Reverend Benjamin Rolfe

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/2HGF-CXH

Male
Rev. Benjamin Rolfe
13 September 1662 – 29 August 1708 • 2HGF-CXH​​

Mehitable, her husband,Benjamin, and their daugther, Mehitable were killed by Indians on 29th of August, 1708. Mrs. Rolfe was found and murdered; while the youngest child, torn from her dying grasp, was dashed against a stone. A female slave, named Hagar, leaped from her bed, carried two of the children, one six [Francis], the other eight years old [Elizabeth], to the cellar, and covered them with tubs. She then hid herself behind a barrel. The Indians entered the cellar, plundered it of every thing valuable, passed and repassed the tubs, took meat from the barrel, and drank milk from the pans; yet the children and their faithful protectress escaped unnoticed. All three, were buried together in one grave at the Pentucket Cemetery in Haverhill, Essex County, Massachsetts.

Their tombstone reads:
MEHETIBLE
Ye DAUGHTER
OF Ye REVEREND
Mr BENJAMIN
ROFE WHO
DIED AUGUST
Ye 29 1708
AGED 2 YEARS &
25 DAYS
MEHETIBLE Ye WIFE
OF Ye REVEREND
Mr BENJAMIN ROFE
WHO WAS BARBAR
OUSLY MURDERED
BY ENEMIES ON
AUGUST 29 1708
IN Ye 46 YEAR
OF HER AGE

Birth and first marriage information provided by Lee Hale, a descendant and President of the Hale Family Organization.
Mehitable is the daughter of Francis Wainwright. She married 1st John Atwater in Salem in 1687 and had children John in 1687 and Francis in 1690. He died in 1692 per probate records.
She married 2nd Rev. Benjamin Rolfe Sr. on March 12, 1693-4 in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts. To this union, 6 children were born:
Mary born Mar 9, 1694-5
Benjamin born Sept 3, 1696
John born July 2, 1698 died Aug 5, 1698
John (twin) born Sept 1, 1699 died Sept 15, 1699
Elizabeth (twin) born Sept 1, 1699*
Francis (son) born Jan 6, 1701-2*
Mehitable born Aug 19, 1706 died Aug 29, 1708 with her parents

• Survived the Indian attack on the family.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Benjamin [recorded Roafe] was the son of Benjamin and Apphia (Hale) Rolfe and was born in Newbury. He graduated from Harvard College 1684, ordained a minister at Haverhill Jan 1694; chaplain to the colonial troops at Falmouth 1689. On March 12, 1693 in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, he married Mehitable Atwater. To this union, 7 children were born:

Mary born Mar 9, 1694-5 died October 21, 1763 and married Gen. Estes Hatch on November 9, 1716.
Benjamin born Sept 3, 1696
John born July 2, 1698 died Aug 5, 1698
John (twin) born Sept 1, 1699 died Sept 15, 1699
Elizabeth (twin) born Sept 1, 1699*
Francis (son) born Jan 6, 1701-2*
Mehitable born Aug 19, 1706 died Aug 29, 1708 with her parents

• Survived the Indian attack on the family.

His life is chronicled in the book Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University: In ..., Volume 3 By John Langdon Sibley, Clifford Kenyon Shipton.

He was chosen "clerk of the proprietors and grantees of Penny Cook," in 1731, and continued in the office till 1770. He was also town clerk of Rumford. In 1737 he was chosen clerk of the commissioners appointed to determine the boundary line between Massachusetts and New-Hampshire, which met at Hampton. In 1745 he held the commission of colonel in the Province.

He was the first one chosen to represent the District of Rum- ford in the General Assembly of New-Hampshire ; and, during his life-time, he held every important and responsible office in town in the gift of his fellow citizens to bestow. Though he was not, strictly speaking, a lawyer, yet he acted as an adviser, and discharged the various duties of a magistrate in civil affairs.

