 He was born on the 11th December, 1743, and was the only son of Colonel Benjamin Tusten Sr, a respectable farmer of that place.His father removed into Orange county, in the year 1746, bringing with him his son, and settled on the banks of the Otterkill, two and a half miles from the village of Goshen, on the patent granted to Madame Elizabeth Denn.Such was the respect in which the father was held, that he was soon appointed one of the judges of the county court, and promoted a colonel in the regiment of militia on the west side of the mountain, including at that time all the county of Orange, north of the Highlands, from Hudson's river to the line of New Jersey.