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The homestead was also the scene of a tragic romance. Daniel Benton's grandson, Elisha Benton (b. 1748), fell in love with Jemima
Barrows (b. 1759), 11 years his junior and the daughter of a local cabinetmaker. Both families frowned on the romance because of age and social class differences. Elisha
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Released in a prisoner exchange, Elisha Benton returned home suffering from smallpox in
January 1777. Jemima attempted to nurse Elisha back to health, but he died on January 21. Jemima, too, died of smallpox on February 28. As custom prohibited the burying of an unmarried couple side by side, the
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dietetics instructor
Florrie Bishop Bowering. Bowering restored the house and lived there until she sold it in 1968 to William Shocket and Charles Goodstein. The new owners donated the property, house, and furnishings to the Tolland Historical Society on December 13, 1969. The house opened as a
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The house is reputedly haunted by the ghosts of
Hessian soldiers, and of the lovers Elisha and Jemima. Bowering's maid reportedly saw the specter of a young woman in a bridal dress wandering through the house and weeping. Other visitors reported unexplained lights, sounds, and apparitions.
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were imprisoned in the Benton
Homestead's cellar, whose rafters featured intricate scrolls, now undecipherable, carved by Hessians to pass the time during captivity. The prisoners were well-treated and several chose to remain in Tolland after their release.
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Daniel Benton, son of Samuel Benton, one of the first settlers in
Tolland, built the family homestead on 40 acres of farmland in 1720. The house stayed in the Benton family for six generations. It was the ancestral home of U.S. Senator
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museum the following year. It is open for tours on
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In 1934, the Chapin family, which was descended from the
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The Benton
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Historic marker for Elisha Benton and Jemima
Barrows at the Benton Homestead
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307:"Daniel Benton Homestead Museum | Tolland Historical Society"
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lovers were buried a discreet distance apart on Benton land.
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Tolland: The History of an Old Connecticut Post Road town
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Buildings and structures in Tolland County, Connecticut
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Historic house museum in Connecticut , United States
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374:"Tolland Plans Its 300th Anniversary Celebration"
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491:"Episode 20: Homestead | Lore Transcripts"
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245:. Elisha's brothers died in captivity.
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461:. Charleston, SC: The History Press.
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343:. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot.
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521:- Tolland Historical Society
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288:References
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78:72°22′37″W
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