9. Benjamin³ Skillings (Thomas², Thomas¹) (#4155) was born in Falmouth, Cumberland, ME c1671.⁽⁶⁸⁾ Benjamin died by 11 Dec 1764 at 93 years of age.⁽⁶⁹⁾ His body was interred 11 Dec 1764.⁽⁷⁰⁾

He married Deliverance (Elizabeth?) (Skillings) 21 Apr 1708.⁽⁷¹⁾ Sargent says her name is Elizabeth Winter .... Dana Edgecomb says her name is "inferred from a gravestone in Marblehead, MA"; Tom Henley and Alan Lundstedt say her name is Deliverance ...

(Deliverance (Elizabeth?) (Skillings) is #4156.)

Deliverance was born c1682.⁽⁷²⁾ +/-70y in May 1752

He resided in Portsmouth, Rockingham, NH 1713-1717.⁽⁷³⁾ He was baptized in Greenland, Rockingham, NH, 1717.⁽⁷⁴⁾ He resided in Marblehead, Essex, MA 1719.⁽⁷⁵⁾ He resided in Gorham, Cumberland, ME bef 1745; 1752.⁽⁷⁶⁾ First Settler east of Little River in Gorham

He resided in Falmouth, Cumberland, ME 1745-1752.⁽⁷⁷⁾ Abstract from the Skillings Family by W.M.Sargent, p 5:

Of the younger Benjamin, careful research of all accessible printed records reveals only the meager detail that a widow Elizabeth Skillen had a tomb at marblehead in 1772. a Mary Skillian of Ipswich, who m. Dec. 25, 1755, Peter Cooper of Rowley, may have been his daughter, as with some probability also that Betsey Skillings, who m. Samuel Glover after 1762. "His interest" in the farm was chimerical, as his father, Thomas jr., had different provision by his grandfather's will. At all events Wass did not hold under the alleged deed, but built and lived on Queen street instead. The earliest tax rate extant, so far as known, gives only the Senior Benjamin [his uncle] and his son Issac in the year 1735.

Abstract from ME/NH Gen Dict by LND, pp 636-637:

Of Portsm. when land was laid out there to him and his mo. 17 Mar 1713, and when he, w. Deliverance and mo. sold land to Samuel Folsom in Sept. 1717. Lists 330de, 337, 338ac, 229. Soon remov. to Falm. where he was +/-81, Deliverance +/-70 in May 1752. He was bur. 11 Dec 1764; 'he reckoned he was in his 100th year' (Smith's Journal, p 202). Ch., all bp. at Greenl. 1717: Isaac, Benjamin, Lydia, Mary, Jean.

Abstract from MHGR, Vol 2, No. 1, "Notes on the Skillings Family" by William B. Lapham, pp 47-48:

3. Benjamin Skillings, second son of Thomas, Jr, was one of the early settlers of Gorham. Pierce says that in 1745, when the Indian War was impending, he moved to Falmouth. He returned to his farm in Gorham in 1752. He was the first settler east of Little River in Gorham. Children: (1) Deliverance b 15 Oct 1741; (2) (3) Susannah and Isaac (twins) b 22 Jan 1744 - Isaac m Susanna Watson; (4) John, b 2 Mar 1746; (5) Thomas b 8 May 1748; (6) Abigail b 30 Mar 1753; (7) Anna b 2 May 1755; (8) Martha b 2 Mar 1760; (9) Benjamin b 2 Apr 1763, m Mary Burnell.

Abstract from Skillings 8 Generations, p 11:

Benjamin Skillin, b abt 1671 Falmouth, ME, m Deliverance (?) (b abt 1682). He served in the Greenland (north parish of Portsmouth), NH company of scouts 1712; land laid out to him and his mother 17 Mar 1713; signed the Greenland petition 1714; of Portsmouth with wife in a deed dtd 17 Sep 1717 conveying 23 3/4 acres of land adjoining land of his mother. At the end of 1717, he had five children bp in the Greenland church: Isaac, Benjamin, Lydia, Mary, and Jean. He soon removed to Falmouth to his father's farm, as Parson Smith said, "where he and his son, Isaac, after him, lived nearly 70 years." Isaac sold this property in 1787 making their return about 1717. Benjamin was on the Board of Selectmen of the town of Falmouth in 1718 and city records show that he served in that capacity for four years. He conveyed to his son Isaac all his farm or homestead at Back Cove (Cumberland Reg 9:116 dtd 6 Dec 1742). He was +/-81y and Deliverance was +/-70y in May 1752 (Noyes) when they made a deposition in Falmouth. Benjamin was illiterate and made his mark with a rude production of the antique B, shaped more like a modern C. He made this mark when he sold one of his town grants in Portland, the latter original deed being preserved with the Willis Papers. He "reckoned he was in his 100th year" in 1764 (Smith's Journal, p 202). He was buried 11 Dec 1764 on his land ("Father Skillings buried in his own ground." - Deane's Journal, p 307).

Children of Benjamin and Deliverance, given in order of listing in Noyes, but their marriage dates suggest a different order; all bp in Greenland, NH 1717:

1. Isaac, m int 18 Dec 1752 Falmouth, ME Mary Brackett; poss d 1819 2. Benjamin, Jr, m 16 Mar 1739/40 Falmouth Mary Pride 3. Lydia, m c1724 John Trott 4. Mary 5. Jean/Jane

Benjamin Skillings and Deliverance (Elizabeth?) (Skillings) had the following children:

+ 27 i. Lydia⁴ Skillings was born c1704.

+ 28 ii. Isaac Skillings was born c1713.

29 iii. Mary Skillings (#21059) was born by 1717.⁽⁷⁸⁾ She was baptized in Greenland, Rockingham, NH, 1717.⁽⁷⁹⁾

30 iv. Jean Skillings (#21060) was born by 1717.⁽⁸⁰⁾ She was baptized in Greenland, Rockingham, NH, 1717.⁽⁸¹⁾

+ 31 v. Benjamin Skillings Jr was born c1717.

+ 32 vi. Mary Skillings was born 1736.

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