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THE DESCENDANTS OF THOMAS DURFEE OF PORTSMOUTH, R. I., ANNOTATED AND

AMENDED Prepared for Christmas 2012 by David R. Durfee Jr., with references to court records, historical documents, and internet postings not found in the original genealogy.

Revised May 17, 2014 and Christmas 2019

1. Thomas Durfee (1639-1712), 9th great-grandfather, and Ann Hill, 1628-1684, n.m. 2. Thomas Durfee (1669-1729), and Ann Freeborn (1669-1729), m. 1690, 3. Job Durfee (1710-1774), and Mary Earle (1703-1743), m. 1730 4. Gideon Durfee (1738-1814), and Anna Bowen (1738-1821), m. 17575. Earle Durfee (1757-1839), and Patience Lake (1758-1813), m. 17766. Gideon Durfee (1782-1834), and Hannah Cornell (1783-1821), m. 18047. Earl Durfee (1804-1890), and Rebecca Cornell (1804-1885), m. 18388. Sidney E. Durfee (1838-1908), and Deborah Sherman (1841-1908), m. 18629. Clarence E. Durfee (1863-1939), and Mary Gooding (1865-1933), m. 188210. Walter Gooding Durfee (1895-1971), and Harriet Rising (1899-1965), m. 192711. David Rising Durfee Sr. (1934- ____), and Sandra Sundquist (1935- ____), m. 195712. David Rising Durfee Jr. (1957- ____), and Debora Clovis (1953-____), m. 1986

Note: In the discussion that follows, I have used different fonts to reflect different authors. I used the Book Antigua font for the text that I wrote. I used the Century font when I was quoting text that was written by anyone other than William Reed. Reed’s text appears in Bookman Old Style. Also, when I believe that the text that I am quoting could be assisted by an explanation, I have prefaced the explanation with “DRDJr.:”

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THE DESCENDANTS OF THOMAS DURFEE OF PORTSMOUTH, R. I., annotated and amended

Introduction At the beginning of the 20th century, the Durfee family retained the

services of William Reed to write a genealogy of the family in America. The result was a two-volume book entitled, THE DESCENDANTS OF THOMAS DURFEE OF PORTSMOUTH, R. I., which was published in 1902, which identified Thomas Durfee, who arrived in Portsmouth, Rhode Island sometime around 1660, as the starting point [hereinafter “Reed” or “Descendants.”]. Reed began with some history that contained more than a little speculation about the noble origins of the Durfee family in France and concluded that the Durfees probably were French Huguenots. He surmised that Thomas was born around 1643 in England and arrived in Portsmouth, Rhode Island sometime around 1660 as an indentured servant and then proceeded to trace the family’s history in America.

The book was exhaustively researched and undoubtedly contributed to pride in the family name at the time, but an update is in order today, given the information that is now available from sources such as Ancestry.com, the Church of Latter-Day Saints, genealogy forums, census data, court records, and postings on the internet. Furthermore, Reed’s discussion of the Durfee line that I belong to becomes rather thin around 1820 and could use some further development. This is my third iteration of this piece, and it is my intent to present the story by using Reed’s opus as the basic skeleton, but to flesh it out by including new or omitted information, correcting mistaken information, and by including interpretations – mine and others - that may differ from those drawn by Reed. I also hope to add a bit more information about the women, and their families, who married into the Durfee family when it is available. Genealogical research is grounded on the premise that it is mostly the males who matter in tracing the family tree, which ignores or minimizes the contributions of strong and remarkable women. Finally, occasionally I will take a bit of a detour and add materials and analysis that I hope will put the genealogical information into perspective and perhaps make things less dull. Accordingly, don’t skip the footnotes.

1. Origins of the Durfee name and Thomas’s European antecedents

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While Reed’s work product is still worth reading, Rick Durfey Balmer’s publication from July 2013 on the origins of the Durfee family name, which is available on Ancestry.com, contains perhaps the best discussion of the evidence that is now available:

Possible Origins of the Durfee Family and NameThe antecedents of our immigrant ancestor THOMAS DURFEE

(c.1643-1712) are unknown, although we have two specific possibilities. Both are predicated on the fact that the surname is rare, with only a few records found in England, and the supposition that we likely connect to those records.

The first, and very brief theory is that our Thomas Durfee might be the son of a JOB DURFEE who was born in 1613 and married a JUDIEH BORDEN in 1640, at an unknown location in England. Absolutely no other information has been found relating to this couple, although it is noteworthy that several Bordens immigrated to Rhode Island.[1]

The second and much more elaborated theory originated with Winthrop Carver Durfee in the long article he included in W.F. Reed’s Durfee family genealogy published in 1902. He stated that the surname did not exist in England until the appearance of a French Huguenot family in Exeter about 1628, a member of this family being THOMAS D’URFEY (1653-1723), a well-known dramatist. He further stated the surname died out in Europe and England after 1723, and was subsequently found only in the U.S. He speculated that our Thomas Durfee, born a decade earlier than D’Urfey the dramatist, was likely from the same part of England since many Rhode Island settlers came from the Exeter area. Given the scarcity of the name, they must be connected. The history of the French family, d'Urfé, is documented in several sources, and he also gave a lengthy summary of that in his article.

A good deal of information has come to light since W.C. Durfee’s article. We know that the Durfee surname (in various spellings and while still uncommon) was found in a few instances in England prior to the 17th century (e.g. a Benjamin Durfee found in Norfolk in 1508). We know it didn’t die out in Europe, for immigrants bearing the name came to the U.S. from Ireland in the 19th century.

We also know of records for a SEVERINUS DURFEY family in London that connects Thomas D’Urfey the dramatist back to the French

1In my view, the Job Durfee/born in Portsmouth theory has primacy in the LDS databases.

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d'Urfé family. And, most significantly, as of 2013 a family member (Jon Durfee) found a previously unknown baptismal record for a child of Severinus, a Thomas Durfey baptized in London on 26 Mar 1639 at St. Andrew Holburn. This is the only record found in England to date that could specifically be for our Thomas the immigrant.

* * *Given the possibility that our Thomas Durfee does descend from

Severinus Durfey, a short history of the family is given below. The details in France are given here very briefly, with more detail given on the family in England. Extensive documentation can be found elsewhere on the d’Urfe’s in France.

From d'Urfé (France) to Durfey (England)

The family of d’Urfé is traced back to the Middle Ages in Bavaria, with the spelling evolving from Wlph to Ulph or d'Ulphe, d'Ulphen or d'Ulpheur and finally d’Urfé by the 15th century, the family having settled near Montbrison in the south of France in the 12th century. Here the family castle was built (in ruins today, called the Cornu d’Urfé). One of the most prominent members of the family was CLAUDE D’URFÉ, who was at the court of King Francois I, and who built the Renaissance palace called the Batie d’Urfé, not far from Montbrison (a fully restored historic property today). Claude was the grandfather of the noted French poet HONORÉ D’URFÉ (1568-1625), who was a native of the province of Forez and a marquis. His brother Anne was the family heir and Comte d'Urfé. Another, unnamed brother of Honoré was said to have been a Huguenot refugee who fled from Rochelle to England before 1628.

Here the generations/names between France and England become slightly fuzzy. The emigrant may have been either Severinus Durfey Sr. or his father (name unknown). Sources also confuse Severinus Sr. with his son Severinus Jr. (who was in turn the father of Thomas D’Urfey the dramatist). Sources name either Thomas the dramatist or his father as the “grand-nephew” of Honoré d’Urfé, and it’s likely his father given the birth date for Honoré.

SEVERINUS DURFEY (SR.) was born perhaps around 1605 in France, likely in the far south near Montbrison. Known records for Severinus in England all use the spelling Durfey, which he apparently adopted there, but he would have been born d’Urfé.

It was said that Severinus, while every inch a gentleman, was disinherited some time before he came to England. In England it was

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said that he was “undone” by the vice of gambling, which could have been related to his exit from France. Alternately, his having been Huguenot may have been the sole reason for leaving, both because they were being persecuted in general and because it may have been the cause of being disinherited.

We don’t know the religious status of the entire family, but it was likely mixed as Huguenot presence was strong in the south of the country. Severinus was a very Catholic name, having been the name of a saint and a pope, implying that his parents were certainly Catholic. We also know that another, later emigrant member of the family was a Catholic missionary who went to Canada in 1668. He was the Marquis de Bauge, FRANÇOIS-SATURNIN LASCARIS D'URFÉ; the village of Baie d'Urfé near Montreal is named for him.

Once in England Severinus married ANN WRIGHT in 1626 in East Barnet, Hertfordshire (today part of greater London). While their first child was born the next year in central London, they were living at Barnby-Upon-Don in Yorkshire at the birth of their next two children in 1629 and 1632, but were back in London in 1633.

Ann died, only about 10 weeks after the birth of their son Thomas and was buried from a house in Chancery Lane on 14 Jun 1639, at St Andrew, Holburn. Severinus remarried to MAGDALENE FERON on 20 Sep 1640, at St. Margaret’s, Westminster in London. Her given name was often spelled “Maudlin”.

Severinus served in the English Civil War on the Parliamentary side in Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army. With Fortescue, Bulstrode and Richbell, he had served under the Earl of Essex; all had signed the 1644 petition. When Richbell was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, Durfey moved up from senior captain to major. When Richbell was killed Durfey succeeded him as lieutenant-colonel.

Severinus was killed in the storming of the south side of Bristol, on 10 Sep 1645.

The children of Severinus and his first wife Ann were:• SEVERINUS DURFEY (JR.). (1627). Baptized 24 Jul 1627, St.

Andrew, Holburn. He married Frances [Unknown], said to be a gentlewoman of Huntingdonshire, possibly of the family of the Marmions. Their son was playwright THOMAS D’URFEY, said to have been born in Exeter in 1653. On 23 Mar 1653 Severinus was warranted by the Council of State with a pass to travel to France. He married

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second Judith Masservy on 5 Apr 1662 at St. Katherine By The Tower, London.

• ELIZABETH DURFEY (1629). Baptized 17 Aug 1629 at Barnby-Upon-Don, Yorkshire, buried 10 Nov 1633 at St. Andrew, Holburn.

• WILLIAM DURFEY (1632). Baptized 27 Aug 1632 at Barnby-Upon-Don, Yorkshire,

• FRANCIS DURFEY (1634-1707). Baptized 11 Dec 1634, St. Andrew Holburn. Immigrated to Virginia in 1660; married Susannah [Unknown].

• EDWARD DURFEY (1637). Baptized 4 May 1637, St. Andrew Holburn.

• THOMAS DURFEY (1639). See below.Severinus had these children with his second wife Magdalene:• PHILIP DURFEY (1641-1641). Baptized 13 Sep 1641, St.

Andrew, Holburn. Buried four days later.• ELIZABETH DURFEY (1642). Baptized 23 Aug 1642, St. Andrew

Holburn.THOMAS DURFEY was baptized on 26 Mar 1639 at St. Andrew, Holburn, likely born very shortly before that. As noted above, he may possibly be the same THOMAS DURFEE who appeared in Portsmouth, Rhode Island in January 1661. [DRDJr.: See also Jon Durfey “Baptism of Thomas Durfey of Portsmouth, RI found,” March 29,2013 at https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/durfee/879/]2. Reed’s placing Thomas in Portsmouth

Reed was unaware of most of the above information. However, even with that information, much of it speculative, gaps remain concerning what Thomas did between the time of his birth and his arrival, why he came here, how he got here, and what he did when he got here. After offering his conclusions about the possible origins of the Durfee name and Durfee ancestors in France, Reed began his discussion on Thomas Durfee of Portsmouth, Rhode Island as follows:

The first person by the name of Durfee in America, of whom any record can be found, was Thomas Durfee, who came to Portsmouth in the colony of Rhode Island previous to the year

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1664, and by traditional information we are led to believe that he came in the year 1660. The recorded evidence of his appearing at the session of the Colonial General Assembly of Rhode Island, in October 1664, carries unmistakable proof of his presence in the Colony many months previous to that session. The following, from page 121, Vol. 4, Historical Magazine of America, April,1860, suggests the theory commonly accepted by the descendants of Thomas Durfee as to the manner in which he was transported to this country: "In early times emigrants came over frequently as redemptioners; that is, the ship took them without prepayment of passage, and on their arrival sold them by auction, for the lowest term of years for which anyone would take them, and pay the passage money." He was admitted a freeman of the town of Portsmouth, R.I., May 6, 1673. Savage mentions in his genealogy of the early settlers of New England that "Thomas Durfee was thirty-six years old in the year 1679[2]; that he was taxed eight shillings in 1680. The oath of office as constable was taken by him June 14, 1687, which office he was continued in during the following year (1688). The following statements of the public services of Mr. Durfee were obtained from the books of record in the office of the town clerk of Portsmouth, R. I. April 14, 1677, he was chosen one of the petit jury. April 23, 1679 at town meeting held at the house of John Briggs, the' following privilege was granted: " Voted, It is granted to * * * Thomas Durfee * * * (and five others) to have each of them a license for one year to sell vituals and drink to travelers, and to afford them Entertainment as may be needful and convenient.

Reed, p. 14.***

2DRDJr: Based on a deposition that Durfee gave that year, Reed concluded that Durfee was born around 1643.

