The Saga of George BENN

(Written by Porter Wright in 1982 for the "Historical Society")

"George Benn was born in 1759 in the City of Nurenburg, Bayern (called Bavaria in English). His father was Henry Bartholomew Benn, a wealthy and influential landowner. George was educated in both German and English. He had two half sisters. One of the half sisters married a Prince of Wurtenburg. The Benn family had friends in far away London. At age 17 he traveled across the French country side to the Channel where he embarked in a sailing vessel for the short voyage to England and so to London to visit his friends. When he arrived there, the English King was involved in a tremendous effort to quell a rebellious uprising among the Crown colonies far across the wide Atlantic. To help defeat the Colonial armies and put down the rebellion, King George had contracted with the Prince of Hesse, a neighboring state of Bavaria, for thousands of soldiers to help fight the war for England. Benn was recognized as a person with a Germanic background and since the authorities were not sure that they had received all of the Hessians that they had contracted for, he was pressed into service. He soon found himself aboard a transport bound for Canada. It was the army commanded by Gentleman Johnny BURGOYNE that was being assembled in Canada preparatory to a grand push down the Champlain and Hudson Valley to New York. The grand plan was to cut the colonies in half and thus bring about a speedy end to the hostilities and the rebellion. Burgoyne's command was comprised of divisions of English as well as a large contingent of Hessians. George BENN was soon recognized as being a cut above the general run of Hessians and so was assigned to General Burgoyne as his personal servant. His must have been an arduous task as the army pressed southward from Ticonderoga. Burgoyne, it was said, traveled with several wagons of personal belongings for his comfort. He was a fastidious man. The Colonials were not cooperative at all. They fell trees and placed all kinds of obstacles in the way. Finally they arrived at the Saratoga heights above the little town of Stillwater, to find themselves confronted with a formidable army commanded by General GATES. For days a stalemate existed, the Colonials would not budge from their positions. The British were running low on supplies and efforts to replenish them had failed at Bennington. The officer corps was being depleted daily by colonial riflemen positioned in tree tops. One day Burgoyne and a group of officers were sitting around a table in the dining tent with BENN in attendance, when a cannonball from an American gun came crashing through the tent, crossed the table and out the other side. With that episode BENN decided he had served the English King long enough and in the confusion, he deserted. What happened to him during the next ten years is not known. He may have joined the American army but it is more likely that he found work on a local farm or in a shop. In March 1830 a post office was established in Hall's Mills (Hall's Hollow) and George BENN, Jr. was appointed postmaster, a position he held for 16 years. George Benn's daughter, Anna, marriedWilliam HEAD and became the matriarch of the local HEAD family. Dexter, who with his son Edward, ran the sawmill up the stream and the gristmill on main street. Eddie HEAD was also a very popular Town Clerk of Rensselaerville Township. When he ran against Dr. Charles SHULTES of Preston Hollow, the latter received only eight votes in the Medusa district. His son, Reuben, graduated from Union College and had a distinguished career with TerBush and Powell of Schenectady, retiring as Vice President. His son and grandson are engaged in an automobile agency in Lawyersville, Schoharie County. As for the Benns, the only remembrances we have left are a cellar hole in the back part of a lot up the North Road where they used to live and a marker in the local cemetery."

The following information is from a paper bearing the statement, "This is arranged by John and George B. HEAD, July 12, 1868"

"The father of Anna BENN was George BENN, who was born in Nurenburg, Bavaria, about the year 1738. He had no own brothers or sisters, but did have two half-sisters. . . . .Soon after the close of the war, George BENN settled in the town of Rensselaerville, County of Albany, State of New York. He married _______ PLANK, daughter of _____ PLANK, who resided near Oak Hill in the County of Greene. The maiden name of Miss Plank's mother was SHEW, and her father's family lived near Saratoga. The ancestors of Plank settled in the Dutch Colony of New Netherlands in the year 1615.

I visited Anna SPAULDING (BENN) February 19, 1870. She says her father told her that his grandfather in Germany was Henry Bartholomew BENN and his son, George BENN (my grandfather) was born December 19, 1739, died March 3, 1831. Grandmother BENN was born Jan. 27, 1764, died Jan 20, 1814.

John BENN was born Jan. 1786; Henry BENN was born Nov. 19, 1767, died Sep. 14, 1859; George BENN was born Feb. 1790, died October 1860; Peter BENN was born Apr 2, 1792, died March 1862; Mary BENN - ??; Catharine BENN was born June 29, 1796, died Dec 1857; Anna BENN was born June 15, 1798, died May 14, 1877."