- Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth (1696–
October 14 1770 ) was the colonial governor ofNew Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. He was born and died inPortsmouth, New Hampshire . He was the son of the John Wentworth who had been Lieutenant Governor. His nephew John Wentworth succeeded him. Wentworth graduated fromHarvard College in 1715 and married Abigail Ruck in Boston in 1719. Upon the death of his first wife in 1755, he married, in 1760 at age 64, his much younger housekeeper, Martha Hilton, the subject of considerable scandal at the time.Wentworth enriched himself by a clever scheme of selling land now in the state of
Vermont to developers, in spite of jurisdictional claims for this region by the Colony ofNew York . He often named the new townships after famous contemporaries in order to gain support for his enterprises ("e.g." Rutland afterJohn Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland ; Bennington he named after himself). Ultimately, this scheme led to a great deal of contention between New York, New England, and the settlers in Vermont. It created friction between the northeast colonies, and the dispute was hardly settled by the formation of Vermont as a state.Wentworth also gave important government positions to relatives and gave them extensive grants of land. Growing annoyance with his administration's corruption, and taxes, forced his resignation in 1767.
Fort Wentworth built in 1755 atNorthumberland, New Hampshire was built by his order and named after him.He died October 14, 1770 in
Portsmouth, NH .References
* Swift, Esther Munroe; (1977). "Vermont Place Names: Footprints of History" Stephen Green Press. ISBN 0-8289-0291-7.
External links
* [http://www.johnjhenderson.com/Notables/Biographies/benning_wentworth.htm New Hampshire Individuals of Note: Benning Wentworth (1696–1770)]
*worldcat id|id=lccn-n86-18460
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