On Benjamin & Susannah's daughter Susan's death record, it states that Susannah was from Dover. The 1800 Census for Dover has four Drew-named heads of households, one of whom Susannah may have recently resided with: Caleb, Francis, Joseph Sr., and Joseph Sr.
As for Benjamin's roots, if we're to assume he also came from Strafford County, then there were only three Elliot heads of household in Strafford for the 1790 Census (William of Barrington, Richard of Lee, and John of Barnstead). Each of these families had a boy in the house Benjamin's approximate age. I'm inclined to think it would be Richard of Lee, given the residence at the time of his marriage.
Sally D. Elliot was my 3rd great grandmother, and married Jonathan Smythe Morrill of Tuftonboro New Hampshire in 1826, and immediately moved to Portland, Maine, where they started the very large Morrill family, of which several hundred people can claim ancestry to in southern Maine. Jonathan's move to Portland may have been inspired by his many cousins who had moved there prior to him, who started the Morrill's Corner tanneries and the Burnham & Morrill baked bean empire.
For many years, I was conflating Benjamin with a similarly aged Benjamin Elliot in Rumford Maine and later Oxford Maine, about 100 miles away from Sandwich, for the 1800 and 1820 censuses, respectively. Now, this Rumford Benjamin (born 1784 in Rumford) - his father was Cotton Elliot of Rumford, born in Concord, NH, and Cotton was the son of Benjamin Elliot and Abigail Webster. But 1784 is too young to have fathered children starting in 1793. I've therefore now established that Benjamin was son to Richard Elliott of Lee, NH, yet I find no other census records for Richard in Lee. I do find some in Bow, Hooksett, and Concord NH, which aren't that close to Lee...
As for Benjamin's roots, if we're to assume he also came from Strafford County, then there were only three Elliot heads of household in Strafford for the 1790 Census (William of Barrington, Richard of Lee, and John of Barnstead). Each of these families had a boy in the house Benjamin's approximate age. I'm inclined to think it would be Richard of Lee, given the residence at the time of his marriage.
Sally D. Elliot was my 3rd great grandmother, and married Jonathan Smythe Morrill of Tuftonboro New Hampshire in 1826, and immediately moved to Portland, Maine, where they started the very large Morrill family, of which several hundred people can claim ancestry to in southern Maine. Jonathan's move to Portland may have been inspired by his many cousins who had moved there prior to him, who started the Morrill's Corner tanneries and the Burnham & Morrill baked bean empire.
For many years, I was conflating Benjamin with a similarly aged Benjamin Elliot in Rumford Maine and later Oxford Maine, about 100 miles away from Sandwich, for the 1800 and 1820 censuses, respectively. Now, this Rumford Benjamin (born 1784 in Rumford) - his father was Cotton Elliot of Rumford, born in Concord, NH, and Cotton was the son of Benjamin Elliot and Abigail Webster. But 1784 is too young to have fathered children starting in 1793. I've therefore now established that Benjamin was son to Richard Elliott of Lee, NH, yet I find no other census records for Richard in Lee. I do find some in Bow, Hooksett, and Concord NH, which aren't that close to Lee...
Benjamin appears in the 1810 Census in Tamworth, NH, which neighbors Sandwich to the east. His age here and family members' ages all match pretty well. So, even though his kids were born in Sandwich from 1793 and 1805, it appears he moved at one point to Tamworth.
In January of 1813, Benjamin Elliot of Sandwich of paid $500 for 100 acres in Sandwich, land purchased from Stephen & Martha Hoag (75/108, Strafford County Registry of Deeds). This to me is further proof that my Benjamin is not the same as the one who lived in Oxford, Maine.
In April of 1821, Benjamin sold these same 100 acres for $400 to Paul Wentworth. Five years later he released all rights to the land, farm, and buildings to Wentworth for an additional $248.69. Later that year, his youngest child Sally married Jonathan Morrill in Moultonboro in 1826, and it appears they may have all moved to Westbrook, Maine together immediately afterwards. However, in April of 1827, Paul Wentworth signed a deed to James Roberts for the same 100 acres, and had Benjamin Elliot sign it again, just for good measure, with both men's spouses signing as well to release dower rights. Interestingly, Susannah was unable to sign, so the witness had to use a "mark" instead, which usually indicates some kind of incapacity (more on this below). (110/123, 129/138, 132/15, Strafford County Registry of Deeds).