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That he was a man of resolute character — having the respect and confidence of his fellow townsmen — is shown by the public record of his business transactions. That he was a good man, is proven by scriptural language, "a good man leaveth an inheritance," the evidence of which is found in his will,[3] and in those imperishable traits of character found in his posterity; among whom there have been the founders of industries and cities, the pioneers of the unsettled frontiers of our country, the statesmen of the Nation and State, the students of our leading universities, those who have distinguished themselves as men of learning upon the benches of the courts, from the lowest to the highest in the State, and before the bar as attorneys of more than ordinary ability. The scene of the days of his activity having been subject to the devastations incident to the occupation of an hostile army, there is no doubt but that much record relative to Thomas Durfee must have been lost in the smoke and flame of the Revolutionary struggle. The following is a record of his family; his first wife and mother of his sons we have never been able to learn anything about, and as this would be a great comfort to know it will be ever missed by the many who will "call her blessed."4

3 In his will Thomas left to his second wife Deliverance a “negro called Jock, for life, and at her death the value of said negro, equally, to two daughters.” Reed, p. 18. That was proof, apparently, that he was a “good man.” 4 The materials do not give much of an indication of what Thomas Durfee did, such as farming or trade. We do know that he ran a ferry toward the end of the century and was granted a license to see victuals to travelers in the late 1670s. Reed, pp. 14-16. While there can be no doubt that pioneer life imposed hardships that we cannot even begin to understand, such as having to build a house without modern machinery, the settlers of colonial Rhode Island had the advantage of the fact that much of the land on which they were settling had already been cleared by the Native American inhabitants. Early European visitors reported that the land had been cleared for some 8 to 10 miles inland (State of Rhode Island General Assembly 2000)

.... the Indian has been depicted as the uncivilized inhabitant of an uncivilized environment–even a product of it–a migratory hunter devoid of the ability to clear the forest and cultivate the land. However, these views are difficult to reconcile with the numerous early accounts of substantial and well-cultivated crops of tobacco, sweet potatoes, squash, watermelons, kidney beans, sunflowers, and, of course, maize, most of which originated in North America

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Reed, p. 17. Hence, Reed’s first entry for the original Thomas Durfee simply reads: 1. THOMAS DURFEE, parents unknown.Born in England in 1643[5]; died in Portsmouth, R. I., in July, 1712; married in Portsmouth, R. I., about 1664, to, ------ of Portsmouth, R. I.

Reed, p. 18.The research done by Rick Durfey Balmer and Jon Durfee calls into

question Reed’s conclusion that Thomas Durfee was born in 1643, based on the strong possibility that Thomas was in fact born in 1639 to Serverinus Durfey. Balmer states:

An issue here, however, is the birth date for Thomas. We have always used “circa 1643”, which is based on the only known source for his age, a legal deposition of 1679 in which included with his testimony on a lawsuit Thomas gave his age as “about thirty six years.” Thomas himself, as a young immigrant who apparently came over with no family and no records, may have been uncertain of his exact birth date, but four years is a substantial discrepancy. Perhaps the original clerk recorded his testimony incorrectly, or the transcriptionist did so (could it have been “39” mistaken for “36”?). An earlier birth date of 1639 is slightly more plausible when we look at the first record in Rhode Island documenting his presence there. He witnessed a legal document in January 1661, which if done at an earlier age

and all of which grew profusely in the favorable environment of the eastern forests... (Williams 1989) http://www.edc.uri.edu/restoration/html/tech_sci/socio/hist.htm

5 Reed states that his parents were unknown. Things are different today, because there are competing theories, none of which is ironclad. Rick Durfey Balmer and Jon Durfey, quoted earlier, conclude that Severinus Durfey was Thomas Durfee’s father. Additionally, one can find a number of genealogical records on the internet and on Ancestry.com where it is stated that Thomas Durfee was born in Portsmouth, not England, and that his parents were Job Durfey, born in 1610 in England, and Judieh Borden, born around 1613 in England. See Rick Durfey Balmer, The Three "Original" 17th Century Durfee Immigrants.” Purely as a matter of intuition, I credit the Jon Durfey theory, where Thomas was Serverinus Durfey’s son, mainly because parish records exist. Frankly, prior to Thomas’s witnessing a land deal for Peter Tallman and Wamsutta in 1661 on this side of the ocean, Thomas is practically a cipher.

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around 17 or 18 might seem questionable, but which if done around age 21 seems more likely.Another, broader issue, is whether the social/financial standing of our Thomas the immigrant aligns with that of the Severinus Durfey family. This was a prominent family from French aristocracy, and Severinus was an officer and termed a “gentleman” in baptismal records for his children. As such the children would normally have acquired education and/or social standing. What we do know of our Thomas when he appears in Portsmouth, a possible indentured servant, does not appear to match that socio-economic status; I know of no records that refer to him as “Mr.”, which was standard practice for a gentleman. An explanation for this, however, could relate to Thomas, son of Severinus, being orphaned at the age of five or six, in the middle of the chaotic English Civil Wars of the 1640s. His surviving stepmother may not have been able to care for him, and his eldest brother was only just 17 or 18. Thus, he may have been “disadvantaged”, or even possibly a “rebellious runaway” when he went to Rhode Island. His apparent personality as a bit of a “hothead” there might reinforce that theory. In any case he could have “lost” his social status either before emigration or at emigration.Additionally, 1660, the presumed year of his emigration, was the year the Commonwealth under the Cromwells came to an end and the monarchy was restored under Charles II. While subsequent persecution by the government of those involved in the activities of the Commonwealth was relatively limited (there was a general amnesty for most), there were definitely some who fled England at this time. Given that his late father had been an officer under Cromwell, could this “stigma” have followed Thomas? It doesn’t seem likely, given that Severinus had been killed in battle 15 years previously. Thomas himself, no more than 21 at emigration, would not likely have gotten involved in Commonwealth affairs. His eldest brother, Severinus Jr., was still in London in 1662. However, it is a remote possibility.Also of note in that respect is that Francis Durfey, another elder brother of Thomas, also emigrated in 1660, settling in Virginia. It would seem more likely two brothers would end up in the same

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place, but there could be many reasons why they would follow separate paths.

3. More Details Emerge that Reed missed or did not include

(a) Non-salaciousMore information about Durfee’s early years in New England has come

to light since Reed. Reed did not find Durfee’s first appearance in colonial records, perhaps because it occurred in a court records from Plymouth, Massachusetts. Thomas was listed “as a witness on a deed dated January 20, 1661(or June 28, 1661), wherein King Alexander (Wamsetta), elder brother of King Philip, and chief of the Wampanog Tribe, sold land to Peter Tallman, of Portsmouth, Newport County, R.I. Those who signed as witnesses were Richard Bulgar (alias Archer), Edward Lay, John Sasoman the Interpreter Indian, Thomas Durfi, and Alexander. Lay and Alexander signed with a mark, the others were able to write their names. From Rhode Island Land Evidence Volume 1, page 189, and Plymouth (MA) Court Records Volume 4 or 5.” See http://www.greenerpasture.com/Ancestors/Details/9344.

According to an article about Peter Tallman entitled “Miner Descendants,”:

Jan. 1661 – “Peter [Tallman] bought land from Wamsutta or King Alexander, as he was called by New England colonists, chief sachem of the Wapanoag Indians. Tallman was told by Plymouth Colony that if he sold land again outside Plymouth colony he would be arrested. He did and he was. Tallman was forced to return that land because the sale was deemed illegal by the colonial authorities.”

The article also said that “Tallman, was Solicitor General of Rhode Island in 1662 and records indicate he was volatile, stubborn, prone to dispute and lawsuits and had the first divorce in family history.” Id. The land sale between Wamsutta and Tallman is the earliest basis for speculation that Durfee was Tallman’s indentured servant.http://minerdescent.com/2010/05/14/peter-tallman/

The second record of Durfee’s existence, also missed by Reed, is found in Perry, Amos, The early records of the town of Portsmouth (1901). At the town meeting of May 12, 1662, it was: “Votted This Day Thomas Durfey admitted an inhabitant of this towne.” Ibid., p. 110. One would think that if Durfee had been an indentured servant, his indenture had expired by the point where he was voted an “inhabitant,” but two years later Peter Tallman

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petitioned the Court because of Durfee’s breach of his bond. See infra. Perhaps one could be an “inhabitant” while still being an indentured servant, which was not true if one wanted to become a “freeman.” Durfee did not become a freeman until 1673. The difference is discussed later.

The third type of record not mentioned by Reed is found in colonial Rhode Island (and Providence Plantations) court records. There are two sources for court records in this time period, Rhode Island Court Records, Records of the Court of Trials of the Colony of Providence Plantations, 1662-1670, volume II (1922)[hereinafter RCTCPP] and Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 1664-1677 (1857)[ hereinafter RCRIPP]. I have copied them verbatim, with their unusual spellings and curious syntax characteristic of the period.

Thomas Durfee’s first brush with the law was for selling powder to the Indians; he pleaded not guilty but was convicted. He then lost his temper and uttered words of great contempt, to which he pleaded guilty.

RCTCPP, October 13, 1663, p. 27: Thomas Durffee being Indicted for selling powder to the Indians and having ben Called and his Indictment Read before him and he being asked whether guiltye or not guiltye : his answer is he is not guilty and puts himselfe upon the Contry for Triall.[6]

6 It seems possible that Durfee, as an indenture, was doing Peter Tallman’s business here, consistent with his witnessing a land deal between Tallman and Wamsutta two years earlier, which might also explain his anger at his conviction. It also is understandable why the Colony wanted to keep gunpowder out of the hands of the Native Americans. The relations between the Native American population and the English settlers in the period before King Philip’s War in Rhode Island were strained, to say the least, and deteriorating. The English were constantly breaking promises and treaties, some were keeping Indians as slaves (until a law was passed forbidding that), the Native American population had discovered alcohol, and laws were passed to forbid its sale to them. Special permission was needed to enter the island. Several Natives were tried for criminal offenses but claimed that intoxication was a complete defense. See Perry, A., The Early Records of the town of Portsmouth (1901) pp. 70, 168, 188; https://archive.org/details/earlyrecordsofto02port/page/168 ; Arnold, Samuel, A History of the State of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations (1859), especially chapter X, “The Commencement of Philip’s War, June 1675, to the Trial of the Harris Causes, November 1677”, pp. 387-438; https://archive.org/details/historyofstateof01inarno/page/386 ; Crane, Elaine, Killed Strangely, The Death of Rebecca Cornell (2004), pp. 92-94. On January 14, 1684, Thomas was part of a coroner’s inquest where the panel found, after viewing the corpse of the Indian named Pawkanawcutt, that “Said Indian being much distempered with drinke was bewildered, and by the Extreamity

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The verdictt of the Jury is guilty. The sentance of the Court is that the Sayd Thomas Durfee doe pay a fine of five pound to the publick Tresury within Twentye Dayes or Else to be taken by Exicution Thomas Durifee being Indicted for Specking and uttering words of great Contempt aganst the government of this Collony and being Called and the Indictment Read before him hee Confeseth himselfe guilty and Referes himself to the bench The Sentance of the Court is that for his aforesd offense that hee Stand bound to his good behaviour in a bond of Twentye pound untill the next Court of Trialls for This Collony and not to depart with out leave of the Courte.It is ordered that the fine of five pounds that is Levied one Thomas Durffee the Court doe order the one halfe shall goe to the gennerall atornye and Solisseter to be Equally Divided betweext them.

(b) Salacious

The next necessary amendment to Reed involves his claim that he could not identify Thomas Durfee’s wife, i.e., “his first wife and mother of his sons we have never been able to learn anything about, and as this would be a great comfort to know it will be ever missed by the many who will ‘call her blessed.’” Descendants, p. 17. However, if Reed had access to Rhode Island Court Records as of October 1664, which he said he did, he must have been aware of the identity of the woman who bore Thomas Durfee’s children, as well as the scandalous origins of that relationship. He probably did not want to discomfort the persons who were underwriting the genealogy project or give them a reason to call her something other than “blessed.”

The court records in question begin in 1664 with the re-emergence of Peter Tallman, the man behind the illegal land deal with Wamsutta, which Durfee witnessed as his indentured servant. At this time, Tallman and his wife, Ann Hill, had seven children, ranging approximately from ages two to thirteen. By this time Durfee’s role as assistant to Tallman had evolved into something very different, culminating in Durfee’s making the volatile Tallman a cuckhold and breaking apart Tallman’s family. In the court record excerpts that follow, one can see how Durfee’s actions evolved from being

of the Cold Lost his Life . . .” See The early records, town of Portsmouth, supra, at 295-96, https://archive.org/details/earlyrecordsofto02port/page/296

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characterized as, (i) a breach of his bond (indenture, perhaps), to (ii) “insoelent carriadge with sayd Tallman’s wife,” to (iii)“unsuitable carriadge before the Court,” to (iii) being indicted for “taking good from peter Tollman.” Durfee is eventually convicted of fornication, while Tallman’s wife Ann is convicted of fornication twice. In the midst of all of these criminal proceedings, Tallman petitioned the court for divorce from Ann, and she confessed that the child she had borne was not Tallman’s and further that “she would rather cast herselfe on the mercy of God if he take away her life, than to returne” to Tallman. Rather than facing her punishment, paying a fine and being twice whipped, she escaped but later returned to the colony, presumably to begin a life with Tom.

These are the pertinent excerpts from the court records from that period:

RCTCPP, June 12, 1664, pp. 36-37: peter Tollman Doth Recognice himselfe unto his majestye Charles the second king of England &c: in the sume of Ten pounds to procicutt a bill of Indictment[7] that hee hath Drawne up aganst Thomas Durfee of portsmouth and to the full and true performance hearrof hee ownes himselfe fully Content Taken in Court Jury one Thomas Durfee bond Richard Tew fore Thomas Durfee being bound in a william weden bond of Twentye pound bearing James Swett peledg sherman william cadman henry percye Josua Coggshall Thomas Layton John Cowdall Petter Easton Date June the twelfe 1664 and being Called in Court is accused by petter Tollman for the breace of his bond The sayd Durfee plead not guiltye and puts him- selfe upon Triall - The verdict of the Jury wee find Thomas Durfee guiltye.

RCRIPP: October 24, 1664, p. 85: Upon the consideration of Thomas Durfees petitions that have been presented to this Court for remitting the fine that was layd upon him by the late Court of Trialles, for breach of his bond in October last: this Court doe not see cause to remitt any part of his fine.

