Our featured 4th great grandparents and their children, on today's Shepard blog, lived in Rye, Westchester, New York. As I understand it, Westchester is a "neck" between Long Island and New York state and the red triangular area on the enlarged map is the town of Rye. Benjamin, Mary, and most of their children were born in Rye. Rye was at one time a part of Fairfield County, Connecticut, which was a belonging of the Sachem Ponus, of the Ponus Wekuwuhm, Canaan Parish, and which was probably named for that chieftain, "Peningoe Neck". This location must have been a pleasant place to live because several of our ancestors lived and stayed in Westchester County and Long Island for a number of years.
Benjamin and Mary were married in 1753 and had the following known children:
1763 Benjamin
1766 James in Salem, Westchester, NY
1769 Deborah
1775 Abraham
BENJAMIN KNIFFEN, JR.
BORN: 1729 in Rye, Westchester, NY
MARRIED: 21 Mar 1753 in Rye, Westchester, NY
DIED: 1789 in Rye, Westchester, NY
MARY BROWN
BORN: abt 1732 in Rye Westchester, NY
DIED: unknown
SOURCES: Family Group Record, Anc. File (www.familysearch.org Marriage source for Benjamin Kniffen and Mary Brown, also birth sources for the family.
