....In 1823 Mr. Bennet sold the works to Henry Boardman, but they were abandoned on the completion of the Erie Canal...A salt spring was early discovered near where Oak Orchard Creek crosses the Ridge, and salt was manufactured there by Mr. Bennett in 1813, but the enterprise was not successful. [S8072387514] Turnbull/McGrath Family, Dorothy Parsons, daparson@bellsouth.net, (OneWorldTree). [S8072066288] 1800 United States Census . Males: 2x 0-10, 1x 10-15, 1x 16-25, 1x 45+; Females: 2x 0-10, 1x 16-25, 1x 45+ [S8072124009] 1830 United States Census, 1830 United States Census. [S16144775062] Canal System Survey Maps, 1832-1843, New York State Archives, (New York State Archives), Map no. E2-22. This is an ink, wash and charcoal map of a section of the Erie Canal in Ridgeway. It shows two bridges, three buildings and two unidentified roads. The red lines indicate courses and distances. The blue lines indicate canal right-of-way. The map also shows the property of Isaac Bennet. [S8072387513] The Ashbridge Book, Relating to Past and Present Ashbridge Families In America, Wellington T. Ashbridge, (1912, The Copp Clark Company Ltd, Toronto). No record for Isaac has been found after the year 1804. Family legend has it that he was killed in an Indian Raid, this has yet to be proven.