Upon the consideration of Peter Tallmans petition, wherein hee complaines that by reason of the insoelent carriadge of Thomas

7 A personal indictment, “formally an appeal,” was “an arcane legal device . . . that had died out in England considerably earlier.” See Killed Strangely, supra, at 122 (discussing the personal indictment taken out by William Cornell against his sister-in-law in 1675). “Private prosecutions had never been widely used even in medieval England . . . That convictions were secured by appeal more readily than by ordinary indictments in the fifteenth century was a bit of esoteric information known only to a few in Rhode Island.” Id. If this truly was arcane knowledge, perhaps William Cornell was familiar with the Tallman/Durfee case from a decade earlier.

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Durfee with the sayd Tallmans wife, and the danger therein he expresseth hee stands in by reason therof, &c.: the Court doe order that the sayd Durfee be sent for, and admonished for his unsuitable carriadge before the Court.RCRIPP May 3, 1665, pp. 122-24: Upon a petition of Mr. Peter

Tollman, wherein hee petitiones for the Court to grant him a release from his wife, the Court doe advise that the Governor doe send a warrant to cause her to be brought before the Court to morrow morning by eight of the clock.

Whereas, Peter Tollman presented a petition to this Assembly, wherein hee desires this Court to grant him a divorse vpon grownds in his said petition alleaged; vpon which the Court called for Ann Tollman before them, and the aforesaid petition being read before her, and the question being asked what she did say to that which was said concearning her in the said petition : her answer was, "part thereof I owne, and part thereof I disowne." Being farther asked whether she did owne herselfe to be an adulteress ; she said she had given it vnder her hand that the child was none of his, and the writting vnder her hand to that purpose being read, and she being asked whether she did now owne what she had owned in that writting ? she did in open Court confesse, that it was the truth that the child was none of his begetting, and that it was begotten by another man. The Court haveing heard the confession of the abovesaid Ann Tollman, and considering the premises: It is ordered by free vote of the Assembly, that she, the aforesaid Ann Tollman is an adulteress. The Court having well and considerately wayed what has been declared by way of petition by Peter Tollman against Ann, his wife ; and her confession vpon her examination that she is guilty of adultery, &c. Vpon all which, the Court doe adjudge the said Ann Tollman to receive the penalty that the law hath provided for such an offence ; that is, whipping and fine, according to the law made May 22, 1655; which law doth determine that the person convicted of adultery, if living on the Island, shall be whipt at Portsmouth, receiving fifteene stripes ; and after a weeke respite, to be whipt at Newport, receiving fifteene stripes, and to pay a fine of ten pound to the Gennerall Treasurer: and the said Peter Tollman is adjudged to have his bill of divorce granted him. Ordered, that Ann Tollman, expressed in the aforesaid order, is appointed to receive the first punishment at Portsmouth, on Munday, being the 22d day of this instant May ; and the next Munday

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following, being the 29th day instant, to receive the second punishment of fifteene stripes at Newport ; and in the meane time to remaine in prison in safe custodye, as alsoe till the fine be payd. Vpon a petition of Ann Tollman, wherein she desires mercy from the Court, &c., and she being called before Court, and questioned whether she did intend in her petition to returne to her husband, to which her answer was, that she would rather cast herselfe on the mercy of God if he take away her life, than to returne. Vpon which the sentance of the Court is, that they see noe cause to reverse the sentance formerly gone forth against her.8

8In A History of the State of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations by Samuel Green Arnold (1859), https://archive.org/details/historyofstateof01arnol/page/n3, the Tallman episode is used to illustrate how the judicial system worked in colonial Rhode Island at that time, and how 19th century understandings of separation of powers did not apply:

The action of the General Assembly, in private cases, was not limited in these early times, to legislative measures. Indeed the Court of trials was made up from its members, and the whole body often exercised strictly judicial powers upon petition of individuals. Not only were divorces granted and a separate maintenance awarded to the wife, but the whole property of the husband was attached and held by the Assembly, until the provisions of the decree had been satisfied. In the case of John Porter, at this session, they went even further, and annulled all transfers of property, that had been made by him since the separation from his wife, which had not already been recorded. Upon his settling a satisfactory estate upon the wife these disabilities were removed. Criminal causes were likewise tried, upon petition, by the Assembly.Peter Tollman applied for a divorce from his wife on the ground of adultery. The woman, being brought before the Assembly, admitted the charge. The petition was granted at once, and then the criminal, upon her own confession, was arraigned for sentence. The penalty was a fine and whipping, and she was accordingly sentenced, by the terms of the law, to pay the fine of ten pounds, and to receive fifteen stripes at Portsmouth on the ensuing Monday, and on the following week another CHAP. fifteen stripes at Newport, and to be imprisoned until the sentence was fulfilled. Upon her petition for mercy the 1665 Court again examined her as to whether she intended to return to her husband. This she refused to do upon any terms. Her petition was denied, and she was remanded for punishment. The wide distinction recognized in our day between the three branches of government was not so early understood. Under the first patent the President and Assistants were executive officers, and had no share in legislation in virtue of their position. By the royal charter the governor and council became ex-officio legislators in common with the deputies, and all

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RCTCPP: May 8, 1665, pp. 38-39: Wheras Richard pearse of portsmouth one Rhod Iland in the Collony of Rhod Iland and providence plantationes or kings province was bound in a bond of fortye pound unto his majestye for the appearance of Thomas Durffe in the Court of Trialles held at newport may the 8th 1665 and the said Durffe appearing in Court The aforesaid pearce is freed from the aforesaid bond THE JURY ONE THOMAS DURFFE BEING INDICTED

Caleb Carr foreman John potter John peperdye francis brayton James man Josua CoggshallWheras Thomas Durffe Stood Indicted for felony in taking good from peter Tollman and haveing put himselfe upon the Triall of a Jury is by them found guiltye. The sentance of the Court is that the said Thomas Durffe shall whipe Benjamin wild who is by the Court Sentanced to be whipt and to Recive fifteene stripes and upon soe Doeing the said Durffe is to be freed paying fees.

[DRDJr: Shortly after the divorce two things happened. First, Ann Tallman fled the colony. “While some state she went to her brother in Virginia, other evidence indicates she went to nearby Plymouth Colony. Plymouth Colony records of August 1, 1665 indicate a “John Arther” appeared, summoned “to answare for abusive speeches and for entertaining the wife of one Talmon and the wife of William Tubbs.” In any case, she remained away from Aquidneck for two years. If she had remained in nearby Plymouth this whole time, certainly Durfee could have visited her.” See note 7, infra. See also Rick Durfey Balmer, Revised Story of Ann Hill Tallman and Thomas Durfee. https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/durfee/819/Second, Peter Tallman remarried on July 24, 1665, to Joan Briggs, which may seem hasty until one considers that he had several small children to raise after Ann had fled the colony.]

RCRIPP May 1, 1667, pp. 187-88: 5. Whereas, Ann, late wife to Peter Talman, of Portsmouth, was at the Generall Assembly, held May 3, 1665, sentanced to be whipt at the towne of Portsmouth and at the towne of Newport, and she at the time escapeinge the exicution of that sentence: and this Assembly being alike exercised judicial powers. At this time they sat together as one House of Assembly, and although a movement was made the next year to alter this system, it was still thirty years before the two bodies were fully recognized as separate and co-ordinate branches of the legislature, and more than eighty years before judicial powers ceased to be exercised by them, upon the establishment of a supreme court of judicature. Pp. 320-21.

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informed that she is now againe come into the Collony, it is ordered, that warrant shall be forthwith issued forth from this Assembly to any Constable forthwith, to apprehend the body of the sayd Ann, and bring her before this Assembly, in which warrant the Constable shall be authorized, if need be, to command and require suffitient ayde ; and the sayd warrant shall be signed by the Clarke of this Assembly.6. Whereas, Anthony Emery, Constable for the towne of Portsmouth, who by warrant from this Court, was commanded to apprehend and bringe the body of Ann, late wife of Peter Talman, of Portsmouth; and he accordingly haveinge performed his office and brought the sayd person before this Assembly, the Court doe order that Capt. Morris shall supply the sayd Constable with necessary provisions and drink, and shall be payd therefor by the Treasury; and that the sayd Constable shall be allowed and payed for his paines and travill therein, and she is committed to the Sergants keepeinge.7. Whereas, the aforesayd Ann Talman was at the Generall Assembly, held the 3d of May, 1665, sentenced to be twice whipt, which by her escape was not then exicuted; and whereas she hath petitioned this Assembly for mercy, the Court doe- agree and order, that one halfe of her punishment shall be remitted, soe that she shall be but once whipt with fifteene stripes, at the towne of Newport ; and this sentence to be exicuted at the discression and appoyntment of the Governor and Councill ; and the fine she was then fyned is wholly remitted.[9][From Rick Durfey Balmer’s “Revised Story of Ann Hill Tallman and Thomas Durfee, @ https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/durfee/819/:6 May 1667. Anthony Emery, the constable of Portsmouth is to be paid 15s for "his paines and trouble in aprihendinge and bringinge Mrs Ann Tolman to the Genrl Asembly and that the Sayd Ann Tolman doe pay the Same before she be Released and the sd sum to be noe president for the future." She, "late wife to peter Tolman," is to pay Richard Stours 6/8 "for

9 Richard Bayles, in History of Newport County, Rhode Island From the year 1638 to the year 1887, including the settlement of its towns, and their subsequent progress (1888), pp. 628-29, discusses the prevalence of the use of the “stock and whipping post” at that time, saying, “Marriage relations were frequently disturbed, and such disturbance gave rise to much business, which was referred to the general court. Cases of adultery, fornication, divorce and family jars were frequent. Once case is of such peculiar interest that we are justified in giving it at great length.” That case was the Ann Tallman’s.

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Exicuting the Courts sentance on her," and she is also to pay all ct charges.] [10]

RCTCPP: May 11, 1668, pp. 65-66: The Genrl Court of Tryalls Held At Newport the llth of May 1668Upon an Indictment against Thomas Dorfie for Fornication, he beinge mandamassed and in Court called, Did not apeere yett after apeereinge and Under his hand owneinge Guilty the Court doe sentance him to be whipt with 15 stripes in the Towne of portsm. or pay a fine of forty shills to the Genrl Treasury: and pay Court Fees.Ann late wife to peter Talman being Indicted for Fornication and beinge in Court Cald did not apeere the Court doe juge her Guilty of the Charge The Court doe Sentance her this beinge the second offence to be twice whipt according to law or pay a fine of Fower pounds and pay Court Fees.

[DRDJr.: Two paragraphs later in the same court record, Tallman was found guilty of breach of the peace, without naming the conduct, and was fined thirty shillings.

What is amazing to me is Thomas Durfee and Ann Tallman after all of this very open and notorious activity somehow were able to carry on a life together, in a very small town where intercourse of a non-sexual variety with one’s neighbors could not be avoided.11 Rick Durfey Balmer, in “Revised 10 If Richard Durfee was born November 29, 1667, as the records on Ancestry.com indicate, then he would have been conceived between March 4th and 12th. The reappearance of his mother in Portsmouth in court may have been connected to that fact.11 According to Gleanings from the Judicial History of Rhode Island (1883), by Thomas Durfee (the jurist), Rhode Island was not as puritanical as some of the other colonies, and for the time period we are discussing “sexual incontinence” was surprisingly common:

A striking feature of the old record is the extraordinary prevalence of sexual offences. Thirteen indictments for such offenses appear at one term in 1672, and all along through the fifteen years of the record, they constantly predominate. The indication is that this debasing form of immorality, not localized but generally diffused, had become a flagrant evil, polluting the sources of society. The indication is corroborated by other evidence. The colonial records show that in 1655 the evil was so notorious that complaints of it had been made to the great Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, and that the Colony, to avert rebuke, had enacted stringent laws for its abatement. This condition is not inexplicable. Two centuries ago incontinence was far more prevalent, and was regarded as a much more venial and less vulgar vice, then it is now. A regeneration of society in this respect was one of the

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Story of Ann Hill Tallman (c.1633-c.1683) & Thomas Durfee (1643-1712)”, posted on June 26, 2008, (@ http://genforum.genealogy.com/durfee/messages/819.htmlhttp://genforum.genealogy.com/durfee/messages/819.html), addressed the question of what happened after these forays into the Rhode Island court system:

DID ANY RECONCILIATION TAKE PLACE IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE DIVORCE SCANDAL? While there must have been a tremendous amount of social ostracism, there is a good deal of evidence that at

chief aims of puritanism; and, by a natural reaction, the early Puritans became almost as much too rigid, as the wicked world from which they had separated themselves was too relaxed. In New England, Rhode Island was the favorite, and indeed the only, refuge from the moral as well as the religious rigor of puritanism; and hence it is not surprising that many, who immigrated here to enjoy what quaint Gregory Dexter called “the sweet cup of Liberty,” drank of it too eagerly, and fell into excesses. The way of life many of them in the new plantations here, isolated from their fellows, tended naturally to a dissolution of moral and social restraints; and moreover to many of them that life, when freed of its dangers, was doubtless felt to be so utterly monotonous and stupid that they hungered fiercely after relief, and found it, according to their characters, either in the fervors of religion or theological controversy, or in the coarse excitements of intoxication and carnal excess. It is somewhat difficult for us to understand this fully: for we with our books, newspapers, amusements, -- our intellectual and social resources of all kinds, -- cannot adequately conceive the miserable vacuity of a life without them. At any rate the evil grew until it was felt to be too portentious to be neglected any longer. The old court record shows what strenuous efforts were made to extirpate it. Offenders of both sexes were indifferently prosecuted and punished. They were prosecuted, even after marriage, for anticipating the nuptial night. The punishment was severe: for women it was barbarous, if they were poor, being a public whipping of fifteen stripes or a fine of forty shillings. In that age the lash was the common instrument of correction, and, during court week, the old whipping post at Newport must have rung continually with its reverberations. Pp. 140-42.

