Ebenezer Dustin, Sr.

A Patriot of the American Revolution for New Hampshire with the rank of Private.

DAR Ancestor # A096387

From an article published by Brenda Dustin Young in 2010 entitled, "Seth Dustin, Mormon Pioneer, Man of God".....The Dustin's came to New England before 1640. They fought in the Revolutionary War. The Dustin's entered the wilderness of western New York in the early 1800's and lived in settlements among the six nations of the Iroquois Indians in Genesee County, New York.

Ebenezer Dustin – Patriot and Father: Ebenezer Dustin was born April 4, 1761, according to the Daughters of the American Revolution Patriot Index. His daughter, Susan Dustin Kimball, testified in court on January 23, 1852, in Grafton, New Hampshire. She was applying for her father’s benefits afforded by the Pension law for Revolutionary War veterans. She stated that her father had been serving as a Private in the Revolutionary War of the United States, when he returned home in 1777, and then he was called out again in 1778, in the Company of Sepe Page and Colonel A. Drake, Regiment E.

After another short stint at home he served out the remainder of 1778 under Captain Raynold in Colonel Peabody’s Regiment. She stated he was called out once more and he was in service in Rhode Island and was discharged there upon its expiration and then returned home in 1779 and that in 1780 he was again called out into service as one of the men to serve six months and was always ready to serve when called upon, and that the various periods of time he was out at least as much as two or three years and he endured great privations and hardships during his service.

Ebenezer married three times and fathered at least fifteen children! First, Ebenezer married Lois or Eunice Hunt and from that union Ebenezer Dustin Jr. was born on the 19th of February 1781. The second son, Caleb Dustin, was born the 17th of June 1782, which indicates that his mother may have died in childbirth, or soon after, as Ebenezer married Susanna Stevens in November of that year.

Ebenezer Dustin and Susanna Stevens were married on 1 November 1782, and from that union eleven children were born. The children were: Lydia (1784), David (1786), Betsey (1788), Seth (1791), Chandler (1792), Bechias (1793), Sabrina (1794), Ruhanna (1795), Dorothy (1796), and baby Susanna (1798), named after her mother. Susannah Stevens Dustin passed away July 31, 1798, at the young age of just 36 years old, and was buried in the Town Cemetery in Enfield, Grafton County, New Hampshire, per Find A Grave.com, memorial # 60295177.

Susanna and Betsey – Women of Strength and Fortitude: In July of 1798, when Bechias, was not quite five years old, his mother, Susanna, died. Baby Susanna was just over a month old when her mother passed away. Seven months after Susanna died, Ebenezer married for a third time to Betsey Smith. Betsey Smith was twenty-nine and still single. She may have considered herself a spinster.

Ebenezer must have been a handsome or charismatic man to attract the brave-hearted Betsey. She entered into the marriage and willingly rescued the brood, as well as Ebenezer, a man desperate for help with his large motherless family. Ebenezer was only 37 years old at the time. During this era, children of a very tender age cared for younger brothers and sisters with some degree of skill, but Ebenezer certainly felt overwhelmed with this lone responsibility of 13 grieving children! The eldest, Ebenezer Jr., was just seventeen when his mother died.

Ebenezer and Betsey were married on 22 February 1799. Betsey bore two children in the short time they were married, Nehemiah Dustin, born in 1802, and Abigail Dustin in 1804. In 1805, one year after Abigail was born, Ebenezer died leaving Betsey with fifteen children. Ebenezer Jr. was the eldest child and became the father figure even though he was a young man of twenty-four.

Betsey Smith later married Moses Powell, and she passed away at the age of 81 years old on September 8, 1846, in Enfield, and was buried in the town cemetery there.

Caleb Dustin, Seth Dustin’s uncle, was among the first Methodist ministers in New England. The Dustin's lived just miles away from Palmyra, New York. Certainly Caleb attended the large Methodist Genesee Conference revivals. Caleb Dustin preached to John Young, father to Brigham Young.

Peter Dustin was the first member of the Dustin family to join The Church of Jesus Christ on June 9, 1830, a little over a month after the Church was organized on April 6th. Bechias Dustin and his niece, Cyrena Dustin, soon followed.

Hannah Loveland Dustin and her brothers, Chester and Levi, gathered to Missouri and forged their faith in the fires of persecution. Seth witnessed with his father-in-law, Chauncey Loveland, the death of the prophet Joseph Smith.

When the Dustin's came to Massachusetts prior to 1640, their surname was Durston. We find the name of Thomas Durston among the signers of a letter to the governor of Massachusetts, dated Northam, and (Dover) March 4, 1640. They subscribe themselves: We, the inhabitants of Northam. We also find the name Tho[mas] Durston among those admitted freemen at Kittery, in November, 1652.

Thomas Durston was named as a soldier in the King Philips War with Lieutenant Benjamin Swett and his men as of June 1676. This is likely Thomas Durston born 1652, rather than his father or grandfather. To quote George Wingate Chase in reference to the name Durston: It was originally written Durston and changed to Duston about the time of the above-named Thomas Duston. This is shown, not only by our town records, but by Duston’s petition to the General court, in June 1697.

Because of the notoriety of Hannah Durston / Duston (1657-1738), wife of Thomas Durston / Duston (1652), much is known about this generation of Dustin's. However, many noble ancestors have been a part of this family, though their histories remain unwritten. Seth Dustin was likely raised hearing stories about these ancestors, especially Thomas and Hannah Duston. His grandfather, Ebenezer, and his great-grandfather, James Dustin, were Revolutionary War soldiers.

The following is from Find A Grave.com:

Birth: April 4, 1761, Hopkinton, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, USA

Death: November 23, 1805, Enfield, Grafton County, New Hampshire, USA

Cemetery Transcriptions from the NEHGS Manuscript Collections-Town Cemetery, Enfield record

Vital Records of Enfield, New Hampshire, 1761-1940

Ebenezer Dustin, born April 4, 1761, Hopkinton, died November 23, 1805, Enfield, and was buried in the Town Cemetery in Enfield, New Hampshire. Married November 1, 1781, Enfield, Susannah Stevens, married Betsey Smith, Ipswich, Massachusetts.

Spouses:

Susannah Stevens Dustin (1763 - 1798)

Betsey Smith Powell (1765 - 1846)

Children:

Bechias Dustin (1796 - 1874)

Nehemiah Story Dustin (1802 - 1873)

Abigail G Dustin Barnard (1804 - 1868)

Headstone Inscription: In Memory of Mr. Ebenezer Dustin, who died, November 23, 1805, In the 45th year of his life.

Burial: Town Cemetery, Enfield, Grafton County, New Hampshire, USA

Created by: M. Sue

Record added: Oct 18, 2010

Find A Grave Memorial # 60295238