Sarah “Sally” Rockwell (1786-1849)

Sarah Rockwell was born on 04 Apr 1786 in Warwick, Orange, New York, as the seventh and youngest child of Jonathan Rockwell and Hannah Bennett. She had six siblings, namely: Hannah, James S, Esther Elizabeth, Benjamin, Jonathan, and William. She was called Sally.

Sally grew up in Orange County, New York. Before her birth, her father fought for American Independence. He served as a Private in the Orange County Militia.

Sally Rockwell married, possibly to Benjamin Atwood, and they had one daughter:

1. Milla Atwood was born before 1808 in New York, USA.

Her first husband died.

Note that it is clear that Sally had a daughter named Milla Atwood. What is harder to prove is the name of her first husband. Multiple researchers list him as Benjamin Atwood, but no will or other record has been found linking Sally and Milla to any of the many Benjamin Atwoods who lived in the area. It is quite possible that Sally’s first husband had a different name. It is also possible that Atwood was Milly’s married name and not her maiden name. Both theories have been explored but no definitive proof has been found.

In 1808, When she was 21, Sally Rockwell married John Bennett, son of Abraham Bennett Jr. and Jerusha Wanzer. Sally and John were cousins.

John Bennett and Sally Rockwell had the following children:

1. Comfort Bennett was born on 18 May 1810 in Tioga, New York. He died on 07 Aug 1844 in Big Flats, Chemung, New York.
2. Jerusha Bennett was born about 1811 in New York. She married Edmund Brace on 15 Feb 1826 in Big Flats, Chemung, New York. She died on 10 Nov 1849 in Kendall, Illinois.
3. Deborah Bennett was born in 1815 in New York. She married Phillip J. Reser. She died before 1870.
4. Thomas Bennett was born 22 May 1815 in New York. He married Sibil Spencer (or Sexton) in 1836. He died 04 Aug 1881.
5. Josiah Bennett was born in Jun 1820 in New York. He married Harriet Edminster. He died after 1880 in New York.
6. Hannah Bennett was born on 15 Mar 1823 in New York. She married Henry M. Delaney about 1838. She died after 1900 in Wisconsin.
7. Elias Bennett was born about 1827 in Chemung, New York. He married Sarah A. _____. He died on 23 Mar 1908 in Bloomfield, Essex, New Jersey.
8. Miles Covell Bennett was born about 1830 in Chemung, New York. He married Mary _____. He died on 27 Apr 1906 in Big Flats, Chemung, New York.

Sally and John Bennett lived in Chemung County, New York. They were successful, but he died in 1837 at 50-years old. Since the couple were both born on the same day, Sally was 50-years old too. She still had young children to raise. The youngest was only about seven-years old when his father died.

John provided for Sally in his will. John wrote that Sally was to be the recipient “of all my personal property consisting of goods & chattels & all debts due and demands of whatsoever name or nature, whether in note bond mortgage judgments or book accounts, after paying my just debts & paying” the bequests to his other heirs. He also wrote, “Also I give & devise to my wife Sarah the full use of the farm on which I now live containing about two hundred acres of land together with all the house, barns & out houses & on said premises & also the farm known as the Schofield farm containing about one hundred & twenty seven acres of land for her own use & benefit, so long as she shall remain my widow.“

She probably lived the remainder of her life relatively comfortably with or near many of her children. Her son Comfort died in 1844 and her daughter Jerusha Bennett Brace moved to Illinois and died there in 1849, so Sally had heartbreak as well.

Sally Rockwell Bennett died on 29 Nov 1849, though the 1850 Federal Census Mortality Schedule listed her death month as December. She was 63-years old at the time of her death.

Where is she in the tree?

Selected Sources

Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Rockwell, Jonathan, Ancestor #: A097899; Service: New York; Rank: Private; Service Description: 1) Col John Hathorn, 4th Regt, Orange Co Militia ( dar.org : accessed 31 Mar 2019).

Our country and its people : a history of the valley and county of Chemung from the closing years of the eighteenth century, Ausburn Towner (1892), pp. 595-6; online images, ancestry.com.

Ancestral Lines of Chester Everts Howell, 1867-1949, Jesse Howell Finch, pp. 22-30; online images, Archive.Org (https://archive.org/details/AncestralLinesOfChesterEvertsHowell1867-1949OfElmiraNewYorkUsa).

New York State Education Department, Office of Cultural Education; Albany, New York; U.S. Census Mortality Schedules, New York, 1850-1880; Archive Roll Number: M1; Census Year: 1849; Census Place: Veteran, Chemung, New York