Brief Life History of Benjamin
When Benjamin Burnham was born on 14 January 1756, in Massachusetts, United States, his father, Offen Burnham, was 43 and his mother, Mary Eastabrook, was 23. He died on 4 June 1843, at the age of 87.
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World Events (8)
1776
Thomas Jefferson's American Declaration of Independence endorsed by Congress. Colonies declare independence.
1776 · The Declaration to the King
"""At the end of the Second Continental Congress the 13 colonies came together to petition independence from King George III. With no opposing votes, the Declaration of Independence was drafted and ready for all delegates to sign on the Fourth of July 1776. While many think the Declaration was to tell the King that they were becoming independent, its true purpose was to be a formal explanation of why the Congress voted together to declare their independence from Britain. The Declaration also is home to one of the best-known sentences in the English language, stating, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."""""""
1781 · The First Constitution
Serving the newly created United States of America as the first constitution, the Articles of Confederation were an agreement among the 13 original states preserving the independence and sovereignty of the states. But with a limited central government, the Constitutional Convention came together to replace the Articles of Confederation with a more established Constitution and central government on where the states can be represented and voice their concerns and comments to build up the nation.
Name Meaning
English: habitational name from any of several places called Burnham. Those in Buckinghamshire (Burnham Beeches), Norfolk (various villages), and Essex (Burnham-on-Crouch) are named with Old English burna ‘stream’ + hām ‘homestead’. In the case of Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, however, the second element is Old English hamm ‘water meadow’, while Burnham in Lincolnshire is named from brunnum, dative plural of Old Norse brunnr ‘spring’, originally used after a preposition, i.e. ‘(at) the springs’.
History: In 1635 Robert Burnham and his two brothers came from England to Ipswich, MA, after their ship was wrecked on the coast of Maine. In the mid 18th century John Burnham and his son, also called John, were among the early settlers in what became the state of VT. In 1785, the younger John Burnham established himself at Middletown, CT.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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