Thomas Durfee (the jurist) in 1883 undoubtedly knew that he was directly descended from one of those women. The Tallman case had some notoriety in the middle to late 19th century. Ann Tallman’s troubles were mentioned in History of Newport County, Rhode Island, From the year 1638 to the year 1887, including the settlement of its towns, and their subsequent progress (1888) (ed. Richard M. Bayles), p. 628, and in “A History of the State of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations,” by Samuel Green Arnold (1859), and can be inferred from the court records in Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (1856)

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least Tom Durfee came into “good graces” eventually, and if Ann remained with him until at least 1682 their relationship must have been unofficially recognized, even if they still were never legally married. And, while Ann must have been separated from all her children by Peter Tallman around the time of the divorce, at least some of them did not remain distant from her later in life. To recap some relevant items:• In 1673 Tom was made a freeman of Portsmouth at age 30. This would normally have occurred closer to age 21 and may have been a sign of his coming back “into favor”. All the town offices he held later in life would reinforce this.• The 1682 land deed to John Tallman indicates that this son from Ann’s first marriage was likely reconciled and even possibly close to both Tom and Ann.• In 1683 Tom bought eight acres at Common Fence in Portsmouth from Peter Tallman Jr. Would this other Tallman son have had dealings with the man who caused his parents’ divorce? He was around nine at the time of the divorce, and possibly was reconciled.• On 23 Sep 1708 Peter Tallman’s son Benjamin (by his second wife) married Patience Durfee, Tom Durfee's daughter by his later wife Deliverance. Would Tallman Sr. have permitted the marriage of his son to the daughter of a man who seduced his first wife? This does not seem likely, but Tallman did die on 1 April 1708, so the timing of the marriage could explain that. [DRDJr.: There also would been consanguinity problems if Ann Hill had been Patience Durfee’s mother.]• In Tom’s will of 1710 he gave a bequest to Ann Potter, probably Ann Hill’s daughter from her first marriage, years after Ann Hill had died. This would imply Tom had been close to another child of Ann and Peter.GIVEN THE EVIDENCE OF “RECONCILIATION”, WHY DID TOM AND ANN NEVER MARRY? Apparently, they were “as married as they could be.” Reference the book in SOURCES below by Dr. Mary Beth Norton of the History Dept. of Cornell University. She is an expert on 17th century women and a descendant of Ann and Peter Tallman. The book emphasizes that while magistrates in New England recognized formal

(Bartlett). Those records would have been available to Reed.

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civil ceremonies as a definition of marriage, many settlers did not. Instead, they followed old English tradition where two conditions constituted a marriage: mutual consent (often by marriage contract) and sexual intercourse. This frequently led to prosecutions where premarital sex was charged as “fornication” by the authorities.Additionally, in an email to me, Dr. Norton stated:

And I underscore that as the guilty party in a divorce on grounds of adultery she [Ann Hill Tallman] would not have been allowed to remarry legally, [12] so she was never Durfee's "wife." On the other hand, she would not have been alone in 17th c. NE [New England] in such a relationship. I discuss other examples of people living together for years and having children without being legally married (though for reasons other than this one) in my 1996 book, Founding Mothers & Fathers. Early NE had lots of rules about who could marry, and not everyone who wanted to marry fulfilled them, .so the rules were sometimes ignored. But no wonder she is mysterious as a wife of Durfee, since she wasn't one by law at the time.

This makes sense to me. Peter Tallman was allowed to remarry (and did so almost immediately to Joan Briggs) as the innocent party in the divorce. If Ann and Tom were able to marry, they would have done so as soon as possible after the divorce, or at least after her return to Rhode Island. Instead, they apparently felt a bond strong enough to face legal charges for a second time and persevered in their relationship, acting as though they were married, and were apparently partially or largely accepted as time passed.

DRDJr.: Another possibility is that there may have been a measure of sympathy for Ann, late wife of Peter, notwithstanding the reason for the divorce. Tallman appears to have been particularly unlikeable and his removal to Connecticut and Long Island probably was not a sad occasion for the residents of Portsmouth. 13 12DRDJR: In the Bible, when an adulterous relationship has brought about a divorce, the party who is innocent of adultery has a right to remarry (Matthew 5:32). The right to marry anyone guilty of adultery is denied and as well as to marry anyone who obtained divorce for the express purpose of remarriage (Mark 10:11 & 12).13 DRDJR: On October 14, 1662, he was sued by John Hodson on behalf of his mother-in-law, Ann Elton, for cheating her and her children out of 300 pounds, a debt that originated in the late fall of 1649. See Records of the Court of Trials of the Colony of Providence Plantations, Volume II, pp. 8-11. One of the things Hodson requested was for the commissioners to call before them “petter Tallman or

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Further information on Thomas’s rehabilitation was presented by Osborn Keith Wheeler:

Thomas was admitted a freeman of Portsmouth in 1673[14] and served on a petit jury in 1677. He was elected Constable for one-year terms in 1687 and 1690. He was chosen one of the Overseers of the Poor in 1691 and made a Deputy that same year and again in 1694. He was elected to the town council in 1692 and again in 1694. It appears that the townspeople had forgiven if not forgotten his sin. I wonder what Peter Tallman was like -- in 1683 he had moved to Guilford, near New

his wife or any other parson or parsons” and “them Examine upon oath of otherwise where the money goodes Cattle or Lands or Howses or any other Estate or depts … [could be].” Hodson also asked them to “sease into your hands to the value of 300 li as also all his negers” and by their commission they would be “inactted to break open and Enter: if peacable Entrance be Denied … any howse or howssses … or tronke …” One certainly can sympathize with Ann’s predicament in this festering dispute between her husband and her mother, especially since there may have been merit in her mother’s claims. In the May 11, 1668 session of court (the same session where Ann did not appear and was sentenced to be whipped) it is reported that “Martha Lay, the wife of Edward lay Doth before the Court beinge Ingaged profes that She still is in feare of Mr Talman and feares that at some time other he will murther her.” Talman paid a bond of twenty pounds and was ordered to appear at the next court of tryalls. Id. (Edward Lay was one of the witnesses, along with Thomas Durfee, to the land sale from Wamsutta (Prince Philip) to Tallman.) As previously noted, Tallman was also fined for breach of the peace in that same session. 14DRDJR: Remember that he was admitted as an “inhabitant” in 1662. It is unclear to me whether that meant that he was no longer an indentured servant, if he ever was. I do not know whether being indentured would have been incompatible with being an inhabitant. In contrast, Indentured servants could not become “freemen.” The difference was explained in HISTORY STATE OF RHODE ISLAND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS, by Samuel Greene Arnold, VOL. I. 1636—1700 (1859) p. 256, as follows:

The difference between an inhabitant and a freeman should be borne in mind. Not every resident was a legal inhabitant. Some time elapsed after one's arrival in the colony before he could- be received as an inhabitant, participating thereby in certain rights to the common lands, doing jury duty, and being eligible to some of the lesser town offices. If his conduct while thus situated gave satisfaction he might be propounded at town meeting to become a freeman, and if no valid objection was brought against him, at the next meeting he was admitted to all the rights of the freemen, or close corporators of the colony.

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Haven, Connecticut, and sold eight acres of Portsmouth land to Thomas Durfee for £12. In 1679 licenses were granted to Thomas and several others to 'sell vituals and drink to travelers, and to afford them Entertainment as may be needful and convenient; they first giving bond according to law for the keeping of good order and to also pay into the treasury ten shillings for each license.' By 1698 he had married Deliverance (Hall) Tripp, a widow, and they were given permission to run a ferry between Rhode Island and Bristol until her son came of age seven years later. ...'"

http://www.wheelerfolk.org/keithgen/d1043.htm.One additional note, to put these times into perspective, the

population for all of Rhode Island in 1660 was 1,539 and 2,155 in 1670.15 In Killed Strangely, The Death of Rebecca Cornell (2002)16, Elaine Forman Crane

In the earlier years an admission as freeman sometimes brought with it a joint ownership in the land purchased, but soon it came to convey only the elective franchise, and even this was not always confined to freemen, for afterwards by a town law in Providence1 any inhabitant was liable to be elected to office and finable for not serving. Two years later all who held lands in the town were declared to be freemen. This latter feature remained, with some modifications, till the adoption of the State Constitution.

See also THE SUFFRAGE FRANCHISE IN THE THIRTEEN ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA, Albert Edward McKinley (1905) p. 436.

Thus to become an inhabitant of one of the towns a person must first be accepted by the town; in most cases he must make a pecuniary payment; he was required to submit to the town government and promise to bring in no other authority; and he might be required to submit to various other conditions concerning the use of his land. Yet even admission as an inhabitant under all these restrictions did not necessarily make a man a freeman or voter of the town in which he was resident.

15 http://web.viu.ca/davies/H320/population. colonies.htm.16 Killed Strangely is about another notorious criminal case from Portsmouth, in the decade between 1665 and 1675, that generated commentary centuries later. Rebecca Briggs Cornell, the wife of the first Cornell in America, died mysteriously in a fire in her home in 1673. Her son Thomas, who lived with her, eventually was accused of the murder. Based on a combination of hearsay evidence, dream evidence that came from her brother, and a fair helping of gossip concerning the relationship between the son and his mother, Thomas was found guilty and hanged for the offense. That did not stop others from being accused of the crime even after his execution. Thomas Durfee (the jurist), wrote about the trial in Gleanings from the Judicial History of Rhode Island (1883). Rebecca Briggs Cornell is my

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estimated that “Portsmouth had a total population of roughly 473 in 1655 and perhaps no more than 500 in 1673” and that in 1708, Portsmouth had 628 inhabitants and 98 freemen. Ibid., pp. 91-92. In sum, there would have been no way for Thomas and Ann to escape public shame by escaping into the crowd.

I have been curious whether Thomas’s arrival in Portsmouth, Rhode Island reflected a purposeful desire for a measure of religious freedom or was merely coincidental. Durfee immigrated specifically to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, when Portsmouth at that time had become a haven of sorts of religious tolerance, particularly regarding the Quakers.17 If he was seeking religious freedom, Portsmouth at that time was the right place. We shall see throughout this monograph several connections between Durfees and Quakers.

When all the information is considered, the picture that emerges is much more colorful than Reed’s depiction. His father may have been a member of Oliver Cromwell’s army who died when he was an infant. He may

tenth great-grandmother and is one of several ancestors from the Cornell family. 17 Portsmouth is famous for the “Portsmouth Compact,” which was entered into by the town’s founders in 1638. There is a national register of historic places marker there today that is inscribed, “Erected to honor the memory and perpetuate the spirit and ideals of the founders of the first government in the world to allow and to insure to its citizens civil and religious liberty.” Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (1856) pp. 374-80. Tolerance of the Quakers in particular is seen in the government of the Colony of Rhode Island’s reply to a letter of complaint about a threat from Quakers from the neighboring Plymouth Plantation on October 13th, 1657, which said: “And as these quakers (so called), which are now among us, we have no law among us, whereby to punish any for only declaring by words, &c., theire mindes and understandings concerning the things and ways of God, as to salvation and an eternal condition. . . . surely we find that they delight to be persecuted by civill powers, and when they are soe, they are like to gain more adherents by the conseyte of their patient sufferings, than by consent to their pernicious sayings.” See also History of Newport County, Rhode Island, From the year 1638 to the year 1887, including the settlement of its towns, and their subsequent progress. (1888) (Ed. Richard M. Bayles) p. 443. According to Reed’s history, Thomas Durfee Jr. (our ancestor) and his wife Ann were Quakers. A century later, Lemuel Durfee, brother of Earle Durfee, was a Quaker. Donna Hill, JOSEPH SMITH: THE FIRST MORMON. An affidavit on behalf of Lemuel Durfee’s widow’s Revolutionary War pension application came from Peter Harris. A co-affiant, C. H. Palmer, vouched for Stephen Durfee and Peter Harris, saying that “they are men of first respectability, and entitled to belief [I/] belong to the Society of Friends, or Quakers, that the man Peter Harris is an acknowledged Preacher of that [ ? ].”

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have been the uncle of an playwright of the same name who was famous for bawdy plays and songs. 18 The Huguenot connection might be merely a fable repeated so often over the centuries that it has become, in the words of the law of evidence, an “ancient record” and accepted as true for that reason. We see a man who came over to the Quaker confines of Portsmouth, maybe for religious reasons and maybe as an indentured servant, was witness to a questionable land deal involving his boss and an Indian sachem, sold gunpowder to the Indians, was guilty of that quaint term, “insolent carriage,” was sued by his boss for breach of his bond and responded by seducing and impregnating the boss’s wife, and then started his own family with her. Somehow, they maintained a life together in a small town in New England for approximately two decades after Ann’s divorce. We are the descendants of the third of Tom’s and Ann’s four illegitimate children.

At this point I will turn the story back to Reed, and The Descendants: Their [Thomas and Ann’s]19 children wore (born in Portsmouth, R.I.)2.—1st. Robert, born March 10, 1665.3.—2d. Richard. [born about 1667]4.—3d. Thomas. [Born 28 Mar 1669 in Portsmouth, Newport County, RI and died on 11 Feb 1729 in Portsmouth, Newport County, RI, at age 59. We are descended from him.] 18 John Fowles’ novel, The Magus, begins with the protagonist, Nicholas Urfe, a young British graduate who is teaching English on a small Greek island, saying:

The wishful tradition is that our family came over from France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes — noble Huguenots remotely allied to Honoré d'Urfe, author of the seventeenth-century bestseller L'Astrée. Certainly — if one excludes another equally unsubstantiated link with Tom Durfey, Charles II's scribbling friend — no other of my ancestors showed any artistic leanings whatever; generation after generation of captains, clergymen, sailors, squirelings, with only a uniform lack of distinction and a marked penchant for gambling, and losing, to characterize them.