For the 1830 Census, Jonathan S. Morrill appears first in Westbrook (a portion of Westbrook later part of Deering, later annexed into Portland - the Morrill's Corner area), living next household over to who is likely his father-in-law Benjamin Elliot, who is of the right age indicated on this census (although he is now without wife). See yellow highlighted names below:
Now, for the 1840 Census, Jonathan moved to Washington Avenue in the East End of Portland, and was one of the very first Morrills to arrive in Portland. Benjamin, however, appears to have left Westbrook, and didn't move to East End Portland with Jonathan. I did find a Benjamin Elliot having moved north to Windham for the 1840 Census, and it appears that the ages match the ten year advance in age of the previous census. See below:
In this 1840 Census, Benjamin would be the one person in the "Males 70-79" column. There is one male in their 20's and one in their 30's living with him, and one female 60-69 (the wife came back?). Now, one person is listed here as "Insane and Idiots at Private Charge" as well. It seems to line up with the 1827 deed where she signed with a mark. She must have been incapacitated, and perhaps was living in some facility during the 1830 census?
As for the 1850 Census, I did locate a Benjamin Elliot in Brunswick, Maine, but this man was born in Maine in 1793, much younger than the Benjamin I'm studying here.
So to calculate the approximate birth year for Benjamin Elliot of Lee, Sandwich, and Portland:
- 1810 Census of nearby Tamworth tells us he was aged 26 to 44 on August 6, 1810. This means that he was born between August 6, 1756 and August 6, 1774.
- 1820 Census of Sandwich was lost unfortunately, but I'm certain the family was living here at the time.
- 1830 Census tells us he was aged 60-70 on June 1, 1830. This means he was born between June 1, 1760 and June 1, 1770.
- 1840 Census tells us he was aged 70-79 on June 1, 1840. Calculated with the above, this means he was born between June 1, 1761 and June 1, 1770.
The kind folks at Sandwich Historical Society let me have a look at their library. After a day of research, I found nothing that made me scream "Eureka!", but I did learn the following:
-There is a large presence of Elliots in Sandwich, most of whom descend from John Elliot (born about 1796 in Sandwich, as mentioned above), and his only son Albert. I also discovered a Perkins Elliot and a Jeremiah Elliot in the real property records for land in Sandwich. However, many subsequent generations moved to nearby Tuftonboro and Moultonboro. It is understood that John's parents were actually Benjamin & Susannah.
-Benjamin & Susannah definitely had three other sons, Jedediah (12 Feb 1793) and Francis (18 Jun 1794), and Samuel (1801-1900).
-According to a NH surname publication, the surname Eliot and all its permutations originates from only FOUR different ancestors: (1) Reverend John Eliot from Roxbury Mass, apostle to the Indians; (2) Ebenezer Eliot of Newton, Mass; (3) Edmund Eliot of Amesbury Mass; and (4) Andrew Eliot of Beverly Mass. It appears from this publication that Edmund had several descendants who were pioneers of various New Hampshire towns, but the other folks don't appear to have any NH descendants (from available documentation). Perhaps I'll one day establish a link between Richard (Sally's grandfather) to one of these four original Elliots...
I searched the Cumberland County Maine Registry of Deeds in June of 2026, and learned:
- There was a Benjamin Elliot of New Pennacook, Maine who received property in the same town in 1806. I learned that this was the former name for the town of Rumford - so once again we have this similarly named/aged man that begs for conflation. I also learned that Rumford was part of Cumberland County at that point - that's two things I didn't know, and I grew up in Maine!
- In 1827, Benjamin Elliot of Brunswick got his property in that town and deeded 1846 & 1863 - and 1827 is the exact year when I'm trying to locate when my Benjamin got to Westbrook/Morrill's Corner. Another conflation attempt avoided!
- No other property deeded in Portland or Westbrook during Benjamin's lifetime, so when he moved to Westbrook before 1830, he must have been renting.
- Benjamin's son-in-law, Jonathan Smythe Morrill, appears to also not have been a property owner during his lifetime. Another renter, living next door to his father-in-law in 1830, and living under his son's roof in 1860. But in the 1870 Census, he does have a value ascribed to real estate, and living next door to his daughter Emily (and her husband William Sanford Morgan) at 62-67 Washington Avenue. Perhaps the Census is in error, because I see no deeds to Jonathan's name.
In May of 2026, I paid a visit to the Concord State Archives, and started looking through the Strafford County Probate Files to try and search for Benjamin & Susannah Elliot. I got only through one box (153532), and want to go through successive boxes: 153532 through 153538, to cover all of the 1850s. I've asked the Archivists to go through the remainder boxes for me. While I was there, I also looked through the Sandwich Town Files stored there (not many records there), and also the List of Able Bodied Men from 1863 (presumably for the Civil War effort), and no Elliott men found there, neither Benjamin nor his sons.
BEAUTIFUL VIEW FROM SANDWICH INTO WONALANCET
CARROLL COUNTY NEW HAMPSHIRE
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