The Benham twins

#Middlebury

Bridgeport’s South Congregational Church was built by the Benham twins. This picture is on an old postcard. (Robert Rafford scan)

By DR. ROBERT L. RAFFORD

During and following the Civil War, great interest arose in personal health awareness. The War uncovered a great need for citizens to pay greater attention to their health and for legislators to address the issues in their communities. Those living long, productive lives were celebrated, and their “secrets” to longevity valorized.

Even before this period, Middlebury was touted as the home of many long-lived, industrious citizens. An 1856 Hartford Courant new items stated “There is a family by the name of Benham, natives of Middlebury in this state, whose united ages amount to 425 years …” An 1865 newspaper article declared that in Middlebury, there are “forty-eight persons over seventy years of age, nineteen of whom are over eighty.” Another one in 1883 announced there is a family of five persons in Middlebury “whose average age is 75 years.” Life expectancy in the United States between 1870 and 1880 was about 40 years, as opposed to 79 today.

It is no wonder then, that in 1901 the story of two elderly Middlebury-born men, twins, was featured in newspapers across the country. They were variously described as “remarkable twins,” “notable old twins,” “oldest twins in the state,” and “oldest twins in the country.”

This monument to the Benham twins, seen from one side, stands in the Mountain Grove Cemetery and Mausoleum in Bridgeport. The twins were builders and contractors there. (FindAGrave.org photo)

Julius S. Benham (1817-1906) and Junius N. Benham (1817-1911) were born in Middlebury, Connecticut, on July 8, 1817, to Truman Benham (1772-1858) and Anna (Scoville) Benham (1771-1866). There were many by the name Benham in Middlebury; no fewer than five Benham men signed the successful 1807 petition to the Connecticut General Assembly founding our town.

Both brothers celebrated their 88th birthdays in 1905, when they gave a shore dinner to their large family at a summer resort in Milford. Both brothers, said a 1901 newspaper article, “looked alike, dressed alike and thought alike.” In old age they were described by one newspaper as “substantial and wealthy residents of Bridgeport and all the property they own is in their joint names.”

The twins had moved to the Bridgeport area as young men and became apprentice masons, starting a business “on a capital of 50 cents” according to a 1901 newspaper article. They worked up the ladder and became substantial builders and contractors. They owned the Holbrook farm at Great Hill in Seymour, Connecticut, which had an 18th-century house and plenty of room for horses, of which they were fond.

The twins began a building company, the Benham, Ray & Hawley company, later the Benham & Hawley Company; in 1891, its capital stock was $30,000. They built many of the important buildings in Bridgeport, including the South Congregational Church. They had also invested in real estate, which added to their fortunes. Although their company suffered a few reverses, notably fires in the late 1880s followed by bankruptcy, it continued to flourish until 1924.

The twins were both reported to be in excellent health in their eighties. A 1905 newspaper article said they “came from a long lived family. Their grandfather lived to be 94. They father was 88 at the time of his death (other sources say he was 86 when he died) and their mother lived to the age of 96. Their only brother died at the age of 86.”

The same article said, “They are strictly temperate and regular in their habits and all their lives have been industrious workers. Both men are over six feet tall and not only look alike, both having snow-white beards, but also dress alike so that it is almost impossible to distinguish one from the other.” Both brothers married and had children; at the time of their deaths, Julius in 1906 and Junius in 1911, they each had several grandchildren, including twin granddaughters, whom, unsurprisingly, they could not tell apart.

You are urged to join the Middlebury Historical Society by going online at MiddleburyHistoricalSociety.org or visiting them on Facebook. Questions about membership can be sent to Bob at robraff@comcast.net.