19 One wonders what sort of relationship existed between the children that Ann had with Peter Tallman and the children that she had with Thomas. Seven years after the divorce, Susanna Tallman appeared in the records for the court in Newport. Roger Goulding earlier had been ordered to put in sufficient bail – 50 pounds – “to secure the town of Portsmouth harmless from a bastard child, borne by Susanah Talman.” Goulding, the reputed father, appealed and in a trial presided over by his future father-in-law, Governor Benedict Arnold, was acquitted. Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 1664-1677, p. 480.

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5.—4th. William, born about 1673.6.—5th. Ann.7.—6th. Benjamin, born in 1679 [and died on 6 Jan 1754 in Newport, Newport County, RI, at age 75.]20

Mr. Durfee married a second time in Portsmouth, R. I., to Deliverance (Hall) Tripp (widow of Abiel Tripp), daughter of William and Mary ( ) Hall. Born inPortsmouth, R. I., where she died in February 1721.Their children were8.—Ist. Patience.9.—2d. Deliverance.R4. Durfee, Thomas (Thomas, 1st). Son of Thomas and first wife, of Portsmouth, R. I.; born in Portsmouth, R. I; died in Portsmouth, R. I., February 24, 1729; married in Portsmouth, R. I., to Ann Freeborn, of Portsmouth, R. I., daughter of Gideon and Sarah (Brownell) Freeborn, Born in Portsmouth, R. I., March 28, 1669; died in Portsmouth, R. I., in 1729. Thomas and Ann were members of the Society of Friends, Quakers.Their children were:22.— 1st. Ann, born August 25, 1691.23.— 2d. Sarah, bom March 1, 1693.24.— 3d. Freeborn, born December 15, 1695.25.— 4th. Patience, born June 12, 1697.26.— 5th. Mary, born January 22, 1701.27.— 6th. Martha, born February 20, 1702.28.— 7th. Gideon, born January 15, 1704.29.— 8th. Thomas, born June 6, 1706.30.— 9th. Susanna, .31.—10th. Job, born in 1710.32.—11th. Elizabeth.***20 This material with specific birthdates comes from: http://bruce.graham.free.fr/family/genealogy/durfee.htm

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BIOGRAPHY OF THOMAS DURFEE, JR.Thomas Durfee, Jr., was a member of the General Assembly of the Colony of Rhode Island in 1707-1709 and 1713. His wife was Ann Freeborn, and the high estimation placed upon her father, Gideon Freeborn,21 by his fellow townsmen, in calling him to represent them in the General Assembly of the Colony, is evidence of his good citizenship; her brother, Gideon Freeborn, succeeding also to the honors of his father, represented Portsmouth in the General Assembly in the years 1716-1728 and 1729, and Gideon Freeborn, son of Gideon second, succeeded to the same honors in the years 1745, 1752, 1753 and 1754. The grandfather of Mrs. Durfee (Ann Freeborn) was William Freeborn, who "embarked from Ipswich, Suffolk Co., England, in the Frances, for New England, on the 10th of April, 1634." . . .22 (See page 54, " Founders of New England," by L. G. Drake.)Reed at 23-27.

DRDJR: Reed reproduces the will of Thomas Durfee, 2d, and he appears to have had a sizable estate. The will was dated February 9, 1729, and, with respect to Job, our ancestor, states, “His son Job, being under age, choose his uncle Gideon Freeborn for guardian . . .”23 31. Durfee, Job (Thomas 2d, Thomas 1st). Son of Thomas and Ann (Freeborn) Durfee; born in Portsmouth, R. I., in 1710 ; died in Tiverton, R. I., 21Susanna Freeborne’s mother was Sarah Brownell, 1641-1676, and her grandfather was Thomas Brownell, 1608-1665. The Brownells, like the Cornells and the Durfees, started in Portsmouth but later branches of their family trees were to move into the area around Cambridge, New York, after the Revolution. 22Ann Freeborn was the daughter of Sarah Brownell Freeborn. See Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Thomas Brownell, 1619-1910, by George Grant Brownell. The Brownells arrived in Portsmouth no later than 1647. They are another Portsmouth family who had a branch move to the Cambridge, Hoosick Falls, Easton area. 23 To Gideon, Thomas, and Job, he also left “Inventory £550 12s, viz: “Wearing apparel £23 10s, pocket-book, razor, spectacles, etc. 13£, books 1£, money scales, his tailor shears, goose, box-iron, heaters, stillyards, spinning-wheel, half a pair of worsted combs, negro man, and bed 40£, poultry 3£ 5 s 3d, horse kind £53, neat cattle and hay £158 10s, sheep £62 10s, swine 11£ 10s, etc.” It is unsettling to be reminded that one’s ancestors owned other human beings and profoundly disquieting when one sees that a monetary value was placed on that ownership, a value relative to the value of clothing, hay, cattle, shears, and horses. They also had plenty of company. Newport, Rhode Island at the time was the leading slave port of the colonies and the economy of Rhode Island, a beacon of religious tolerance, was largely dependent on the triangle slave trade.

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in April, 1774 ; married in Portsmouth, R. I., September 17, 1730, to Elizabeth Chase, of Tiverton, R. I., daughter of Benjamin and Amey (Borden) Chase ; born in Portsmouth, R. I., June 16, 1701 ; died in Portsmouth, R. I., about 1734.Their only child: Thomas, born March 25, 1732; was probably lost at sea when a young man.Mr. Durfee married a second time in Portsmouth, R. I., to Mary Earle24, daughter of John and Mary (Wait) Earle; born in Portsmouth, R. I., February 19, 1703; died in Tiverton, R. I.25

Their children were:94.—1st. Elizabeth, born July 12, 1735.95.-2(1. John, born August 31, 1736.96.—3d. Gideon, born February 6, 1738. 97._4th. Earle, born September 16, 1740 (lost at sea with brother Thomas).98.—5th. Job, born August 26, 1744.Mr. Durfee married a third time in Freetown, Mass., April 8, 1762, to Sarah Bayton, of Freetown, Mass. (who died without issue).He became a freeman of the town of Portsmouth, R. I., in May, 1731. He purchased of Joseph Cook in 1736-37 the nineteenth lot or share of Pocasset purchase on Stafford Road, in the town of Tiverton, R. I. He built a house on this land in 1737, which became his home for life, and it is in a good state of preservation at the present date, and has always been owned by his posterity. He was chosen a Deputy to the General Assembly of Rhode Island in 1761-62 and '64. . . See Reed 126-30] Descendants, etc. pp. 215-16:

24 Hence, Earle Durfee’s Christian name. One can also see how the name Gideon came to be passed along in the family. The Earle family was one of the leading families of Portsmouth, so this was another instance of a Durfee rising above the family’s humble beginnings through marriage. Another Earle connection was that Sarah Earle was the wife of Thomas Cornell, the man who was convicted of murdering his mother, Rebecca Briggs Cornell. After Thomas Cornell was executed, Sarah remarried to David Lake. David Lake was the direct ancestor of Patience Lake, wife of Earle Durfee. 25Ancestry.com estimates that they were married in 1734.

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96. Durfee, Gideon (Job 3d, Thomas 2d, Thomas 1st). Son of Job and Mary (Earle) Durfee, of Portsmouth and Tiverton, R. I.; born in Tiverton, R. I., February 17, 1738; died in Palmyra, N. Y., September 12, 1814 ; married in Tiverton, R. I., March 10, 1757, to Anna Bowen [26]; born August 21,1738; died in Palmyra, N. Y., October 20, 1821.Their children were:210.—1st. Earle, born October 27, 1757. [27]

211. 2d. Lemuel, born April 18, 1759.212.—3d. Mary, born December 2, 1761.213.—4th. Job, born September 17, 1763.214.—5th. Gideon, born February 21, 1765.215.—6th. Hannah, born July 27, 1766.216.—7th. Elizabeth, born March 29, 1768.217.—8th. Pardon, born January 24, 1770.218.—9th. Edward, born December 10, 1771.219.—10th. Ruth, born March 13, 1774.220.—llth. Stephen, born April 28, 1776.221.—12. Anna, born March 18,1780; died before 1791.

Reed, continued: The residence of Gideon Durfee, while in Tiverton, R. I., was on that portion of the estate of his father near Watupper Pond bequeathed to him in his father's will, until he removed with his family to Wayne County, New York.

He held a commission as Lieutenant of Militia from George III, King of England, and this document was in later years a relic in the possession of his grandson, Philo Durfee (deceased). "Nevertheless, when the War of the

26DRDJR: Anna Bowen’s mother was a member of the Cornell family, descended from Thomas Cornell and Rebecca Briggs Cornell. The family lines cross on at least two more occasions after the branches had moved into Washington County, New York. 27The math is interesting. According to an online site, “With a very high probability the conception took place between 20 January 1757 and 16 February 1757. This is the time span for full-term babies. For about 90% of all newborns the delivery is at term.”

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Revolution broke out, he was a sturdy patriot,28 and was enrolled and served as a minute man; at the same time sending his two eldest sons to serve in the Revolutionary Army."" They were under the command of General Sullivan during his famous retreat from Rhode Island. Shortly after the close of the war his two sons, Earle and Lemuel, removed from Tiverton29 and settled in Cambridge, New York. About seven years later, in the spring of 1791 Mr. Durfee, with his wife and children, set out on their journey to Wayne County, New York. . . . 210. Durfee, Earle (Gideon 4th, Job 3d, Thomas 2d, Thomas 1st). Son of Gideon and Anne (Bowen) Durfee, of Tiverton, R. I., and Palmyra, N. Y.; born in Tiverton, R. I. October 27, 1757 ; died in So. Cambridge, N. Y., May 24, 1839; married in Tiverton, R. I., November 17, 1776, to Patience Lake, of Tiverton, R. I., daughter of Joseph; died in So. Cambridge, N. Y., March 27, 1813.Their children were:464.—1st. Abraham, born June 10, 1777.[30]

465.—2d. Mary, born July 2, 1780.

2820. DRDJR: According to the DAR, “Gideon Durfee served as private in Capt. Peleg Simmons' company, Col. C. Olney's regiment on the Tiverton Alarm.” That amounted to six or eight days' service. On July 27th, a group of militia from Easton was summoned to aid the French in driving away a rumored 8,000 British men. When the company arrived, however, the British had sailed away, so the militia was dismissed. Much to everyone's alarm, the British returned and everyone was immediately called back, including two more Easton companies . . . Though the British were present, it soon became evident that no attack was to be made. Approximately a week later, the militia marched home "covered with dust but not with glory". http://lindsaygenealogy.tripod.com/404.htm] 29DRDJR: It appears that after the Revolution several Quakers from Rhode Island settled in the Easton, New York area, which is the town neighboring Cambridge. Gideon, Lemuel, and Stephen Durfee are known to have been Quakers. See John L. Brooke, “The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology,” 1644-1844, pp. 62-63, 154; The Post Star, Sep 15, 1995, “Quakers recall act of peace during American Revolution” by Anne Simko. From there, many moved to Palmyra. See http://harrisfamilynews.com/direct_harris_nathan.htm30Another instance of interesting gestational math. According to a “conception date calculator available online, “With a very high probability the conception took place between 3 September 1776 and 30 September 1776. This is the time span for full-term babies. For about 90% of all newborns the delivery is at term.”

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466.—3d. Gideon, born March 30, 1782.467.—4th. Tabitha, born February 14, 1784; died January 10, 1819.468.—5th. Joseph, twins; born February 7, 1787;[31]469.—6th. Benjamin, died September 24, 1790.

DRD: It has already been established, through Reed’s discussion of Gideon Durfee, Earle’s father, that after the war Earle and his brother Lemuel moved from Tiverton, Rhode Island to Cambridge, New York. An application that Earle made for a Revolutionary War pension in 1833 stated that he and Lemuel had left Tiverton in the spring of 1784. The land records office for Washington County contains an “indenture” from Esek Wood to Lemuel dated August 26, 1784, where the property is exchanged for “seventy-eight pounds current lawful money.” The County Historian did not find any land records for Earl for the eighteenth century. I will discuss Earl’s land ownership records later.

Reed also says that after Gideon and Earle’s and Lemuel’s brothers had begun taking steps to move to western New York, Lemuel eventually joined them in 1794. Both Earl and Lemuel did appear in United States census records for 1790 for Cambridge, New York, when it was still part of Albany County. Although Lemuel will receive his own treatment later or what happened in his life after his move to Palmyra, the actual records of his residency in Cambridge are a bit of a muddle. Lemuel did not appear to make the clean break from Cambridge that Reed described and may have been maintaining dual residences. As noted, Earl and Lemuel were listed as residents of Cambridge Town, Albany County, in the 1790 First Census of the United States. Earl was listed in minutes of the Cambridge town meetings in April 1792 and April 1793. Lemuel was listed as attending the Cambridge town meeting in April 1797 and was listed as a resident of both Cambridge and Palmyra New York in the 1800 census. (Moreover, sometimes their 31[DRDJr: The gravestone in the Durfee cemetery indicates that Joseph died February 1, 1824. Buried next to him is Hannah Durfee, who predeceased him on May 9, 1822, in her 26th year. In Joseph’s will, in which he attested on February 1, 1824 (the date of his death) to “being weak in body but of sound and disposing mind,” he disposed of his estate by leaving everything but $100 to his son Benjamin, for his support and maintenance. The $100 he left to his Mary Sprague. Benjamin’s existence is corroborated by the 1820 U.S. Census, which indicates that his household contained one adult male, one adult female, and one male child. Until the discovery of his father’s will, I did not know about his son Benjamin, who must have been named after his twin brother who died in 1790. We still do not know much, because there is no further record of him. Interestingly, the above-mentioned Mary Sprague and her husband had someone listed as a son whose estimated birthdate preceded the day of their marriage, a son whose name was Benjamin Franklin Tripp. On his death certificate, the names of his parents are left blank.