ON the 29th of August, 1708, the unfortunate village of Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts then consisting of about thirty houses, was attacked by a party of French and Indians. At break of day the inhabitants aroused themselves just in time to find that the enemy were upon them. A Mrs. Smith was the first victim. She was shot while fleeing from her house to a neighbouring garrison. The foremost party then attacked the house of the Rev. Benjamin Rolfe, which was then garrisoned by three soldiers. Leaping from the bed, he placed himself against the door, and called to the soldiers, who were in an opposite room, for assistance. This manly garrison, after closing the intervening door, answered by running through the rooms wringing their hands. The Indians then fired two balls through the door, one of which wounded Rolfe in the elbow. They then pressed against it with united strength; and, finding his efforts useless, he rushed precipitately through the house and out at the back door. He was pursued, overtaken, and tomahawked. The house was then plundered. Mrs. Rolfe was found and murdered; while the youngest child, Mehitable, torn from her dying grasp, was dashed against a stone. A female slave, named Hagar, leaped from her bed, carried two of the children, one six [Francis], the other eight years old [Elizabeth], to the cellar, and covered them with tubs. She then hid herself behind a barrel. The Indians entered the cellar, plundered it of every thing valuable, passed and repassed the tubs, took meat from the barrel, and drank milk from the pans; yet the children and their faithful protectress escaped unnoticed. He seems to have been a pious and upright man, ardently devoting his time and tálente to forward the cause of his Saviour, he was respected and beloved by his people.

Mr. Rolfe, his wife and child, were buried in one grave, near the south end of the burial-ground. A single monument was erected to their memory, on which was chiselled an insciiption for each ; but the hand of time has been rough with them - they arc overgrown with moss, and the epitaphs are now almost illegible. The following is the epitaph of Mr. Rolfe : -

Claudüur hoc túmulo corpus Reverendi pii doctique viri, D. Benjamin Rolfe, ecclesiee Christi quot est in haverhiJl past or i s Jidelissimi; qui domi
SUCE ad hoslibus barbare trucidalus. A laborious suis requieuit mane diet
sacrée quietis, Aug. XXIX anno domini, MDQCVIII. ¿Etatii tua

The rest of the tombstone reads:

MEHETIBLE
Ye DAUGHTER
OF Ye REVEREND
Mr BENJAMIN
ROFE WHO
DIED AUGUST
Ye 29 1708
AGED 2 YEARS &
25 DAYS

MEHETIBLE Ye WIFE
OF Ye REVEREND
Mr BENJAMIN ROFE
WHO WAS BARBAR
OUSLY MURDERED
BY ENEMIES ON
AUGUST 29 1708
IN Ye 46 YEAR
OF HER AGE

All 3 were buried together in one grave and rest at the Pentucket Cemetery in Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts.

Family Members

Spouses and Children

Rev. Benjamin Rolfe
1662–1708 • 2HGF-CXH​​
Marriage: 12 March 1693
Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts

Mehitable Wainwright
1662–1708 • LHWQ-HGP​​

Children of Mehitable Wainwright and Rev. Benjamin Rolfe (7)

Mary Rolfe
1694–1763 • LCTM-255​​

Benjamin Rolfe III
1696–Deceased • KLYG-9T2​​

John Rolfe
1698–1698 • LZNN-931​​

Elizabeth Rolfe
1699–Deceased • LZNN-9KZ​​

John Rolfe
1699–1699 • LZNN-MPW​​

Francis Rolfe
1701–1721 • GMNC-1HF​​

Mehitabel Rolfe
1706–1708 • L1YQ-9N9​​

Parents and Siblings

Benjamin Rolfe
1638–1710 • MB8P-GTX​​
Marriage: 3 Nov 1659
Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts, United States

Apphia Hale
1642–1708 • MWWS-422​​

Children of Apphia Hale and Benjamin Rolfe (13)

John Rolfe
1660–Deceased • LRLZ-C2C​​

Rev. Benjamin Rolfe
1662–1708 • 2HGF-CXH​​

Hannah Rolfe
1665–1701 • KZ52-RCQ​​

Apphia Rolfe
1667–Deceased • LCT8-VC3​​

Mary Rolfe
1669–1672 • LTY3-1QP​​

Samuel Rolfe Sr
1671–1712 • LKYW-H14​​

Mary Rolfe
1674–1677 • LTY3-P5Y​​

Henry Rolfe Sr
1677–1752 • LCPJ-783​​

Elizabeth Rolfe
1679–1752 • LCH6-NVJ​​

Nathaniel Rolfe
1681–Deceased • 9MCL-Q6D​​

Abigail Rolfe
1684–1749 • G7T5-86H​​

Rolfe
1685–1686 • LHTK-QGL​​

Judith Rolfe
1686–1686 • MBGG-672​​

Benjamin [recorded Roafe] was the son of Benjamin and Apphia (Hale) Rolfe and was born in Newbury. He graduated from Harvard College 1684, ordained a minister at Haverhill Jan 1694; chaplain to the colonial troops at Falmouth 1689. On March 12, 1694, in Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts, he married Mehitable Atwater [1]. To this union, 7 children were born:

Mary, b. Mar 9, 1694-5 died October 21, 1763
Benjamin, b. Sept 3, 1696
John, b. July 2, 1698 died Aug 5, 1698
Elizabeth (twin), b. Sept 1, 1699
John (twin), b. born Sept 1, 1699 died Sept 15, 1699
Francis, b. Jan 6, 1701-2
Mehettabel, b. born Aug 19, 1706 died Aug 29, 1708
His life is chronicled in the book Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University: In ..., Volume 3 By John Langdon Sibley, Clifford Kenyon Shipton.

