Surname Saturday: Benjamin

This week we move back to my wife's lines and look at the surname history of her 2nd great grandmother, Clara Benjamin.  This is another line in America during the 19th century where we should be able to find out more.  So far, I've only got two generations in my notes, but I was able to confirm a couple of details using Beta FamilySearch, and I also found a possible residence through the search there that I still need to verify.

Clara was born in 1854 in Monroeville, Huron County, Ohio.  She was married twice, first to Horrace Cook, probably around 1875, and they had one child that I know of: Bell Cook (F; b. 1878).  I don't have any details on Horrace yet.  Clara married second, probably some time around 1885 or 1890, Dr. Frank Clay Leonard, and they had one child: Lois Ann Leonard (F; b. 30 March 1892; m. Herbert Richard Mosley; d. Nov 1981).  Since she was married twice, it is possible that Horrace died sometime around 1883, but I have no evidence to support this theory yet.  In making a quick search earlier this week, I found an entry in the 1860 U.S. census index for Waukesha, Wisconsin, for a Clara Benjamin born in 1854 in Ohio, but since the image of the original document was behind a subscription at Footnote, I wasn't able to verify if this was the same person.

Clara's parents were Joseph Rich Benjamin and Mary Jane Goodhue.  Joseph is one of my current brick walls.  He was born in Milan, Erie County, Ohio.  Mary was born in 1819 in Albany, New York.  I was able to find an index entry from the Ohio Marriages collection at Beta FamilySearch, verifying the data that I had for their marriage.  They were married on 5 January 1837 in Huron, Erie County, Ohio, and so far Clara is the only child that I know of.  But, with 17 years between their marriage and Clara's birth, it seems likely that there were probably other children that I haven't found yet.

I've already mentioned a couple of avenues for future research on this line.  I haven't found records specifically for this family in the U.S. census yet, so that's another strategy that I can follow that could lead to information on missing children.  This isn't the only family line I'm researching that lived in Ohio during the 19th century, so maybe I'll be able to double up some research on the locations to find a little more about them.