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last name was spelled, “Durfey.”) According to Reed, Lemuel’s son Oliver was born in Palmyra in 1792 and daughter Prudence was born in Cambridge in 1796. Volume 2, pp. 65-67.

What also is puzzling is why Lemuel left to rejoin the rest of his family in Wayne County, New York, while Earl stayed. For Lemuel, the move meant leaving a homestead that he had barely begun to establish, through what must have been backbreaking labor, to another pioneer area where he would have had to start over again. Maybe Earl had reluctantly left Tiverton to get away from his family while Lemuel had reluctantly left his family to get away from Tiverton. Maybe they were different personalities. Records exist that show that Gideon, the father, and Lemuel and their brother Stephen, were Quakers. I have not found any records that show that Earl was a Quaker.32 By way of contrast, cemetery records for the Durfee plot in Cambridge show two tombstones for members of the Kirby family, Henry and Nancy, and the Historical Data Services speculates that the Kirbys were possibly Quaker, based on how the dates on the stones were recorded, i.e., “9th of 9th mo.” Maybe they had different ambitions. Earl remained a farmer while Lemuel became a businessman in Palmyra. Finally, maybe they just did not get along.

I have included an appendix that shows a map where the Durfee farm was located, a map of Cambridge that shows where the various Durfee farms were located, a map showing where the Durfee cemetery is located, material from the Historical Data Services, that the County Historical Society provided me, that show that Earl, Patience, Joseph, Hannah, Phebe, Tabitha, and Benjamin are buried there, and a hand-drawn picture of the plot, and the various gravestones, done by Bryan Herrington, the person who farms the land on which the plot is located. The family plot is located at GPS N42.57.629 W73.29 016. It’s found on County Historical Survey map #C13. The directions provided by Historical Data Services say that the cemetery is, “Located on the west side of Whiteside Road, .35 mi south of So. Cambridge Rd., about 100’ up steep embankment. Or, .35 mi north of Lee Road and .1 mi north of only farmhouse on this part of Whiteside Rd. On former Alonso Lee farm. Some fieldstones. Old board fence is about gone.” I accompanied my Grandfather, Walter Durfee, in the late 1960’s to the cemetery, and at that time it was in the middle of an open field. In our 2006 visit, the cemetery was almost impossible to find, located in a thicket of small trees, and we would not have found it without the GPS coordinates

32 Even if Earl was not a Quaker, he settled in an area populated by emigrants from Rhode Island, including several Quakers. The Quaker Church in Easton was a stone’s throw away from the Durfee homestead in Southwest Cambridge, on Meeting House Road.

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navigation. The small gravestone for Benjamin Durfee was still readable at that time but could not be read when we visited in 2006. We have grave rubbings from Earl’s,33 Joseph’s and Patience’s headstones from that 2006 visit. The stones are barely readable now. My wife, Debora Clovis, took pictures of the graves in the bramble, which have been shared on Ancestry.com. Bryan Herrington cleared the bramble after our visit in 2015 and provided a drawing of the placement of the stones in the cemetery. Reed, continued:

Mr. Durfee married a second time, October 16, 1814, to Phebe Hunt; born March 9, 1784; died in So. Cambridge, N. Y., September 28, 1839. They had one child Anne, born September 13, 1819.

DRDJR: Widows of veterans of the Revolutionary War were permitted, through an Act of Congress of 1832, to apply for pensions for their husband’s war service, upon proper application. An application was submitted for Earl Durfee’s war service, which I have transcribed as faithfully as I could from the handwritten application:

State of New York Washington County On this 28th day of August one thousand eight hundred thirty three

personally appeared in open court , the court of Common Pleas of the County of Washington and in the aforesaid being a court of record now sitting, Earl Durfee a resident of the town of Cambridge in the County of Washington and state of New York aged seventy five years and ten months old, who being first duly sworn according to law, do, on his oath, make the following declaration , in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress past June 7th 1832, that he entered the service of the United States in the month of October one thousand seven hundred and seventy five in a company of militia, Commanded by captain Christopher Manchester, Lieutenant Peleg [Simmons?] and Phillip Manchester as Ensign , as he thinks, that they were called out, at this time, for the purpose of guarding the shores against the ravages of the British shipping which was at that time lying off the coast .

33 Did the fact that Earl stopped spelling his name with an “e” at the end signify that he wanted to loosen the family ties by breaking the Earle family connection? It appears that Earl got rid of the “e” about the time he moved away from Rhode Island. The census records from New York spell his name without the final “e”. Earle’s headstone spells his name “Earl.” His grandson, born in 1804, spelled his name without the final “e.” His application for a military pension spelled his name without the final “e” but the affidavit submitted on his behalf by Richard Durfee (who had stayed in Rhode Island) spelled the name with the final “e.”

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that the Colonel was John Cook, Pardon Gray, Lieutenant Colonel and Nathaniel Church Major as he believes. That at that time he was out three weeks. that he was again called out, and served under captain Benjamin Durfee, Ebenezer Slocum Lieutenant and Jonathan Devol ensign. That he served at this time about ten weeks during which time he was employed in building a Fort at Howland’s ferry, and guarding the same after it was built. That he entered the service this time and the first of November seventy-five. He was again drafted in the year seventy-six a number of times, to wit the number of five times as an alarm man in guarding the island from the attacks of the British shipping, which had again appeared on the coast. That he was at this time under the command of captain Benjamin Durfee. That at each of these several times he was out from fifteen to twenty days. That in the fall of this same year he enlisted as a minuteman for three months in a company, commanded by captain Silas Devol, and one Ben Durden as Lieutenant or ensign, and which he does not recollect, and continued in said company until the removal of Captain Devol to the command of a company of Marines aboard the ship Providence in the last part of the last aforesaid year.That in the year seventeen hundred and seventy seven he was again drafted and served under Daniel Devol who acted as captain under Colonel Cooke, to guard the shores at Howland’s and fogland ferry; that he served at this time about two months and that the service was rendered in the early part of seventy seven.That in the same year he was again drafted and served under the same officers that he served at this time two weeks; that the last mentioned service was rendered in the spring of seventy seven; That he does not recollect of having been again drafted in that year; though he recollects that he did render services during that time, one or 2 days at a time during the remainder of that year. That on the ninth day of August one thousand seven hundred seventy eight he went on Sullivan's expedition; that he was drafted a few days previous, for 20 days, but served about thirty, that the company in which he served was commanded by Richard Durfee his captain, Humphrey Sherman as Lieutenant , and Thomas Durfee ensign. The regiment of which he said company was a part was commanded by Colonel Mason Miller and Lieutenant Colonel Pardon Gray, the remainder of the officers he does not recollect. That he was again drafted and served under captain Richard Durfee as a piquet guard; that he served one half of the time during the night; That he

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was drafted in May one thousand seven hundred seventy nine and served until the month of September the same year.That when he first entered the service, he was a resident of Tiverton, the County of Newport and State of Rhode Island; that he was always drafted; That he was engaged in various skirmishes, with the British while guarding the coast; That he was principally engaged in the towns of Tiverton, Middletown in Newport, that he was a drafted militia man ; That the names of the officers whom he knew areas above stated; that he has no documentary evidence; That he knows of no person whose testimony he can procure who can testify to his service, I That he was born in Tiverton in the state of Rhode Island 1757II That he has a record of his age kept in the family Bible which is now in his possession III That he lived at Tiverton when called into service and removed from there in the spring seventeen hundred eighty-four, to Cambridge in the County of Washington and State of New York, where he now resides and has done for the last forty-nine years IV That he was drafted whenever he was called into serviceV That the names of the officers are as stated above VI That he never had a discharge VII That he is acquainted with Walter Groesbeck, Isaak Welling, and Benjamin F. Skinner Esquire who can testify as to his character for veracity and their belief of his having been a soldier of the revolution That there is no clergyman living in his facility to whom he can apply for a certificate that he has duly route relinquished every claim to a pension or annuity except the present , and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state . Earl Durfee Sworn to + subscribed the day and year aforesaid [ ] court I.S. Leigh ClerkMr. Walter Groesbeck and Isaac Welling . . . hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Earl Durfee, who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration, that he is reputed and believed to have been, in the neighborhood where he resides, a soldier of the revolution, and we concur in that opinion.Sworn and subscribed to me [etc.]

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[Transcribed by David Durfee Jr.: caveat emptor] DRDJR: My grandfather, Walter G. Durfee, wrote to the War

Department in 1931 and asked the “Bureau of Pensions, Revolutionary Department, whether application was ever made for Earl Durfee, who served with a Rhode Island regiment. On October 7, 1931, he received a response that summarized the details of the application as seen above, but that concluded that “the claim was not allowed as proof of service as required by the pensions laws was not furnished.” In addition to his own affidavit, Earle had submitted affidavits from Elisha Gifford, who was also in Sullivan’s expedition, Captain Richard Durfee, who stated that Earle Durfee was in the same militia company, and some neighbors in Cambridge who vouched for his character. Gifford was a neighbor from Tiverton who claimed to have served in the same regiment as Earle during Sullivan’s expedition in 1778 who submitted his affidavit in 1837. Captain Richard Durfee claimed that he remembered Earle Durfee well, but he could not recall specifically whether or how long Durfee served with him, which was true for all but one of the men who served under him. He still vouchsafed for Earle’s claim. Despite that determination, however, Earl Durfee is considered a veteran by the Daughters of the American Revolution and is listed in the 1777 Rhode Island Military Census. The Daughters of the American Revolution Patriot Index lists Richard Durfee as a captain, and Gideon, Earle, and Lemuel Durfee as privates, who served Rhode Island. DAR Patriot Index p. 208.34 In contrast, the pension application filed by Lemuel’s widow was approved. The explanation may be simple: There was nothing in the application on file with the National Archives for Earle that gives any proof that he was married to Phoebe, which would seem to be a precondition for receiving widow’s benefits. 34 The private claims files for the House of Representatives also show that a petition for Earl Durfee’s claim was filed to the House of Representatives, Revolutionary Pensions Committee, 25th Congress, 2nd Session. On Journal Page 54, it shows that the House Disposed of it as “Discharged; laid on table.” See https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/52141299/person/13308317074/facts Lemuel’s widow, in contrast, did provide an attestation as to marital status and did receive a pension. In reading these records, one gets the sense that Lemuel inherited the family rabbit’s foot and that Earle did not. Lemuel, the second born son, was the first of the brothers to have property on record in Cambridge, with a deed dated in August of 1784, the same year that they moved from Rhode Island and the same summer that he and Prudence Hathaway got married. A few years after the rest of his brothers and his father moved to Palmyra, he moved west to join them, to start a successful business career. The land that he purchased ended up being close to the Erie Canal. I will include Lemuel’s story later.

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The way that Earle got his property is a bit of a puzzle. As I have mentioned, Lemuel is recorded as purchasing property in 1784, whereas the record is silent for Earl in the 18th century. In the New York Tax Assessment Rolls of Real and Personal Estates for 1799, however, Earle has $1,984 worth of real property. In his will in 1832, it appears that Earle had three pieces of property. He devised to his grandson Earl land that his son Gideon had sold to him in 1825. To his son Abraham Earle devised that “lot of land which was conveyed to me by Caleb Gifford & Chillion Wood by their indentures bearing date of the sixth day of May 1809 and the 19th of April 1802 . . .” Earle also devised to his sons a lot of fifty acres, with buildings and appurtenances, bounded at the south by the county line, commencing at a Lombardy poplar at the east line of the Gifford farm, on the east by the farm conveyed by Gideon Durfee, on the west by the Gifford farm, and on the north by the lot conveyed by Caleb Gifford and Chillion Wood. It was not possible for me to determine whether any of the land that Earl possessed at the time of his death was part of the land that Lemuel had purchased from Esek Wood in 1784. That deed is barely legible, and its boundaries are measured in rods and marked by stakes and heaps of stones, but I best decipher it as:

All that certain part of _____ land within the State of New York situate being and being in the County of Albany in the Patent of Hoosac and is one third part of lot number 38 ___ the middle third and bounded as followeth: Beginning at a stake and stones in the west line of lot number thirty eight thirty five rods[35] and one third of a rod from the northwest corner of lot number thirty seven and from there north seventeen degrees East thirty five rods and of third of a rod to a stake and heap of stones then south seventy three degrees ___ two hundred thirty six rods to a stake and stones thence south seventeen degrees West thirty five rods and one third of a rod to a stake & stones thence north seventy three degrees west two hundred and thirty six rods to the place where it first began containing fifty two acres and thirty rods of land ___ is the middle [third] of lot number thirty eight in the Patent of Hoosac … 36

35[] A rod is a surveyor’s tool and a unit of measurement, with a unit of length equaling 16 ½ feet, 1/320 of a statute mile, or one-fourths of a surveyor’s chain. 36“The Hoosac Patent was the “first land deeded by the Schaghticokes to the Christians within the environs of the Hoosac Valley proper . . . The patent was granted by Gov. Thomas Dongan on June 2, 1688, to Maria Van Rensselaer and Hendrick Van Ness of Albany, Garret Tunnisson (Van Vechten) of Catskill, and Jacobus Van Cortlandt of New York City, and confirmed by the Duke of York, as King James II, in July.

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I have reproduced a map of Cambridge from 1866 in the appendix. Looking at it, it looks like it contains the lots of the Hoosac Patent as well setting out as the locations of the residents at the time. Lots 38 through 36 appear in southwest Cambridge, near the county line. On the southwest part of lot 38, there are several Gifford farms. On lot 37, there is one Durfee farm, identified as A. Durfee.37 A number of Durfee farms appear on lot 36, including a P. Durfee, a W. Durfee, an E. Durfee, and a Durfee with an illegible first initial. Walter, Pardon, and Earl Durfee were brothers, and sons of Gideon and grandsons of Earle. Abram Durfee was Abraham Durfee’s son and lived in Cambridge in both 1860 and 1870. I will not try to dig deeper into this and can only conclude that Lemuel Durfee’s original land purchase of property on lots 38 and 37 of the Hoosac Patent may have been passed along in the family.

