Gurney Genealogy Library Updated 29 May 2026 by Allen Gurney

Benjamin Gurney (1730–1805)

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Plymouth County farmer born of an unmarried liaison and reportedly raised by his maternal aunt; sold Abington land in 1770 and bought into Cummington with Silas Reed.

Born
Baptized 30 May 1730, Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, as Benjamin, son of Jean, in the First Church of Abington-derived Harden/Hardin entries; later confirmed by John Harden's 1751 will as John Harden's grandson. 15
Died
28 September 1805, Cummington, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. 2
Occupation
Farmer. Listed as head of household in the 1790 federal census, Cummington, with structure 3-0-3 (three males under sixteen, three females). 3
Buried
Dawes Cemetery, Cummington, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. 2
Marriage(s)
Elizabeth Harden — first wife. 4
Mercy Noyes — second wife. 4

Highlights

  • Confirmed as John Harden's grandson. The original Plymouth County record-book copy of John Harden's 1751 will gives "my grandson Benjamin Gurney" twenty shillings. Read with the Abington baptism of Benjamin, son of Jean, this makes Jane/Jean Harden Spear the best-supported maternal candidate; the older "Elizabeth" reading is substantially weakened because Elizabeth Harden appears in the will as a witness, not as a daughter or heir. 15
  • The aunt-upbringing tradition is plausible but not proved. Family tradition says Benjamin was raised by his mother's sister. The will confirms the Harden kinship but does not name a guardian or caregiver. Sarah Harden Gurney, a Harden daughter who married into the Gurney family, is the strongest aunt-household candidate, but no direct guardianship or household record has yet been found. 9
  • Sold Abington land and bought into a frontier town in 1770. In June 1770 Benjamin sold his Abington land and, by Springfield, Massachusetts records of 5 November 1770, purchased land in "Town No. 5" — soon to be incorporated as Cummington — with Silas Reed. The move opens the Cummington chapter of the family. 6
  • Exchanged farms with Philip Shaw in 1787. Foster & Streeter's "Only One Cummington" (1974, p. 390) records Benjamin's 1787 farm exchange with Philip Shaw — a small but specific transaction that places him concretely in the town's land record. 7
  • The 1790 census shows a working farmstead at full extent. Six dependents in the household (3 males under 16, 3 females) is consistent with a household of small children and a wife — exactly what is expected in his late fifties with a young second family. 3
  • Buried in Dawes Cemetery, Cummington. One of the few direct-line ancestors in the Massachusetts colonial generations whose burial place is firmly recorded. 2

Children

Name Dates Notes
Amos Gurney1770 – before 1850G8 in direct line; born around the time of the family's move to Cummington. 8

Narrative

Benjamin Gurney is the man who moved the family from old Plymouth County into the Massachusetts hill country. The newly located John Harden will materially strengthens the opening chapter of his life: he was baptized at Abington on 30 May 1730 as Benjamin, son of Jean, and John Harden's 1751 Plymouth County will later named "my grandson Benjamin Gurney." The combined record chain points to Jane/Jean Harden Spear as his likely mother, while Benjamin Gurney G10 remains the father identified by secondary compiled genealogy rather than by the baptismal entry itself. The older Elizabeth-Harden reading should be set aside unless new evidence appears, because Elizabeth Harden is a witness in the will, not a daughter or heir. 1510

The decisive year of his life was 1770. In June he sold his Abington land. By 5 November he had bought into "Town No. 5," soon to be incorporated as Cummington, with Silas Reed — the Springfield, Massachusetts records preserve the transaction. Cummington at that date was barely a settled place: the Bryant family, who would produce the poet William Cullen Bryant, were establishing themselves nearby in the same period. Benjamin took up farming there and remained for the rest of his life. In 1787 he exchanged farms with Philip Shaw — a small detail preserved by Foster & Streeter's "Only One Cummington" — and in the 1790 federal census he appears as head of a six-person household, structure 3-0-3.

He married twice — first Elizabeth Harden, then Mercy Noyes — and his son Amos (G8), the bridge to the New York chapter, was born in 1770, almost exactly at the moment of the Cummington move. Benjamin died at Cummington on 28 September 1805 and was buried in Dawes Cemetery, where his marker survives. He is the last firmly-documented Cummington-resident generation in the direct line: his son Amos remained in Cummington only to about 1802, and the family's western Massachusetts chapter effectively ends with Benjamin's death.

Citations

  1. Vital Records of Abington, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850, vol. 1, Births (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1912), Harden/Hardin/Hardeng entry for Benjamin, son of Jean, baptized 30 May 1730, C.R.1; PDF on Wikimedia Commons. The abbreviation "bp." means baptized, and C.R.1 identifies the First Church of Abington record source. Source ID: abington-vr-1850-vol1. ↩
  2. Death and burial: data/ancestors v26.json, G9 entry (28 September 1805, Cummington; buried Dawes Cemetery). ↩
  3. U.S. Federal Census, 1790, Cummington, Hampshire County, Massachusetts (household 3-0-3). ↩
  4. Two marriages — to Elizabeth Harden and to Mercy Noyes — recorded in data/ancestors v26.json, G9 entry; specific dates and marriage records not yet captured here. ↩
  5. Massachusetts. Probate Court (Plymouth County), Probate records, 1686–1903; with index and docket, 1685–1967, Plymouth County Probate Court record book, manuscript pp. 383–384, will of John Harden of Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, blacksmith, dated 17 September 1751, proved 7 October 1751; FamilySearch catalog; p. 383 image; p. 384 image. The will names daughter Jane Spear and gives "my grandson Benjamin Gurney" twenty shillings; Elizabeth Harden appears as a witness. Source ID: plymouth-probate-john-harden-1751-will. ↩
  6. Springfield, Massachusetts records, 5 November 1770: Benjamin Gurney and Silas Reed purchased land in Town No. 5 (Cummington). Foster & Streeter, "Only One Cummington" (1974), p. 390. Source ID: foster-streeter-cummington. ↩
  7. Foster & Streeter, "Only One Cummington" (1974), p. 390 — Benjamin's 1787 farm exchange with Philip Shaw. Source ID: foster-streeter-cummington. ↩
  8. See Amos Gurney (G8) fact sheet. ↩
  9. Vital Records of Abington, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850, vol. 1, John and Mary Harden/Hardin family entries for Mary, Sarah, Jean, Rebecca/Rebacka, Lydia, and John; John Harden will, pp. 383–384, naming daughter Sarah Gurney. Sarah Harden Gurney is a plausible aunt-household candidate, but the current evidence does not prove guardianship or upbringing. Source IDs: abington-vr-1850-vol1; plymouth-probate-john-harden-1751-will. ↩
  10. "John Gurney, US 1636," The Neverending Hobby, public compiled genealogy. Use as secondary compiled genealogy for the identification of Benjamin Gurney G10 as father through Jane/Jean Harden; the Abington baptism itself does not name the father. Source ID: neverending-hobby-john-gurney-us-1636. ↩