Benjamin Ross (1736-1823)

For other people named Benjamin Ross, see Benjamin Ross (disambiguation).

Corp. Benjamin Ross
Born	c. 1746
Died	June 18, 1823 (aged 77)
Burial place	Ross family graveyard, Edward, Beaufort County, North Carolina
Residence	Beaufort County, North Carolina
Spouse(s)	Prudence Redditt (c1747-1819)
Children	Josiah Ross John Riley Ross Lemeul H. Ross
Family	Rosses of Beaufort County
Revolutionary War
Allegiance	United States
Service	Militia
Rank	Corporal
Unit	4th North Carolina Regiment
Public trees (may need correction)
WikiTree	Ross-32126
FamilySearch	LRCR-5VR

Corporal Benjamin Ross (c. 1736/1746 – June 18, 1823) was a Revolutionary War militiaman and landowner of Beaufort County, North Carolina. He is documented as a corporal in the 4th North Carolina Regiment, was tried alongside his presumed brothers Elijah Ross Sr. and Francis "Frank" Ross for misprision of treason in 1779, and was admitted posthumously as a North Carolina Sons of the American Revolution patriot ancestor in 1912 on the application of his great-grandson, Lemuel Hiram Ross (a grandson of John Riley Ross).

DNA evidence

Y-DNA

Benjamin Ross is often found in trees as the son of John Ross who landed in Wilmington in 1774. No direct evidence of this exists. There is circumstantial evidence that Benjamin was the brother of Francis Ross and Elijah Ross, both of Beaufort County. At this point, we only have Y-DNA test results from one man thought to be a direct descendant of Benjamin. He is currently not a match to anyone in the Ross Surname Project. Tests are needed from descendants of these other Beaufort County lines for comparison.

Biography

Early life

Benjamin Ross's birth year is recorded inconsistently across sources. His great-grandson's Sons of the American Revolution application states 1836. His gravestone in Oakdale Cemetery, Washington, North Carolina, gives 1746;

Land and family in Beaufort County

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The earliest documentary trace of Benjamin Ross in North Carolina is his role as a chain bearer, alongside Elijah Ross, on an August 1779 survey of 100 acres for Francis Ross in the Long Acre community of Beaufort County — evidence generally read within the family as indicating the three men were related, likely as brothers. Benjamin also appears with Elijah on the 1789 Beaufort County tax list, and witnessed two land transactions by Francis Ross in the mid-1780s: a December 5, 1785 sale of 200 acres to Elijah Ross, and a later sale to Alexander Redditt. He married Prudence Redditt, daughter of William Redditt (1712–1784) and Susan Reed Cobb (1713–1781).

In 1823, the year of his death, a land deed recorded a transaction between Benjamin Ross and Lemuel Ross, in which Benjamin names Lemuel as his "son" — the clearest direct documentary proof of any parent-child relationship in this generation of the family.

He appears in the 1800 and 1820 United States censuses for Beaufort County.

Ancestors

Ancestors & Descendants

• Benjamin Ross (1736-1823)
  • m. Prudence Redditt (c1747-1819)
    • Josiah Ross (c1776-aft1850)
      • m. Nancy West (1780-1850)
    • John Riley Ross (1778-1854)
      • m. Cecelia Hill (1786-1868)
    • Lemuel H. Ross (1783-1836)

Benjamin Ross's parents are not documented.

Marriage and children

Benjamin Ross married Prudence Redditt (b. abt. 1736/1747, North Carolina; d. 1819, Beaufort County, North Carolina). Their children:

• Josiah Ross (b. abt. 1776, South Creek, Beaufort County), m. Nancy West
• John Riley Ross (b. 1778, Durham Creek, Beaufort County), m. Cecelia Hill
• Lemeul H. Ross (b. March 1, 1783)

Military

Benjamin Ross served as a Corporal in the 10th North Carolina Regiment, Captain Joshua Hadley's company, enlisting August 1, 1782 for a term of eighteen months. The same index records his discharge as a "desertion" dated June 18, 1783 — a date that falls after the practical end of the war (the Treaty of Paris having been signed September 3, 1783 and hostilities having effectively ceased earlier that year), so this notation likely reflects an informal or undocumented separation from service near the war's end rather than desertion in the field. His formal military service record also appears on a muster roll dated December 12, 1782.