An interlude: The Story of Lemuel Durfee after Cambridge

Descendants contains an extended discussion of what happened to Lemuel, his father Gideon, and his brothers after 1790. Gideon and his other sons moved from Tiverton first and were joined by Lemuel about a year later. Earle remained in Cambridge. Reed:“On pages 380 to 382 of a book entitled "Phelps and Gorman Purchase,"[38] the following account is given relative to the settlement of Wayne County, N. Y., in 1790 near the present city of Palmyra by Gideon Durfee, the elder, his sons Gideon, Edward, Job, Pardon, Stephen, and Lemuel.“The Hoosac Patent covered seventy thousand acres, including two miles in width on each bank of Skatecook Creek (Hoosac River of blended waters); and extended up the river from the Devil's Chimney opposite the Fallen-hill in Old Schaghticoke to Quequick Falls; thence up the valley to the sandy island known as Nach-a-quick-quack, the Ashawagh, or land between the junction of the Little Hoosac with the Big Hoosac. The annual quit-rent exacted for this vast manor-land was ‘ten Bushells of good Sweet Merchantable winter Wheat, delivered Att the City of Albany.’" https://vielelewis.blogspot.com/2010/06/pruyns-in-albany-buskirks-bridge.htmlSee also Chapter 12 of the book by Niles, Grace Greylock, The Hoosac Valley, Its Legends and History (1912), titled “Old Schaghticoke and Old Cambridge Districts,” at pp. 251-70, which contains a nice discussion of the settlement of area by white settlers, at: https://archive.org/details/hoosacvalleyitsl00nileuoft/page/n1037If my map reading skills are any good, the Durfee cemetery is located in lot 37, on the west side of Whiteside road north of Lee Road. The printout from the Historical Data Services in the appendix said that the cemetery is on the former Alonso Lee farm; there are Lee farms in that area in the 1866 map. 38https://archive.org/details/historyofpioneer00inturn/page/380

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“The Durfee family were from Tiverton, R. I. In the Summer of 1790, Gideon and Edward came first to Farmington, and Gideon returning in the fall represented the country so favorably, that the whole family resolved upon emigration. Gideon with Isaac Springer came back in the winter of 1790 and ’91 with an ox sled, consuming 17½ days in the journey. Gideon purchased of John Swift his choice of 1,600 acres. He located it on what was long known as * Durfee street,' a short distance below Palmyra, securing a large amount of the flats on the Ganargwa; Being soon rejoined by his brother Edward, the brothers and Springer built a cabin and clearing six acres, and without the use of a plough, planted it to corn." The brothers returned to Rhode Island and brought out their brothers, Pardon and Job, with their families, coming in a bateau and landing at their new home in the wilderness, almost destitute of food." They were rejoiced on their arrival to find their corn fit for roasting, a forwardness they have never since known." It served them the two-fold purposes of food, and confidence in the soil and climate, the six acres yielded 50 bushels to the acre, a quantity that served their own wants and over stocked the market as there were few consumers.The remainder of the large family came out in the winter of 1791 and '92. They had a large crop, some of which was marketed at Schenectady: probably the first that ever reached that market from as far west as Palmyra.Otherwise prosperous, sickness soon laid a heavy hand upon the large household, 17, out of 22, being prostrated at one time with fevers ; their first bread was made from pounded corn ; their first grinding was procured at Wilders mill, and occasionally at the Friends mill Jerusalem."The following is from the same publication and written by Stephen Durfee." There was general prosperity in the early settlement. All were friendly, mutual dependence made us so; and struggling with the hardships of pioneer life there was a fellow feeling a sympathy for each other’s misfortunes; but little of which exists now; The first curse that came upon us was whiskey distilleries when the new settlers would take their corn and rye and get them converted to what was the cause in many instances of their ruin; and that of many of their sons; there was not only habitual every day drinking but much intoxication; I saw so much of the evils of intoxication that I refrained entirely and was almost alone in it; I think the first temperance movement practical one in all this region was made by me when I raised my house in 1811, when I invited my neighbors to the raising; I gave out that no liquor would be provided, and although it was a new experiment I had no difficulty in raising my house; Strict temperance was not then a

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discipline with the Society of Friends to which I belonged but afterwards became so."217-218 DURFEE" Our first commerce was the navigation of the Ganargwa creek; then came the big wagons, then the Erie canal that gave us fair steady prices for produce, raised the value of land and brought on a new era of enterprise and prosperity."The following is gleaned from the Military History of Wayne Co. N. Y.:" The first tract of land sold and deeded in East Palmyra Wayne Co N. Y. was a lot of six hundred (600) acres south of Mud Creek square in form, purchased by Gideon Durfee May 19th 1791.""The log hut of Mr. Durfee standing in 1877 near the Presbyterian Parsonage was the first habitation in that section."" The burying ground of the Durfee Family was on the farm of Ira Lakey; the first burial there was a child of Gideon Durfee Junior, and in that plat lie the remains of the early settlors.""The farm east of Gideon Durfee Senior was occupied by his son-in-law Weaver Osband."" In 1796 Louis Phillipe who afterwards became the French King, while traveling through the country stopped with Mr. Gideon Durfee, being on his way east from a visit to the Falls of Niagara.""Gideon Durfee Sr. gave ½ of the land on which the East Palmyra Presbyterian Church was erected in July 1807."" The first Town meeting was held at Gideon Durfee Sr's house in April 1796."It is also stated in the history referred to that Gideon Durfee, Sr., was a soldier in the Revolutionary Army.

DRDJr: Later, Reed continues the story about Lemuel:In the military history of Wayne Co., N. Y., it is stated that Lemuel Durfee was three years in the Revolutionary army. The following records wore obtained at the State House, in Providence, R. I., and show some of his soldier record:"Lemuel Durfee, Private in Capt. Christopher Manchester's Co. of Col. Archibald Crary's regiment of Rhode Island, on duty at Bristol from November 15, 1777, to February 20, 1778. Wages per month £2; on pay-roll of same company from March to April, 1778, two months (see Vol. 1, page 74 ; Vol. 3, pages 36, 44, 56, State House Records, Providence, R. I.."He also appears on

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the roll of Capfc. Richard Durfee's Co. of Col. John Cook's regiment of Rhode Island militia, in August, 1778. Soon after the war he removed to Cambridge, Washington Co., N. Y., with his brother Earle, and from there to Palmyra, N. Y., in 1794. His farm was two miles North of Palmyra, where he died, and was buried in the family graveyard on the farm.*' His son. Pardon Durfee, was a lieutenant in Capt. Culver's Co. of Lt. Col. P. Swift's regiment, prior to June,1812, and was captain during the war that followed. He died in 1814; unmarried." The farm of Mr. Durfee is now (1897) owned by his grandson, the Hon. Henry R. Durfee, of Palmyra."Descendants, pp. 318-19

DRDJR: Lemuel Durfee has been called a footnote in Mormon History. In Donna Hill’s Joseph Smith: The First Mormon, she discussed what happened after the Smith, the family of Joseph Smith, who started the Mormon Church, were foreclosed on in Palmyra, New York:

Stoddard offered the deed to the Smiths for a thousand dollars. The Smiths tried desperately to raise the money, but failed. However, they persuaded one Lemuel Durfee to buy the farm, and county records show that he took ownership on December 20, 1825, for $1,135.1 A Quaker of the Hicksite persuasion, owner of a woods near Palmyra in which the little Quaker church stood, Durfee apparently treated the Smith family with sympathy. He gave them a lease on the house and they would remain in it another three years, until December 30, 1828, when they would move to another house a little farther south. The BYU Library has a copy of Lemuel Durfee’s account book and describes it as follows:

Lemuel Durfee kept an account book is 46 pages long (two pages are on each photocopied sheet). It covers transactions from May 10, 1817 to December 29, 1829. Transactions involve calf hides, cider, apples, beef, butter, cheese and corn. Lemuel Durfee was very generous with the poor of the Palmyra, New York. There is a typescript of the book’s contents from August 3, 1825 - July 10, 1829. Joseph, Hyrum and Harrison Smith work for Lemuel Durfee; they mow, bind wheat, hoe, and do other farm work. Durfee pays the Smiths in cider. The typescript is 13 pages long. The collection also contains lyrics to a song about cider. Handwritten, 1 page.DRDJR: One account is of a sale of hard cider to the supposedly

teetotaling Smiths. “If his family was not 'in the habit of drinking spiritous 42

liquors,' it is difficult to explain the entries in neighborhood grocer Lemuel Durfee’s account book recording the sale of numerous barrels of 'cider liquor' to Joseph, Hyrum, and Samuel Smith during the years 1827-28." (Anderson adds that "Durfee’s account book is in the Palmyra King’s Daughters Free Library, Inc.")”

Smith repaid Lemuel’s kindness in the BOOK OF MORMON. In Fawn Brodie’s biography of Joseph Smith, NO MAN KNOWS MY HISTORY, she noted that two of the historic figures in the Book of Mormon were two American Indian brothers who were an “evil-tempered, sinful youths who so incurred the wrath of God that He cursed them and all their descendants with a red skin.” (2d ed. p. 43). The brothers’ names were Laman and Lemuel. Brodie further noted that “Lemuel is a Biblical name, but it happened also to be that of a neighbor, Lemuel Durfee, who signed an affidavit in 1833 charging Joseph Smith with an immoral character and vicious habits. See Howe: Mormonism Unveiled, pp. 261-62.” Id. at 43n.

This is that affidavit, bearing the affirming signature of Lemuel Durfee and 50 others:

"Palmyra, New York, affidavit,

"Palmyra, Dec. 4, 1833."We, the undersigned, have been acquainted with the Smith family, for a number of years, while they resided near this place, and we have no hesitation in saying, that we consider them destitute of that moral character, which ought to entitle them to the confidence of any community."They were particularly famous for visionary39 projects, spent much of their time in digging for money which they pretended was hid in the earth; and to this day, large excavations may be seen in the earth, not far from their residence, where they used to spend their time in digging for hidden treasures."Joseph Smith, Senior, and his son Joseph, were in particular, considered entirely destitute of moral character, and addicted to vicious habits."Martin Harris was a man who had acquired a handsome property, and in matters of business his word was considered good; but on moral and religious subjects, he was perfectly visionary --sometimes advocating one sentiment, and sometimes another."And in reference to all with whom we were acquainted, that have embraced Mormonism from this neighborhood, we are compeled to say, 39The term “visionary” obviously had a different meaning in 1830 – someone who had visions.

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were very visionary, and most of them destitute of moral character, and without influence in this community; and this may account why they were permitted to go on with their impositions undisturbed."It was not supposed that any of them were possessed of sufficient character or influence to make any one believe their book or their sentiments, and we know not of a single individual in this vicinity that puts the least confidence in their pretended revelations.[signed by]

"Lemu[e]l Durfee [and 50 others]"[40]************************************************************************************************The remaining part of the genealogy was compiled by David R. Durfee Sr. and David R. Durfee Jr.:Gideon Durfee born 5.30.1782 Tiverton R.I, died 1.4.1834, S. Cambridge N.Y.Married Hannah Cornell March 29, 1804. [41] She was born in 1783 and died 8.11.1821, S. Cambridge New YorkThe deed dated 1825 from Gideon to Earl reflects that Gideon was living in Schaghticoke, as does the 1830 United States census. Gideon is living in a household of four, with one female and two males under the age of twenty. He died in 1834 and is buried next to his wife, Hannah, who died at the age of 38, in South Cambridge in the Corey Eddy Cemetery. Hannah’s mother Elizabeth, who died in 1829, also is buried there. Earl Durfee born 10.28.1804 in Cambridge, N.Y. died 6.25.1890Married Rebecca Cornell42 born 1810 in Vermont, died 3.26.1885

40 The Lemuel in question being quoted was Lemuel Durfee Jr. Lemuel Sr. had passed away by then. By the time of the affidavit, the Book of Mormon was already in print. 41Hannah Cornell’s branch of the Cornell family tree had moved to Cambridge, N.Y. around 1780, and we know from her gravestone that she was born in 1783. She also is a descendant or Thomas and Rebecca Briggs. See appendix. Matthew was a prisoner of the British during the Revolution. https://www.geni.com/people/MatthewCornell/6000000030313413333 42Reed does not give a marriage date for Earl and Rebecca Cornell. Two family tree sources on Ancestry.com state that they were married in 1838.

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In Earle Durfee’s will, written in 1834 and recorded in July 1839, he leaves to his grandson, Earl, the property that had been deeded to him by Gideon Durfee in 1825, subject to certain conditions of compensating other descendants. Earl was also named as an executor. In the 1855 New York State Census, Earl “Durfey” is living with his wife Rebecca, his children Sidney and Margaret, and Rebecca’s sister Lucy Ann Cornell (age 38) and her son Warren (age 14) and an aunt, Ruth Cornell (age 64). Lucy Ann was living with Daniel Cornell and her son Warren for the 1850 Census; I assume that Lucy Ann was a widow. She married Abiather Wheeler in Buskirk in 1856. Sidney Earl Durfee born 4.3.1838, Cambridge, New York, died 5.20.1908, Buskirk, N.Y. Married Deborah Sherman43 Born in Cambrige, New York, Nov 29, 1841 to Levi Sherman and Angeline Akin. Deborah married Sidney on 11.28.1861 and had 6 children. She passed away on 4.15.1908 in Cambridge, Washington, New York, USA.Sidney died a month later, without a will. Deborah Sherman was a descendant of Philip Sherman, who was made a freeman in Massachusetts in 1634, was one of the first settlers of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and was a signer of the Portsmouth Compact in 1638. Levi Sherman moved from Massachusetts to Pittstown, Rensselaer County in the late 1790’s and established a farm that is on the national registry of historic places. Sidney’s mother, Rebecca, had a younger brother named Sidney Cornell. Throughout this monograph, one sees names being passed down from grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles, on both the mothers’ and fathers’ sides.

