Benjamin Hanks, a drummer in the Revolutionary War, was a clockmaker and silversmith, known for his church bells, who settled in Litchfield from 1779 to 1790. He had his home and shop in a building at 39 South Street, built in 1780. Hanks later returned to practice his trade in his hometown of Mansfield and also set up a bell-casting foundry with his son in Troy, New York. His former double house in Litchfield served for a time as the Park Hotel.
The Benjamin Hanks House (1780)
My sister and I have been tracing our Hanks Geneology! We are descendants from William and Bejamin Hanks! Nancy Hanks was our Great-Grand Aunt, her parents Joseph Hanks were our great-great-great-great grandparents. This is all so cool discovering the actual historical facts and places of our family History! Thanks for posting Benjamin’s House on this site! God Bless!
*Correction: Nancy Hanks is our 3rd Great-Grand Aunt. Sorry for the typo*
I also am very interested and excited about all of this.MY Name is Ronald Hanks and Benjamin Hanks is my Great Great uncle and Rodney Hanks his son Built the House I Grew up in on Hanks Hill Rd in Stores Ct.wich I s now at the Henry Ford museum in Dearbrook Michigan.
I’m excited to learn that Benjamin Hanks Jr. was a drummer in the French and Indian wars as I’m an accomplished drummer myself. He is my late 7th Maternal Great Grandfather.
I mis-typed. It was Benjamins father, Benjamin Sr. who was in the French and Indian War.
Yet, it was Benjamin Jr who was a drummer in the revolutionary War as I understand.
Benjamin and Oscar Hanks were the progenitors of the bell casting and instrument-making industry in Troy, NY. The W. & L.E. Gurley Co. is a direct succession to their work and tutelage. We hold a collection of the Gurley instruments at the Hudson-Mohawk Industrial Gateway museum in Troy. We would seek any further lore on the Hanks connection to Troy.