Benning Wentworth

Benning Wentworth
Governor of the Province of New Hampshire
In office 1741–1766
Preceded by	John Wentworth (elder) (acting)
Succeeded by	John Wentworth (younger)
Personal details
Born	24 July 1696 Portsmouth, Province of New Hampshire
Died	14 October 1770 Portsmouth, Province of New Hampshire
Spouse(s)	Abigail Ruck Martha Hilton
Signature

Benning Wentworth (24 July 1696 – 14 October 1770) was the colonial governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766.

Biography

The eldest child of the John Wentworth who had been Lieutenant Governor, he was born and died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Wentworth graduated from Harvard College in 1715. He became a merchant at Portsmouth, and frequently represented the town in the provincial assembly. He was appointed a king's councillor, October 12, 1734. When in 1741 New Hampshire was made a distinct province, Wentworth became its governor on December 13 of that year.

Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion

Wentworth was authorized by the crown to grant patents of unoccupied land, and in 1749 began making grants in what is now southern Vermont, enriching himself by a clever scheme of selling land to developers in spite of jurisdictional claims for this region by the Province of New York. He often named the new townships after famous contemporaries in order to gain support for his enterprises (e.g. Rutland after John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland; Bennington he named after himself). In each of the grants, he stipulated for the reservation of a lot for an Episcopal church. Ultimately, this scheme led to a great deal of contention between New York, New England, and the settlers in Vermont. The dispute long outlived Wentworth's administration, lasting until Vermont was admitted as a state in 1791.

Fort Wentworth built in 1755 at Northumberland, New Hampshire was built by his order and named after him. Wentworth also gave important government positions to relatives and gave them extensive grants of land. Growing annoyance with his administration's corruption, taxes, and mismanagement and neglect of the crown's timber interests, forced his resignation in 1767. After his resignation as governor, he gave Dartmouth College 500 acres of land on which the college buildings were erected. His nephew John Wentworth succeeded him as governor.

Family

Council Chambers in the Wentworth mansion where Wentworth presided over provincial council meetings and where, in front of the fireplace, he married his second wife.

He married Abigail Ruck in Boston in 1719. She died November 8, 1755. They had three children who lived to maturity, but none married or survived their father. On 1760, at age 64, he married his much younger housekeeper, Martha Hilton. She had been brought up in the family and was housekeeper at the time of his first wife's death. The marriage was the subject of considerable scandal at the time, and also the subject of a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Lady Wentworth.” His second wife was the sole heir of his large property.

References

• Swift, Esther Munroe; (1977). Vermont Place Names: Footprints of History Stephen Green Press. ISBN 0-8289-0291-7.
•  "Wentworth, William". The American Cyclopædia. 1879. 

External links

• New Hampshire Individuals of Note: Benning Wentworth (1696–1770)
• Works by or about Benning Wentworth in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Government offices
Preceded by Jonathan Belcher	Governor of the Province of New Hampshire 4 June 1741 – 30 July 1767	Succeeded by John Wentworth