He was chosen "clerk of the proprietors and grantees of Penny Cook," in 1731, and continued in the office till 1770. He was also town clerk of Rumford. In 1737 he was chosen clerk of the commissioners appointed to determine the boundary line between Massachusetts and New-Hampshire, which met at Hampton. In 1745 he held the commission of colonel in the Province.

He was the first one chosen to represent the District of Rumford in the General Assembly of New-Hampshire ; and, during his lifetime, he held every important and responsible office in town in the gift of his fellow citizens to bestow. Though he was not, strictly speaking, a lawyer, yet he acted as an adviser, and discharged the various duties of a magistrate in civil affairs.

ON the 29th of August, 1708, the unfortunate village of Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts then consisting of about thirty houses, was attacked by a party of French and Indians. At break of day the inhabitants aroused themselves just in time to find that the enemy were upon them. A Mrs. Smith was the first victim. She was shot while fleeing from her house to a neighbouring garrison. The foremost party then attacked the house of the Rev. Benjamin Rolfe, which was then garrisoned by three soldiers. Leaping from the bed, he placed himself against the door, and called to the soldiers, who were in an opposite room, for assistance. This manly garrison, after closing the intervening door, answered by running through the rooms wringing their hands. The Indians then fired two balls through the door, one of which wounded Rolfe in the elbow. They then pressed against it with united strength; and, finding his efforts useless, he rushed precipitately through the house and out at the back door. He was pursued, overtaken, and tomahawked. The house was then plundered. Mrs. Rolfe was found and murdered; while the youngest child, Mehitable, torn from her dying grasp, was dashed against a stone. A female slave, named Hagar, leaped from her bed, carried two of the children, one six [Francis], the other eight years old [Elizabeth], to the cellar, and covered them with tubs. She then hid herself behind a barrel. The Indians entered the cellar, plundered it of every thing valuable, passed and repassed the tubs, took meat from the barrel, and drank milk from the pans; yet the children and their faithful protectress escaped unnoticed. He seems to have been a pious and upright man, ardently devoting his time and tálente to forward the cause of his Saviour, he was respected and beloved by his people.

Mr. Rolfe, his wife and child, were buried in one grave, near the south end of the burial-ground. A single monument was erected to their memory, on which was chiselled an insciiption for each ; but the hand of time has been rough with them - they are overgrown with moss, and the epitaphs are now almost illegible. The following is the epitaph of Mr. Rolfe : -

Claudüur hoc túmulo corpus Reverendi pii doctique viri, D. Benjamin Rolfe, ecclesiee Christi quot est in haverhiJl past or i s Jidelissimi; qui domi SUCE ad hoslibus barbare trucidalus. A laborious suis requieuit mane diet sacrée quietis, Aug. XXIX anno domini, MDQCVIII. ¿Etatii tua

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Rolfe-1699

Benjamin Rolfe Jr. (1662 - 1708)

Rev. Benjamin Rolfe Jr.

Born 13 Sep 1662 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts

Son of Benjamin Rolfe and Apphia (Hale) Rolfe

Brother of John Rolfe, Apphia (Rolfe) Jepson, Samuel Rolfe and Henry Rolfe

husband of Mehitable (Wainwright) Rolfe — married 12 Mar 1694 in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts [uncertain]

Father of Mary (Rolfe) Hatch, Benjamin Rolfe, John Rolfe, Elizabeth (Rolfe) Checkley, John Rolfe, Fancis Rolfe and Mehitable Rolfe

Died 29 Aug 1708 in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts

Profile last modified 6 Mar 2022 | Created 16 Apr 2018

Sources

↑ Topsfield Historical Society, Vital Records of Haverhill, Massachusetts to the end of the Year 1849 Volume II - Marriages and Deaths (Topsfield, Mass. 1911)(Free e-book)(Records are also available at ma-vitalrecords.org) p. 271
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24848782

Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHLK-LL4 : 15 January 2020), Benjamin Roffe, 1662.