CURRENTLY RESEARCHING Benjamin's burial location. Temporarily I've put him in this cemetery while I continue my search. If you have any information about Benjamin or his wife, Jane Webber, please contact me.*

Benjamin was the fifth of six children born to Capt. John Leighton and his wife Sarah (maiden name unknown.)

His siblings: Lydia, Jonathan, Samuel, David and Solomon.

Military:

Benjamin served with his father and brother, Solomon, under Capt. Ephraim Berry, Col John Goffe's Regt, from 13 Mar to 27 Nov 1760 during the campaign to Albany and Crown Point.

Marriage:

On March 30, 1765, "Benj Laten" married Jane Webber, perhaps d/o Gershom Webber and Mercy Young, at Wiscasset.**

Also, "Benjamin Laten & Jane Webber both of Freetown March ye 30th, 1765" from Lincoln County VRs.

Issue:

Benjamin and Jane had eight children: Ephraim, Ezekiel, Isaac, Lydia, Timothy, Susannah, David and Polly.

Benjamin is mentioned six times in Martha Ballard's diary: July 1786, June and July 1787, January 1991 and July 1992. Five of the entries indicate he slept there (and probably had a meal as well) and one entry referred to Benjamin and his son Ezekiel doing some work for Mrs. Ballard. Read the diary at https://dohistory.org/diary

"...Ephraim Leighton, who came up the Kennebec [River] with his father, Benjamin, when there were but three houses in Augusta, and made their way, by blazed trees, to Mt. Vernon, where the family were early settlers..." — Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine (see sources).

March 1766: Capt. John Jr. 'Laighton', along with sons Benjamin (bengaman) and Solomon (and 58 others) signed a petition to Massachusetts Bay Governor Francis Bernard requesting the court select Freetown as a shire town in protest over the less populous Frankfort. Freetown became Edgecomb in 1774 and Frankfort is now Dresden.

*NOTE: currently searching for the cemetery where Benjamin and his wife, Jane Webber, are buried. Put them here for now as they lived in Mount Vernon for some time and records indicate they died in Mount Vernon. Any information on them or assistance in finding original records and/or their burial location would be most welcome.

**Marriage Returns of Lincoln County, Maine list a marriage date of 16 May 1765

Sources: Vital Records of Wiscasset; Illustrated History of Kennebec County, Maine, Part 1, Henry D. Kingsbury, pg 477; 'A Leighton Genealogy,' Perley Leighton, 1:63; Documentary History of the State of Maine," pgs 441-443