Robs Minerva Farnsworth
1813 - 1889
Roba was the daughter of George Farnsworth and Mary Pray. She was born in Westford, Vermont, on August 1, 1813.
Roba's mother died in 1922 at the age of 28 in Vermont when Roba was 9. Her parents had three girls. Emeline born in 1816 (age 6 in 1922) and Mary was born in 1819 (age 3 in 1922) making Roba the oldest sister.
Roba moved to Massachusetts in 1830 according to her obituary. Found in the same area of Massachusetts are her sisters. I do not know why they settled there. Her parents and the aunts and uncles on her father's side did not live in Massachusetts. Her mother's side of the family is not known.
Roba's father was probably remarried by 1826 since this is the year her father and his second wife had their first child. Could this be a reason why Roba and her sisters moved?
Roba and her sisters all marry men in the same area of Massachusetts. Roba marries Russel Bennett Jr on June 12, 1836 in Millbury, Massachusetts. Their fist son Herbert is born 4 years later. Then another son George is born in 1844 followed by Albert in 1855.
In 1852 Roba's sister Mary dies of consumption in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Roba's sister Emeline dies of consumption on March 1, 1860 in Mendon, Massachusetts. Two and a half months later her husband Russel Bennett dies of consumption in Mendon, Massachusetts.
Roba's oldest son Herbert served for the Union in the Civil War. He was discharged in 1864. The following year he got married to Josephine Southwick and had three children - Minerva, Fred and Clinton.
In the summer of 1869, Herbert decided to move everyone to Iowa. This included his wife and two children (his third child was born on the way to Iowa) as well as his mother and two younger brothers. They settled in a town near Templeton, Iowa.
They purchased a farm that was just wild land with no improvements. It was located fourteen miles from the Carroll railroad station. According to son Fred, Herbert believed "that the wild, free life of the frontier was conducive to better results in the rearing of a family than the environmnets found in the New England state."
Herbert and Josephine divorced in 1876. In 1879 Herbert remarries and moves to Vermont to live with his wife's parents. His children stay in Iowa to be raised by Roba. The children are 12, 11, and 10.
Ten years after moving to Iowa the farm is listed in the Agriculture Census of 1880. It is run and owned by Roba M Bennet.
The farm consists of 373 acres. 300 arces were tilled, 20 acres were meadows, 8 arces were woodland and forest and 45 arces were unimproved. The value of the farm was $9, 000 with $300 worth of machinery and $1,200 in livestock. In todays dollars that would be $274,000, $9,000 and $37,000.
There are 4 horses, 2 mules, 55 pigs, 25 chickens, 5 milking cows and 9 other cattle.
Twenty tons of hay and 6 bushels of grass seed was harvested. Also the following was grown:
| Crop | Acres | Bushels |
|---|---|---|
| barley | 35 | 625 |
| indian corn | 90 | 4000 |
| wheat | 40 | 500 |
| flax | 10 | 80 |
| irsh potatoes | 1/2 | 30 |
And 5 pounds of tobacco was grown.
The chickens produced 75 dozen eggs.
In 1884 Roba makes out her will. She gives her three grandchildren - Minerva, Fred and Clinton, the sum of $500 each to be paid to them upon the death of their father. She did have another grandson. That would be Albert's son Ralph. However, Ralph was born in 1886, two years after the will was written.
The $1500 that will go to the grandchildren is to be invested and the yearly interest up to $100 is to be given her son Herbert. Anything over $100 is to go to the trustee which is her son George. George also inherits all the property.
Both her sons George and Albert are executors of her will.
Roba Bennett
October 17, 1889
Manning Monitor
IN MEMORIAL.
Died, at her home near Templeton on Saturday morning at 2 o'clock, Mrs. Roba M. Bennett in the 76th year of her age. The funeral was held at the family residence on Sunday afternoon, Rev. Fulton of the Carroll Presbyterian Church officiating. The remains were interred in the Manning Cemetery, followed there by a large circle of sympathizing friends.
Roba M. Bennett was born in Westford, Vt., in 1813. Moved to Massachusetts in 1830; was married to Russell Bennett in 1836. The remainder of the family consisted of three sons, Herbert, George and Albert, the first of whom served in the war of the Rebellion. Her husband died in 1860. In 1869 Mrs. Bennett and her family came west and located on a farm where the present homestead stands. The country was then a bleak prairie with but few settlers for many miles around them.
It required considerable ambition and energy to leave the old New England home to pass through the hardships and the varied experiences as then existed here. Her judgment and pluck proved equal to the emergencies and the fruits of her labor and management remain to day as proof of her successful business capacity. By her enterprise, energy and economy she secured herself a competency to meet the emergencies and wants of old age.
