BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Benjamin Whipple and Silence Bundy Benjamin Whipple was born September 16, 1755 in Hardwick, Massachusetts, the fifth of nine children of Benjamin and Hepzebah (Crosby) Whipple.
Silence Bundy was born on January 25, 1761. Her birthplace and the names of her parents are unknown.
Benjamin and Silence were married on October 15, 1779, possibly in Rutland County, Vermont. Both before and after the marriage, through 1782, Benjamin served intermittently as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. A typical excerpt from his military record reads as follows:
"Benjamin Whipple on the Pay Roll as private of Capt. Simeon Wright's Company of Militia in Col. Gideon Warren's Regiment for a scout to the Lake against Crown Point and then to Ticonderoga the last of March in the year 1780. For 3 days service and 30 miles travel, he was paid 14 shillings."
He served most often as a private but once, for ten days, as a drummer.
While in Vermont, Benjamin and Silence had six or seven children (there is some uncertainty regarding the date of birth of son Jonathan):
In 1794, the family moved from Vermont to New York where they would live first in the town of Venice and later in Ledyard. In Venice, Benjamin would become a prominent figure in the church, becoming licensed to preach and serving as a deacon and, although not ordained, as "2nd Pastor." Meanwhile, the couple had more children:
Silence died in Ledyard two months after the birth of her twelfth child, on March 8, 1805. She was buried in Sennet Corners, Cayuga County, New York. A 1924 Whipple genealogy describes her final resting place as "on the edge of a gully back of the barns on the old James Barber homestead."
In 1806, Benjamin went to Groton, Tompkins County, New York and assisted in the organization of the First Baptist Church of Groton. In the same year, he married Sally Luther. Benjamin was 50, Sally 31. In 1807, Benjamin was ordained in Groton.
Benjamin continued to serve the Groton church and others nearby for several years until the spring of 1812 when he took up new work at Sennet Corners. He died there on March 8, 1813 and was buried in "the old part" of the Baptist cemetery south of Sennet Corners.
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