The goal is to prove (or…sigh…disprove) the connection between our known BENNETT ancestors and the Mayflower CHILTONs. The search, due to most of it being done long-distance, stalled at the wife of Charles BENNETT, Lydia WASHBURN. The kindness of a stranger led to a new discovery: the tombstone of her father, Samuel Orcutt WASHBURN, with his birth and death dates! A bit of online searching, help from extended cousins "met" online only, and then a visit here led to some fantastic finds!

Samuel Orcutt WASHBURN is linked to his father, Jeremiah WASHBURN, through his death record (I don't have it yet, but the details were sent to me). Jeremiah WASHBURN married Hannah ORCUTT per book research. Hannah was the daughter of Samuel ORCUTT and Alice / Elsey BROWN / BRAUN. Samuel ORCUTT was blacksmith by trade, raised eight children with Alice, and served in the Revolutionary War. Having viewed his pension file elsewhere online, I saved it as a tentative record. Imagine my surprise at seeing 42 pages here! It includes proof of his marriage, his place of death, his wife's date of and place of death, his service, and the names of all eight children.

Three of the most helpful pages in this file are shown here. However, just about every page has something of genealogical value.

Orcutt - Washburn