- In 1708 James and other inhabitants of Norwalk purchased a large tract of land between that town and Danbury. The purchase was made of Catoonah the chief sachem, and other Indians, whowere the proprietors of that part of the country. At a Norwalk town session, 1709, it was ordained that is should be a distinct township by the name of Ridgefield. James was also one of the original settlers of this township. Fence-viewer in 1715, called Ensign, 1719, afterwards Captain, and 1737, Esquire. He was appointed justice of the peace for Fairfield County, CT, May 1732 and was reappointed annually until 1733. He was representative from Ridgefield, from May 1740-45 and 1748-1752. He was the first to write the genealogy of the Benedict family. In his youth he lived with his grandmother, Mary Bridgum, wife of Thomas, and she delivered to him, from her own mouth, the genealogy down to his own memory, and he reduced it to writing. His "Genealogy of the Family of the Benedicts," dated March 14, 1755 has been the foundation of all the subsequent ones. His grandson, Abner Benedict, a member of the junior class in Yale College made an exact copy of it June 23, 1768. James was the second Deacon of the church in Ridgefield, till old age and its attendants rendered him unable to serve.
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1685 - 1762 (77 years)
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