On November 10, 1779, Benjamin Ross was indicted at New Bern alongside his presumed brothers Elijah and Francis Ross and several members of the Van Daniel family, for freeing an accused militia deserter, Willis Hodge, from custody, and for building a fortification and resisting militia service and taxation; see Elijah Ross Sr. for the fuller account. Benjamin was among the men acquitted of high treason at the November 1779 session of the New Bern District Superior Court, then convicted, along with eleven others, of the lesser charge of misprision of treason, and sentenced to confinement in the New Bern district gaol and forfeiture of half his estate — a sentence with no evidence of having actually been carried out.

In 1912, Benjamin Ross was formally recognized by the North Carolina Society, Sons of the American Revolution, as a Revolutionary War patriot ancestor, national membership number 22848, state number 48, on the application of his great-grandson Lemuel Hiram Ross. The application's "Ancestor's Service" affidavit reads in full: "Benjamin Ross was a Corporal in Tenth Regiment, Hadley's Company," citing as authorities State Records of North Carolina, Vol. XVI, page 1150, line 37, and Heads of Families, First Census of the United States: 1790, State of North Carolina, page 127.

Death & burial

According to some trees, Benjamin Ross died June 18, 1823. This specific date apparently comes from a “a report authorized by Congress on 4 July 1783 to settle and finally adjust all accounts between the United States and the officers of the American army.” The original report has note yet been located. He was buried first at or near the town of Edward, Beaufort County, North Carolina. In 1912, his body was moved by his grandson, the Reverend Lemuel Hiram Ross of the Blount's Creek Primitive Baptist Church, to Oakdale Cemetery in Washington, Beaufort County, North Carolina. At this time, a gravestone was placed, inscribed "Corp[oral] Benj. Ross, [blank] Co., Hadley's Mil[itia]. Rev. War, 1746-1823."

The 1912 SAR deposition preserves a chain of oral testimony about the grave: Lemuel Hiram Ross swore that his father, Riley Ross, "showed him the grave of said Benjamin Ross, the same being in the Ross grave yard not far from the town of Edward," and that his grandfather, John Ross, "is buried about one-fourth of a mile from his (John Ross') father's grave."

Timeline

• circa 1779 - Survey No. 5 for Francis Ross's 100-acre tract on the N. side of Pamplico river high up the ridge, known by the name of Long Acre, beginning at a pine on Robert West's line, N. 45 E. 175 poles to a pine, W. 100 poles to a cypress in the [swamp?], S. 45 W. 175 poles to a pine near the piney savanna, E. 100 poles to the first station, chain-borne by Benjamin Ross and Elijah Ross, surveyed by Isaac Chauncey
• circa 1779 - Survey No. 53 for Francis Ross's 300-acre tract on the N. side of Pamplico river and on the E. side of Long Acre, beginning at a pine on Robert West's line, S. [?] 320 poles to a [?], E. 160 poles to a pine in the pocosin, N. 32 E. 320 poles to Robert West's line, thence with that line to the first station, chain-borne by Benjamin Ross and Elisha (probably Elijah) Ross, surveyor [I.] Chauncey
• April 20, 1781 - Benjamin Ross listed in Division No. 1 on the roll of Affective Men in the Beaufort Regiment of Militia, returned by Colonel William Brown.
• December 12, 1782 - Benjamin Ross listed as a Corporal in the 4th Company of the North Carolina Regiment under Capt. Joshua Hadley
• June 18, 1783 - Benjamin Ross listed as a casualty, "Des^d"
• September 1788 - Deed from Laban Calley to Benjamin Ross for 30 francs, 100 acres on the north side of the Pamlico River on Chinquapin Ridge
• December 4, 1792 - Benjamin Ross entered a grant for 53 acres on the N. side of Pamplico river in Beaufort County, North Carolina
• 4 January 1794 - Deed from Thomas Rispess to Benjamin Ross for 60 francs, 100 acres north side of South Dividing Creek, beginning at the mouth of a small gut, to the road that leads to Hickory Point
• July 9, 1794 - Benjamin Ross was granted 53 acres on the north side of the Pamlico River near the watering holes and on the west prong of Rogers Swamp
• 5 March 1795 - Deed from Benjamin Ross to William Farris three tracts totaling about 153 acres: one tract was on Cinquapin Ridge, and the two sold to Benjamin by Laban Kelly
• 5 March 1796 - Deed from Benjamin Ross to Jesse Roling for 20 francs, 50 acres north side of Pamlico River near Pungo Swamp beginning at a pine - Walter Jones' live tree at the branch
• March 1798 - Bond of Sale from Francis Ross, Ann Ross to Luke Robason, witnesses Benjamin Ross and Jesse Robason
• 5 March 1798 - Deed from Benjamin Ross to Luke Robason for 25 francs, 50 acres south side of Pamlico River and west side of South Dividing Creek, beginning at the creek at the ??? bottom below the Ross field
• February 25, 1808 - Benjamin Ross entered a grant for 100 acres on South side of Pamplico river and west side of Durham Creek in the head of the Reedy ? Branch adjoining the Picosin in Beaufort County, North Carolina
• November 3, 1810 - Benjamin Ross was granted the 100 acres he entered in 1808
• July 20, 1821 - Deed of Gift from Benjamin Ross to son Lemuel Ross for good will and affection, 100 acres south side of the Pamlico River and west side of Durham Creek in the head of the Reedy Cove, witnessed H. H. McCabe and John Ross
• August 9, 1832 - Deed of Gift of 100 acres dated July 20, 1821, from Benjamin Ross to Lemuel Ross recorded

