Benjamin Tower is a Pre-Loyalist who moved from Rhode Island to Nova Scotia, Canada in the 1760s. He was born 22 September 1744 in Cumberland, Providence, Rhode Island, as the first child born to Joseph Tower and Judith Briggs.
Benjamin married Anne Phinney/Finney on 1 May 1766 in Sackville, (now) New Brunswick, Canada. She was the daughter of Nathaniel Phinney. Nathaniel married widow Judith (Briggs) Tower (Benjamin’s mother) as his second wife.
Although there is a lengthy list of children purported to be those of Benjamin and Anne, little is known about what happened to most of them. Sackville town records record the marriage of Benjamin and Anne and the births of their first four children.
It’s possible that the Tower family removed from Sackville as the Revolutionary War opened in the American colonies, although they remained in Westmorland County, where Benjamin petitioned for land in 1787.
Children:
- Joshua, born 2 May 1768, Sackville, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada; no further record
- Benjamin, born 3 May 1770, Sackville, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada; apparently petitioned for land in 1807 with Ann, Gideon and Joseph Tower [likely his widowed mother and two brothers]
- George, born 30 April 1772, Sackville, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada; no further record
- Nathaniel, born 31 October 1774, Sackville, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada; no further record
- Phebe, born c1777, probably New Brunswick, Canada; reportedly married Edward Buck; may have died on 1 March 1822
- William, born c1779, probably New Brunswick, Canada; no further record
- Ann, born c1784, probably New Brunswick, Canada; died c1815; married Charles Delesdenier, 3 January 1805, Sackville, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada
- Joseph, born c1786, New Brunswick, Canada; died 15 January 1857, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada; married (1) Sarah Maxwell, 14 January 1808, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada (2) Mary Ward, 26 September 1822, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada
- Ruth, born c1788, New Brunswick, Canada; died 29 May 1869, Lubec, Washington, Maine; married Israel Thornton, 28 July 1807, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada
- Gideon, born c1790, New Brunswick, Canada; died 21 July 1866, Queens, New Brunswick, Canada; married Catherine McFarland, 1 January 1815, Queens, New Brunswick, Canada
Given that there aren’t even any land petitions found for Joshua, George, Nathaniel and William, it appears they may have died young and unmarried.
Benjamin Tower reportedly died in July 1804 in New Brunswick, Canada. Widow Anne was apparently the “Ann Tower” who made a land petition with her sons in 1807, but no further information has been found regarding her death.
I wonder how they met! That is so interesting – I hadn’t even thought of citizens in the American colonies moving north to Canada during the pre-Revolutionary period.
Hi! I came across your post while researching the Tower family. My great-grandmother Lula Tower (1896-1972) is the daughter of William Tower (1868-1936) and granddaughter of Harvey B. Tower (1841-1918). Harvey’s parents are supposedly Nathaniel Tower (1805-1881) and his wife Elizabeth, but I cannot for the life of me find a single thing confirming her alleged maiden name of Ritson. A death record for one of Nathaniel’s children states the child’s mother’s name as Phoebe Armstrong, but a bunch of censuses state Nathaniel’s wife and mother of his children is named Elizabeth. I am wondering who Nathaniel’s father is. I have George (1772, listed above in your post as #3), but I can’t confirm. I wonder if a different brother is his father. Thanks for letting me share and think out loud!