Re: BENNETT of 1700/1800 in NJ

Hello Eric,
I have some information and will give you my interpretation - you’ll have to draw your own conclusions:


From Church Records of the Dutch Reformed Church of Middletown/Freehold:

Aphie, daughter of Teunis Amok and Lena Laan Amok was baptized August 17, 1735.Her brother Matthew was baptized on August 12, 1741.

Jacob Bennet, son of Johannis Bennet and Agnietje Bennit was baptized at the same DRC on Dec. 29, 1739

From Early NJ Marriages:

#097; Joseph DAVIS of Frehold* in the County of Monmouth, cordwinder, and George STARKEY of the same town and county, cordwinder... [bound to]... Jonathan BELCHER, Governor... 500 pounds... 14 Sept 1754. ... Joseph DAVIS... obtained license of marriage for himself and for Upham AMOCK of Frehold in the County of Monmouth... [w] Henry GUEST, Sam LEONARD [on the back of he bond: Eupham AMACK]
***********************************************************************************

I can not determine the whereabouts of Joseph Davis and Euphem Amack.I can not find him in a list of Freeholders in Freehold (but he might not have qualified).I have checked various Davis Bulletin boards and was not able to locate them in any of the surrounding States.

Again, from Early NJ Marriages:

#374; Jacob BENNET of Mideltown* in the County of Monmouth, and Matthias AMOCK (AMACK) of the same town and county... [bound to]... William FRANKLIN, Governor... 500 pounds... 10 Aug 1764 ... Jacob BENNETT... obtained license of marriage for himself and for Uphame DAVIS of Mideltown*... [w] Sam'l LEONARD

Remembering that names on many records of the early periods were spelled phonetically, one could conclude the woman in these two records is the same and that Matthias Amock (Amack) is her brother and bondsman.

Now for the children:
I can find no birth records of children from the Davis/Amok marriage.I’m not saying there aren’t any, I just can’t find them.

I can find no record of Jacob Bennet ever adopting his son Daniel.Again, there may be such a record but I’m not aware of it.


From the Freehold/Middletown DRC records:

Jacob Bennet and Afie Aumack’s sons:
Johannis was baptized on March 17, 1765
Teunis on July 19, 1767
Willem baptized on Feb 6, 1773

One could hypothesize Daniel was born between 1768 and 1772 based on the spacing between Teunis and Willem.I have not found a Baptismal record for Daniel in the DRC records.

In his will dated 12 May 1810, Jacob Bennet makes Daniel the executor of his estate and leaves all his real and personal estate to "my son Daniel" - provided Daniel takes care of Efie for the rest of her life.Note: this reference is messed up in the book "Adrian Willemzen Bennet" where the author reads the will as saying"her son" - no way, it’s clear as day on the will, Daniel is referred to by Jacob as "my son" at least three times.

Daniel Bennet married Peggy HERBERT-29 Dec 1803
Peggy was the daughter of was David Herbert.
(from index of marriages at Monmouth Co. Archives)

Death Record: Daniel Bennet - age 80,widow,Farmer died 21 May 1850,Born & died Morrisville (Middletown Twp.) cause of death - old ageParents - Jacob & Alpha Bennet (LDS film no. 584,573 - page no 274)

One calculates from Daniel’s death record that he was born in 1770, a match with the space between the baptismal dates of Teunis and Willem.

In his will of 21 Feb, 1849,Daniel names his son David as his executor and leaves him the estate.Daniel’s daughter Mary married a Stillwaggon and one can find the Bennet/Stillwaggon farms on the 1850’s map of the Morrisville area.