422 HEADSTONE INSCRIPTIONS, TOWN OF WESTPORT, CT
422-3 LOWER GREENS FARMS CEMETERY
Allen, Benjamin, died Mar. 27, 1827, age 80 yrs. Rev. War
Allen, Rhoda, wife of Benjamin, died Oct. 10, 1814, age 64 yrs., 1 mos., 8 days
Benjamin was a Private in the 14th Company under Capt. Daniel Godfrey, in the 4th Regiment under Col. Samuel Whiting. Benjamin was a member of the Greens Farms coast guard. He and several other members were captured by British raiders and taken to NYC where they were imprisoned in one of the notorious "Sugar House" prisons for six months, until exchanged.
Over the decades a large tree grew between gravesites of Benjamin and Rhoda Allen, with both tombstones being enveloped by the grand woody perennial plant. This is broadly called a Mother-in-Law Tree, coined by a similar tree at an old burying ground at Jamestown Island, Virginia. According to tradition there, a large sycamore separated the resting couple "like the mother-in-law would like to have done." It is sometimes called "mother-in-law's revenge." There is no family tradition or history to conclude this was the grand plan of Rhoda's mother, Sarah Bennett Allen.
422 HEADSTONE INSCRIPTIONS, TOWN OF WESTPORT, CT
422-3 LOWER GREENS FARMS CEMETERY
Allen, Benjamin, died Mar. 27, 1827, age 80 yrs. Rev. War
Allen, Rhoda, wife of Benjamin, died Oct. 10, 1814, age 64 yrs., 1 mos., 8 days
Benjamin was a Private in the 14th Company under Capt. Daniel Godfrey, in the 4th Regiment under Col. Samuel Whiting. Benjamin was a member of the Greens Farms coast guard. He and several other members were captured by British raiders and taken to NYC where they were imprisoned in one of the notorious "Sugar House" prisons for six months, until exchanged.
Over the decades a large tree grew between gravesites of Benjamin and Rhoda Allen, with both tombstones being enveloped by the grand woody perennial plant. This is broadly called a Mother-in-Law Tree, coined by a similar tree at an old burying ground at Jamestown Island, Virginia. According to tradition there, a large sycamore separated the resting couple "like the mother-in-law would like to have done." It is sometimes called "mother-in-law's revenge." There is no family tradition or history to conclude this was the grand plan of Rhoda's mother, Sarah Bennett Allen.
Gravesite Details
Revolutionary War Soldier