Divorce Petition of Drury Fletcher to Sarah Benham, daughter of Mary Hobbs Benham & John Benham

From Early Settlers of Lee Co., Virginia by Hattie Bales:

This decree tells us: Sarah Benham is the daughter of Mary & John Benham; Vincent is brother of Sarah Benham; that she was married to Drury Fletcher & Edward Wilburn; that she left Fletcher about 1799 and married Wilburn shortly after that.

Divorce Petition Transcript:
Lee County Legislative Petitions, 1793-1826
Petition:
"To the honorable the General Assembly of Virginia. The petition of Drury Fletcher humbly represents that about nine years ago his wife Sarah, without any cause or evil treatment, within the knowledge of your petitioner, eloped from him and fled with a certain Edward Wilburn into a neighboring State, and has, as your petitioner is informed since married the said Wilburn, and continues to live with him. Your petitioner humbly conceives that conduct of the aforesaid description is a sufficient manifestation that the said Sarah, his once wife, is totally regardless of every kind of virtue and chastity, that it has deprived your petitioner of the comforts which ___ to result from the married connection in a moral and religious point of view. Your petitioner viewing the marriage connection as a contract and conceiving the moral rectitude of the parties generally and the chastity of the parties particularly, as the very ___ of that contract; as soon as that ceases to exist or is destroyed the legal ties of the contract ought to be dissolved also. Your petitioner however, without venturing an opinion further in his own case, humbly submits the foregoing facts to the consideration of your honorable body praying that a law may pass divorcing him from the said Sarah." - Drury Fletcher
Affidavits by Neighbors and Friends of Fletcher:
Jacob Blubough (near neighbor)
Mary Bailey (near neighbor)
Mary Benham, Widow (son-in-law)
James Huff (near neighbor)
John Russell (acquaintance)
Obedience Huff (near neighbor)
Vincent Benham (Brother to Fletcher's wife)

Nancy Paris Benham, wife of Vincent

From a letter from J. Overton Fry, Judge: "There was an adm. on Vincent Benham begun in Aug 1820 by Nancy Benham and Abner Hobbs. They were cited in 1822 and 1826 to make settlement and did so, showing sale bill in the amount of $278.50. There are no records to be found showing the children of Vincent & Nancy. There are just a few old papers and I am enclosing one showing Nancy's answer to the Court's citation which will be interesting to you."

Click here: Nancy's answer to the Court's citation

History of Wallingford, Connecticut

There is a book about the settlement of Wallingford, Connecticut that lists several genealogies of the Benham family (Click on the title to go to a digitized version of the book): History of Wallingford, Conn.: from its settlement in 1670 to the present time by Charles Henry Davis, copyright 1870, p653-656

Letters re: Benhams

From a letter by W.C. Benham:
"I have a note taken from History of Southwest Vairginia and Washington county, Virginia by Summersi that states that during late 1770 or 80 a Benham boy volunteered to accompany an Indian fighter named Doughlas to cross a mountain to warn residents of Castlewood of Indians. On their way Douglas was killed and scalped but Benham escaped and warned the settlers. This was one of John Benham's (d. 1800) sons" #123

"Peter and his son John, born 1748 went to Loudoun County, Virginia and were there in the revolutionary War. Peter died in 1780 and John was the eldest son and got all his property leaving Peter's second family without anything. Peter's 1st family, by Ann James, went from N.J to Washington Co., Penn then on to Ohio and Kentucky. That is, all except Anna, Elizabeth and Mary. They stayed in Freehold, NJ. Peter's 2nd family went to Ripley Co., Indiana. John's family possibly stayed in Louden Co, VA. " #130