Martha Bent

Not a known daughter of Pierre-Jean Blanchard

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bent-12

John Bent was born about 20 Nov 1596 (christened 25 Nov) in Penton-Grafton, Co. Hants, England. He was son of Robert Bent and Agnes Gosling. Elizabeth I was still the queen.

He emigrated with his wife and five children 24 April 1638 on the Confidence from Southampton to Massachusetts, settling in Sudbury.[1][2]

John Bent was one of the original settlers of Sudbury, Massachusetts.

John Bent was made a freeman in 1640 -- meaning he was both a member of the church and by extension, allowed to vote and take part in town affairs.

He was appointed to layout a road in 1648 Sudbury, Middlesex Co., MA:

An important road laid out in 1648 was that from Watertown to the Dunster Farm, or the "Old Connecticut Path." The record states, "Edmund Rice and Edmd Goodenow, John Bent and John Grout, are appointed to lay out a way between Concord and Sudbury.[citation needed][3][1]

He died 27 Sep 1672 Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts[citation needed]

His wife, Martha died in Sudbury, May 15, 1679, well along in years.

Children of Martha and John Bent:

1-5 born Penton-Grafton England, 6 and 7 born in Sudbury, Mass.:

1. Robert, bap. Jan. 10, 1625; d. in Newbury, Mass, Jan 3, 1648, age 23.
2. William, bap. Oct. 24, 1626; d. young probably.
3. Agnes, b. about 1631.
4. John, bap. Jan. 24, 1636.
5. Joseph, b. May 16, 1641.
6. Martha, b. about 1643

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Disputed Origins

Was Martha, wife of John Bent, of the Blanchard family? Helen Schavett Ullmann says no in 1999:

"John1 Bent of Sudbury, Massachusetts, was married during a period for which there is a gap in the Weyhill [parish] registers. The surname of his wife Martha is unknown. Some have claimed that she was a Blanchard, but this seems to have been based on a misinterpretation of documents in which Thomas Blanchard is identified as John's brother-in-law. Blanchard was married to John's sister Agnes. Given that John and Martha accompanied Peter Noyes to America and that they named a son Peter, it seems possible that Martha was connected with the Noyes family." [1]

Therefore, there is no proof that Martha who married John Bent was the daughter of Pierre Jean Blanchard. See (document attached).

References

1. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Unknown-478622 cites
   1. Helen Schavett Ullmann, Some Notes on John Bent of Sudbury, Massachusetts, NEHGR, 153 (1999):219-220. < AmericanAncestors >; (document attached).
2. U.S. New England Marriages prior to 1700; image 79; (p. 64) Bennett, John & Sarah Harris through Bent, Joseph (Josiah is wrong) & Elizabeth Bourne. In this record, John Bent (1596-1672) is listed as marrying a Martha ?/{Baker} (-1679); in Eng. b. 1625, Sudbury