Benjamin Hanks

Benjamin Hanks is generally accepted to be the first person to make bronze cannons and church bells in the United States. He was a goldsmith, instrument maker, clockmaker, bellfounder, and foundry owner.

Early life

According to historian Susan Whitney Dimock's 1898 book "Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths: From the Records of the Town and Churches in Mansfield, Connecticut, 1703-1850" Benjamin Hanks was born 29 October 1755 in Mansfield, Connecticut. The vital records of the Town of Mansfield, however, states he was born on December 15, 1755. Hanks' parents, Uriah and Irene (Case) Hanks, were married March 20, 1755. Hanks had nine siblings, all of whom were younger. Hanks lived at home until he was seventeen years old, when in 1772 he was apprenticed to Thomas Harland, a well known clock maker in Norwich, Connecticut, until Hanks established a clock business in the city.

Mid life and career

Hanks was a military drummer in the American Revolutionary War and took part in the Lexington Alarm triggered by Paul Revere's "Midnight Ride" of which he served about a month then. Later Hanks re-enlisted and served in the Third Regiment under Israel Putnam from mid May through mid December 1775. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, commandant of the fifth regiment of militia in Connecticut.

Benjamin

Benjamin was the last-born of Jacob's thirteen children (12 sons 1 daughter), and the second and last son of Rachel in Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition. He was the progenitor of the Israelite Tribe of Benjamin. In the Biblical account, unlike Rachel's first son, Joseph, Benjamin was born in Canaan. In the Samaritan Pentateuch, Benjamin's name appears as "Binyaamem" (Hebrew: בנימין, "Son of my days"). In the Qur'an, Benjamin is referred to as righteous young child, who remained with Jacob when the older brothers plotted against Joseph. Later rabbinic traditions name him as one of four ancient Israelites who died without sin, the other three being Chileab, Jesse and Amram.

Name

According to the Torah, Benjamin's name arose when Jacob deliberately corrupted the name Benoni, the original name of Benjamin, since Benoni was an allusion to Rachel's dying just after she had given birth, as it means son of my pain. Textual scholars regard these two names as fragments of naming narratives coming from different sources - one being the Jahwist and the other being the Elohist.

Benjamin (Khazar)

A Khazar ruler (probably the bek), mentioned in the Schechter Text and the Khazar Correspondence, Benjamin was the son of the Khazar ruler Menahem and probably reigned in the late ninth and early tenth centuries CE.

The only extant account of Benjamin's reign comes from the Schechter Text, whose anonymous author reported a war between Benjamin's Khazars and a coalition of five nations: 'SY, TWRQY, 'BM, and PYYNYL, who were instigated and aided by MQDWN. "MQDWN", or Macedon, is used in medieval Jewish documents to refer to the Byzantine Empire, particularly under its Macedonian dynasty (867-1025). "TWRQY" can be identified with the Oghuz on Khazaria's eastern flank. The other three entities are less easily identifiable. In Khazarian Hebrew Documents of the Tenth Century, Omeljan Pritsak argued that "PYYNYL" was actually "PTzNK" Pecheneg, the misreading ascribed to the degradation of the letter itself. He further identified 'SY with the Asya, who he connects to the Burtas (traditionally allies of the Khazars) and 'BM with the remnants of the Onogurs and Bulgars still living in the Pontic steppes. The Schechter Text identifies the Alans as Benjamin's only allies in this war, stating that many of the Alans had adopted Judaism by that time.

Benjamin (disambiguation)

People with the name Benjamin as their only name

Hanks

Hanks is the surname of: