James Benston was born in Eday on 9th September 1832, the first child born to Grace Gullion and Adam Benston. He spent his childhood on Eday and went to North America probably about 1851 or 52, ultimately settling in Wisconsin. He married Mary Jane Richmond in Green County on 22nd November 1864. She was born in Ireland in August 1846. James and Mary had seven known children (the 1900 census says seven, while the 1910 census says nine) all born in Wisconsin:

• Joseph Benston, b. Sep 1866 and married about 1898; had two daughters, one of whom died in childhood, and was widowed by 1920. He was a cigar salesman in Freeport, Ilinois.

• James F. Benston, b. Sep 1866 who married Kate J. Leece in Lafayette Co, Wisconsin on 4th Mar 1891. They had six children, one of whom died in infancy. They lived in Gratoit, Lafayette County where James worked in a livery stable.

• Mary J. Benston, b. abt 1869

• Susan L. Benston, b. Sep 1869 who married Samuel E. Leece on 4th Dec 1895, Lafayette County. They moved to Cedar, Iowa where he was a dentist.

• Ada M. Benston, b. abt 1871.and d. on 5th July 1897, age 29, in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. She was a dressmaker.

• William Benston, b. abt 1872 who married Hattie Sisson in Lafayette County on 9th Nov 1895 and settled in South Dakota.

• Thomas Benston, b. June 1882 and was living with his mother in Darlington, Wisconsin in 1910, a clerk in a drugstore.

James was a farmer; in 1870 he and Mary were in Buffalo County and by 1880 they had moved to York County. They later moved to Darlington, Lafayette County where James died on 31st January 1899.