The great field of her mental and physical activities and the object of her solicitous affection was her home and its surroundings.
She loved her home and household and devoted her life to make it a dear spot for the family where they would go "to see grandma." She was generous and charitable in her hospitality. Many a prairie pilgrim enjoyed the hospitality of her home. Through her own pioneering experiences she had learned to appreciate the anxiety, the feelings and the wants of new settlers upon new western homes, and to such she was ever ready by encouraging words and generous deeds to stimulate and assist them in their new enterprise.
Mrs. Bennett was a woman of remarkable intelligence. She was a close observer of events. She kept herself well informed on all the general topics of the day. She was familiar with all the political subjects of the nation and could discuss the same in a skillful manner. Her life was a busy one and its accomplishments are worthy of emulation. Her days are now numbered, but in the memories of those who had learned to love her there will remain fond recollections of her noble qualities as a neighbor and mother.
The Carroll Herald
Wednesday, October 23, 1889
Carroll, Iowa
Vol. 21, No. 52, page 5
Mrs. Roba M. Bennett, mother or
the Bennett boys of Manning, died at
her home near Templeton the 12th
inst., in the 76th year of her age, and
was buried at Manning the Sunday
following. Dr. Folsom of this place
conducted the funeral services. Mrs.
Bennett and her three boys, all of
whom survive her, came to Carroll
county in 1869, after the death of her
husband in Vermont some years before,
and settled on the farm which she oc-
cupied until her death. She was a
woman of wide intelligence and was
highly respected and loved by all who
knew her.
Roba Bennett is buried in the Manning City Cemetery. Section B Row #30 south - north. Image of tombstone at FindAGrave.
Sources
Ancestry.com. Iowa, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1758-1997, Probate Place: Carroll, Iowa, Probate Records, Vol 1-3, 1856-1920, image 155 of 820 will of Roba M Bennett
Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915, _Pre 1903, 1860, image 888 or 980, death Emeline B Hall
Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915, _Pre 1903, 1860, image 888 or 980, death Russel Bennett Jr
Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Mendon, Births, Marriages and Death, image 917 of 1267, marriage Otis Hall and Emeline B Farnsworth
Ancestry.com. U.S., Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880, Non-population Census Schedules for Iowa, 1850-1880; NAID: 2791276; Record Group Number: 29; Record Group Title: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007, Nam Roba M Bennet, Enumeration Date 5 Jun 1880, Place Eden, Carroll, Iowa, USA, Schedule Type Agriculture, OS Page 6, Line Number 5
Ancestry.com. Vermont, U.S., Vital Records, 1720-1908, 1870 and Prior, Farnam-Farrington, D, image 1247 of 3663, Mary Farnsworth
Bennett, Herbert A and Josephine E Bennett divorce, no 552, November 2, 1876, Carroll County Iowa
Bennett, Herbert A, Civil War Pension File, certificate no 435627 and 793373
Freddie Arthur Bennett birth certificate, Massachusetts Archives Year: 1866, Vol.: 188, Page: 198, No: 7, Boston, Massachusetts
Frisbee, Edward S., Frisbee-Frisbie Genealogy Edward Frisbye of Branford, Connecticut and his Descendants, The Tuttle Company, Rutland, Vermont, 1926, page 303, https://archive.org/stream/frisbeefrisbiege00fris/frisbeefrisbiege00fris_djvu.txt
Gue, Benjamin F, Biographies and portraits of the progressive men of Iowa, leaders in business, politics and the professions; together with an original and authentic history of the state Vol II, 1899, Des Moines Conway & Shaw, page 160
Gue, Benjamin F, Biographies and portraits of the progressive men of Iowa, leaders in business, politics and the professions; together with an original and authentic history of the state, 1899, Des Moines Conway & Shaw, page 372, https://archive.org/details/biographiesandp01shamgoog
Iowa, Death Records, 1904-1951, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q248-1P6X : Fri Mar 08 19:38:18 UTC 2024), Entry for Clinton Southwick Bennett and Herbert A Bennett, 03 Sep 1933.
Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1925, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N473-C3K : Thu May 23 00:50:21 UTC 2024), Entry for Herbert A. Bennett and Josephine E. Southwick, 17 May 1865
Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1925, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NWPP-FBC : Wed May 22 21:27:32 UTC 2024), Entry for Mary A. Sabin and Gideon M. Sabin, 1852.
Minerva Farnsworth Bennett birth certificate, Massachusetts Archives Year: 1867, Vol.: 198, Page: 208, No: 6, Boston, Massachusetts.