An American Family History

Benjah Dunham was born about 1640 in Plymouth.

He married Elizabeth Tilson.

Edmund Dunham (1661, married Mary Bonham),
John Dunham (b. and d. 1663)
Elizabeth Dunham (1664, died as a baby),
Mary Dunham (1669, married Mr. Thompson),
Elizabeth Dunham (1670, married Jonas Wood),
Hannah Dunham (1666; died as a baby), and
Benjamin Dunham (1667, died young).

In 1664 he was made a freeman.

In 1669 he was aa court officer at Eastham.

In 1672, he bought one hundred acres in Piscataway, New Jersey.

In 1673 he was a captain in the militia.

He died on December 24. 1680 in Piscataway.

from History of the First Baptist Church of Piscataway
Stelton, New Jersey, 1889, by Oliver B. Leonard, Esq.

The Dunhams, of Piscataway, (for there was a different lineage of same name at Woodbridge), had as their progenitor a worthy sire in the person of Benjah Dunham. Their family tradition asserts that he settled in this vicinity several years previous to its formal occupation by any other Englishmen.

His first child born was Edmund, whose birth in 1661 was the earliest of any white child born in the township. Edmund Dunham grew to be an influential member of society, and became a lay preacher, helping to mould the tender consciences and direct the religiously inclined of the pioneer community. In 1681 he married Mary, or Elizabeth Bonham, a member of another early planter's family. Their son, Jonathan, in after years, succeeded his father in the ministry of the Seventh-Day Baptist Church, of Piscataway, of which the father may be said to be the founder in 1705-7.

Dunham Genealogy: English and American Branches of the Dunham Family by Isaac Watson Dunham

Benjah [Dunham] b. Plymouth, 1640; m. Oct. 25, 1660. Elizabeth Tilson, of Scituate, dau. of Edmund, of Plymouth. He bought, in 1672, one hundred acres of land in Piscataway, N. J., and became a planter; 1664, a freeman; 1669. a court officer at Eastham; 1673. militia captain; May 10, 1679, willed to son. Edmund, seventy acres of land on Raritan river; to Mary, house and meadow on Bonham Creek, and one-third of cattle, movable goods and books; to his wife, one-third of cattle, movable goods and books; to Elizabeth, forty acres of land, and one-third of cattle, movable goods and books: d. Dec. 24. 1680, at Piscataway, N. J.

Issue:
I.—Edmund, b. July 25, 1661; m. July 15, 1681, Mary Bonham; b. Oct. 4, 1661; d. March 17, 1734.
II.— John, b. Aug. 28, 1663; d. Sept. 6, 1663.
III.—Elizabeth, b. Nov. 20, 1664; d. Dec. 31, 1667.
IV.—Mary, b. New Jersey, 1669; m. Mr. Thompson. Had son, John.
V.—Elizabeth, b. 1670, New Jersey; m. July 15, 1681, Jonas Wood.
VI.—Hannah, b. June 4, 1666; d. Dec. 25, 1667.
VII.—Benjamin, b. Oct. 28, 1667; baptized at Eastham, by Pastor Russell; d. young.