Research notes

Disputed origins

Benjamin Ross is "widely accepted by reputable Ross researchers" as a son of John Ross the Immigrant, but Cathy Brewer, compiler of Granddaddy was a Patriot, disputes this, and proposes Mathew Ross as the sixth emigrating son in his place. Two points of evidence are central to this dispute:

1. Age. The 1774 customs record for John Ross the Immigrant describes his six accompanying sons as aged 5 to 20. Benjamin Ross's gravestone gives a birth year of 1746, which would have made him 28 in 1774 — too old to fit the customs record.
2. Birthplace. Benjamin's own great-grandson, Lemuel Hiram Ross, swore in the 1912 SAR application that Benjamin Ross "was born in Beaufort County, N.C." — that is, in America, not Scotland. If accurate, this alone would rule out Benjamin as one of the six who sailed with John Ross the Immigrant in 1774, regardless of his age.

Weighing against these points, and in favor of the traditional identification, is the strong circumstantial record placing Benjamin repeatedly alongside Elijah and Francis Ross as a neighbor, land-deed witness and chain bearer, and co-defendant in the 1779 Beaufort County case — a pattern of association at least as consistent with a close family relationship as with mere neighborliness.

We do, however, have the family tradition, handed down through both Benjamin's lines and Elijah's lines, “John Ross who came from Scotland in the early 1700s”

Common discrepancies

Grandson vs. great-grandson

Granddaddy was a Patriot describes Lemuel H. Ross, who moved Benjamin's gravestone to Oakdale Cemetery, as Benjamin's "grandson." The 1912 SAR application itself, sworn by that same Lemuel Hiram Ross, documents a lineal descent of Benjamin Ross → son John (Riley) Ross → son Riley Ross (1807–1889) → Lemuel Hiram Ross (b. 1861) — making Lemuel Hiram Ross Benjamin's great-grandson, not his grandson. This article follows the sworn 1912 application as the more precise source. Note also that Lemuel Hiram Ross (b. 1861, surveyor of Edward, N.C.) is a different person from Benjamin's actual son Lemeul H. Ross (b. 1783); the two are easily confused because of their similar names and are not the same individual.

Birth year

Sources give Benjamin's birth year as 1746 (gravestone, per Granddaddy was a Patriot) and what appears to be a year in the late 1730s per the 1912 SAR application (illegible in the surviving photocopy). See Early life above.

Sources

Bibliography

• Brewer, Cathy (2022). Granddaddy was a Patriot. Self-published family history.
• Tuten, Samuel Arthur Jr. (1997). The Ancestors and The Descendants of George Martin Walker & Elizabeth D. Ross, Beaufort County, North Carolina. Kernersville, N.C.

Disclaimer

It is admittedly impossible that we have been able to evaluate every piece of evidence available for every person included on this site. What you often find on the internet, though, are trees with no sources attached at all. Many of these trees were created pre-internet & have been passed down, uploaded & copied to multiple sites without details of the original sources they were based on. Now, with the advent of DNA testing, we're finding that they don't always match up with what the DNA is telling us. In order to reevaluate these trees in conjunction with the DNA evidence, we need to have available the sources that they might've originally been based on. This site, then, is intended as a repository for these sources and an opportunity to share what the DNA is telling us so that we can work collectively to correct these trees. Over time, more of the old records will be able to be combed through, and the sources cited here will grow.