Rebecca Cornell was born in 1810. She was the daughter of Daniel Cornell and the granddaughter of Zebulon, “Zebedee”, Cornell, who was a soldier in the 16th Regiment, Albany County, New York Militia. He was “seven feet high, a Quaker, a farmer, lawyer, justice of the peace, and a great Freemason.” See Genealogy of the Cornell family: being an account of the descendants of Thomas Cornell of Portsmouth, R.I, Rev. John Cornell (1902), p. 70. Although both Hannah – wife of Gideon- and Rebecca – wife of Earl- are descendants of Thomas and Rebecca Briggs Cornell, they are from separate branches of the Cornell family that relocated the Northeastern New York/Vermont area. The founder of Cornell University, Ezra Cornell, is my 3rd cousin, 6x removed. 43

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Clarence Elmer Durfee (1863 – 1939) married Mary Amelia Gooding (1865-1933) on June 6, 1882. He was 19 and she was 17. He was born in Buskirk on April 2, 1863 to Sidney E. Durfee and Deborah G. Sherman. Clarence and Mary had 3 children, two of whom survived to adulthood. He passed away on January 1, 1939 in Hoosick Falls, New York.Son 1: Lynn Durfee (1890 - 1959), born in New York, USA on 1890 to Clarence Elmer Durfee and Mary Gooding. Lynn married Ethel F Durfee and had a child, Harold. Son 2: Born in Buskirk, N. Y., USA on 1.23.1894 and he passed away on 2.5.1894 in Hoosick Falls, New York, USA.Son 3: Walter Gooding Durfee, born in Buskirk Bridge, Rensselaer, New York, USA on 1.19. 1895. He died on 9.21.1971 in Bennington, Vermont. Mary Gooding Durfee had a brother, Walter, who lived from 1872 to 1913. Mary Gooding was a descendant of George Gooding, who was born in England in 1633 and came to this country in 1673, settling in Taunton, Mass., where he died June 1, 1712. Matthew Gooding (1734-1806), served in the 7th Massachusetts Regiment during the Revolution, and died in Hartford, Washington County, New York in 1806. His son David Gooding was born in 1769 (in Hoosick Falls according to sources on Ancestry.com), married his wife, Mehitable Chase (1776-1858) in White Creek, New York in 1791, and died in Hoosick Falls in 1846. Mary Gooding was born in Hoosick Falls and for at least the first five years of her life lived with her parents at her grandparents’ house. She and Clarence married around 1882. Clarence appears to have had an unstable life. In the 1865 New York and 1870 U.S. censuses, he, his brothers, and his parents were living with his grandparents, Earl and Rebecca, on their farm. In the 1875 New York census he is living with his grandparents, without his parents or siblings. In that same census, his brothers and sister are living with his father and mother, and his father Sidney’s occupation is listed as “speculator.” In the 1880 U.S. census, he still is living with his grandparents, along with their two servants, and is listed as working on the farm. In that census, Clarence’s brothers are living with their father, and Sidney’s occupation is listed as “potato dealer,” which may or may not have been a step up from “speculator.”44

44There was also a U.S. Census Non-population schedule” for 1880. Sidney’s farm is valued at $1,600, the farming implements at $25, livestock at $175, the estimated value of farm products sold at $250, with 4 acres that were mown and 4 unmown, 6 tons of hay, and one horse. In contrast, his father Earl’s farm was valued at

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In the records of the Surrogates Court for Washington County, for the will of Earl Durfee, dated December 26, 1891, “on the application of Clarence E. Durfee a creditor” the court ordered that “a citation issue to all necessary parties to show cause why Letters of Administration on the estate of the said deceased shall not issue and be granted to said Clarence Durfee or such other person as shall be adjudged competent returnable January 18, 1892 …” I wonder what sort of debt Earl Durfee owed his grandson, especially after Clarence had spent over a decade living on the farm. It is not clear how the matter was resolved. By that time, Clarence’s son Lynn had been born. In the 1900 U.S. census, Clarence’s occupation is listed as “teaming” and he is listed as renting his home. In the 1905 New York census, he is listed as a clerk in a feed store. In the 1910 U.S. census he is listed as a traveling salesman of farm implements, Mary is a telephone operator and housekeeper, and they rent their house. In the 1912 Hoosick Falls City Directory he is listed as a laborer and their home was on the “rd to Eagle Bridge.” In the 1919 Hoosick Falls Directory he is listed as a laborer who lived in Buskirk. He has no occupation listed in the 1920 U.S. Census and he and Mary are living in a rented house by themselves.In the 1925 New York Census, he, Mary, and their son Walter are living at 10 Abbott Street in Hoosick Falls. Clarence is listed as a textile mill laborer while Walter is listed as a bookkeeper. In the 1929 Directory he is listed as employed at the S Mfg Co and lived at 12 Abbott Street. In the 1930 U.S. Census, Clarence is listed as retired and he and Mary live at 11 Abbott Street. In the 1931 Hoosick Falls City Directory, he is listed at the same address (Walter lived at 12 Abbott) but is listed as an employee of the

$7,000, the farm implements were valued at $210, livestock at $650, the value of farm products sold at $775, 30 acres were mown and 33 unmown, 27 acres of hay were harvested, and he owned 4 horses. While it may be unfair to expect the son to match his father in wealth, Sidney was 42 years old at this point, and he had six people in his household to support, including himself. Earl at the same time was supporting himself, his wife, his grandson Clarence, a servant, and a field-hand.

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S Mfg Co. Mary died in 1933, approximately two years after her mother.45 According to my father, Clarence had a stroke toward the end of his life. Walter G. Durfee married Harriet Rising on 8.6.27.46 She was born 2.17.1899 and died 6.8.1965. They had one child, David Rising Durfee, born 5.17.1934, Troy, N.Y.

45 The story of the Gooding sisters would make a fascinating movie. There were four Gooding sisters: Mary Gooding Durfee (1865-1933), Julia Gooding, (1866-1951), Hettie Gooding (1868-1957), and Edna Gooding, (1877-1950). They also had a brother named Walter Gooding (1872-1913). Their mother was Charlotte Fenton Gooding (1837-1931). According to Ancestry.com, Hettie married Walter Beverly Aiken on December 29, 1886. They had two children in the 1890s but in the 1900 United States Census she is living as a servant in the household of Charles Cheney, a local banker, while her children, Chester and Clara Aiken, are living with her mother, Charlotte, and her sisters, Julia and Edna. Walter Aiken has disappeared from any further records. Edna had married Harry C. Ainsworth on August 10, 1914 in Glens Falls, New York, where she lived. On the marriage certificate, Harry’s is listed as a 32- year-old journalist who lived in Elmira, New York. In the 1915 Troy city directory Charlotte, Julia, and Edna Gooding are living at the same residence while Emily lived as a housekeeper elsewhere in the City. In the meantime, there is something sketchy about Harry Ainsworth, Edna’s husband. There is an Affidavit for License to Marry in Oswego, County, New York, dated January 27, 1915, for a Harry Cornelius Ainsworth and an Edith Matteson. In this document, Harry was born in Elmira, is living in St. Louis, Missouri, is 28 years old, has the same parents (although Frank became “Francello” in the second iteration), and is a traveling salesman. In answer to the question, “Number of wives,” the response is “First” and there are no responses to the questions “Former wives living or dead” and “Is applicant a divorced person.” Edith Matteson’s response indicated that her first husband was dead. Then the plot gets even weirder. On August 9, 1921, a marriage took place in Utica, New York between Harry C. Ainsworth and Cora Walrath. Harry was age 45, a salesman, and lived in Weedsport, New York. He had the same parents. On the line, “No. of Marriage,” he answered 1 and left blank the spaces for former lives, living or dead, or divorced. But wait, there’s more: Although Ancestry.com does not provide a a complete record, there is a record for a Harry C. Ainsworth marrying a Teresa Teft in Manhattan on July 24, 1926. The 1930 and 1940 U.S. Census records show a Harry C. Ainsworth married to a Theresa Ainsworth. In the 1930 Census, Harry is listed as 48 and gives 42 as the age at his first marriage. There is also a Draft Registration card from 1942 for a Harry Cornelius Ainsworth who is married to Theresa Elizabeth

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By 1915, he was living as a boarder on River Street in Hoosick Falls. Interestingly, Harriet Rising was living down the street with her parents. His listed occupation is bookkeeper. In 1918, he served as a Seaman in the Navy at Pelham Bay from June through December. I once possessed a “speed and accuracy” medal he received for his typing proficiency while he was serving “over here.” In the 1919 Hoosick Falls Directory he is listed as a teller at People’s National Bank and boarding at 57 Main Street. Clarence is listed as a laborer who

Ainsworth, where Harry is age 57, having been born April 25, 1985. It states that he was born in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania. In the 1918 Troy City directory, Mrs. Edna Ainsworth appears to be living by herself, and is employed as a “collarworker,” perhaps because she was employed at Cluett and Peabody. In the 1920 Census, Charlotte, Julia, Emily, and Edna Ainsworth are living together. Edna is divorced, and Julia and Emily are single. Julia married John J. Morris later in 1920. She was approximately 53 years old at the time. In the 1925 New York Census, Charlotte, Emily, and Julia are living at the same residence in Troy and John Morris is nowhere to be found. In the 1927 Troy city directory, Charlotte is living with Edna and Emily is living at a separate location. Edna is listed under the last name Gooding. In the 1929 directory, Edna and Emily are living together. In the 1930 directory, Edna and Emily no longer are living together. In the 1930 US Census, Hetty (Gooding) Aiken is living in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, with her mother, Charlotte Gooding, and her sister, Julia Morris. Hetty is 62, Julia is 63, and their mother is 94. They are renters rather than homeowners and all are widows. Emily married a John Durfee, who was a widower, in Troy on February 26, 1936. She was about 59 at the time. He died on April 5, 1939. John is buried at Island Hill Cemetery in Buskirk next to his first wife, Nettie. In the 1940 Census, Emily Durfee lived in Greenwich, with her sister, Julia Morris. Both are listed as widows. According to that census, five years previously Emily had lived in Troy and Julia had lived in Hoosick Falls. Hetty died in 1947 in Troy and is buried in Island Hill Cemetery in Buskirk. The obituary for Edna from May 10, 1950 in the Troy Record says that she died at the Mary McClellan Hospital in Cambridge. It says that she was “born in Buskirk but had lived most of her life in Troy until recent years where she had lived with her sisters at their home in . . . Greenwich.” Survivors included her two sisters, Emily Durfee and Julia Morris. Edna was buried at Island Hill Cemetery in Buskirk.

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lived in Buskirk. In 1920, in the New York State Census he was living as a lodger and he was employed as a bank teller. In the 1925 New York State Census, he is listed as living with his parents at 10 Abbott Street. His occupation was bookkeeper, while Clarence was listed as a textile mill laborer. In the Hoosick Falls Directory of 1926, both Walter and Clarence are listed as employed at the S Mfg Co.On August 6, 1927 he married Emma Harriet Rising. He was 32 and she was 28. In the 1929 Hoosick Falls City Directory, he is listed as a secretary at the Permanent Savings and Loan Association and as Assistant Treasurer at EZ Mills.47 Clarence is employed at the S Mfg Co and lived at 12 Abbott Street. In the 1930 U.S. census, he, Harriet, and her mother Elnora Buck Rising are living at 12 Abbott Street. His occupation is listed as a bookkeeper at a knitting mill. Walter is juggling parents, because his own parents are now living across the street at 11 Abbott.48 In the 1931 City Directory, he is listed as residing at 12 Abbott Street and Clarence is listed as residing at 11 Abbott Street. Mary Gooding Durfee died January 24, 1933 and Clarence Durfee died January 1, 1939.In the 1940 census, Walter is listed as a Secretary at a Building and Loan. He, Harriet, and their son David live at 12 Abbott Street. His draft registration card in 1942 lists his employer as the Permanent Savings and Loan Association.

Julia died in 1951 while living in Troy and is buried at the Island Hill Cemetery in Buskirk. She was survived by her sister Emily. Lynn and Walter Durfee were among the officiating bearers. Emily died in Greenwich in 1955 and is also buried at the Island Hill Cemetery in Buskirk. Of the Gooding sisters and their husbands, only Clarence and Mary have adjoining burial plots. February 10, 202046 Walter got married again in 1968 to Bertha “Bunnie” Richmond, and they wintered together on Singer Island, Florida. 47EZ Mills’ was an enterprise that in the first part of the 20th century closed, moved, and consolidated plants in Hoosick Falls, Greenwich, and Cambridge, New York, and Bennington, Vermont. The Hoosick Falls plant closed in 1936 and its operations moved to Bennington. See NLRB decision, E-Z MILLS, INC. and AMALGAMATED CLOTHING WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO. NLRB Case No. 1-CA-1276. August 27, 1953.48 My father has told me that his father had provided housing for his mother’s sisters. That may be true, but I could not find any information to reflect that.

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He is listed as the proprietor of the Hoosac Pharmacy in the Bennington, Vermont City Directory in the 1955 Bennington, Vermont directory. David is listed as a student. They resided at 12 Abbott Street. The Rising family, in the person of James Rising (1617-1688) came to New England in 1635, was married in Boston in 1637, and died in Suffield, Connecticut. It is not entirely clear, but sometime around 1790 part of the Rising family moved to the vicinity of Hoosick Falls/Cambridge New York/Bennington, Vermont. Harriet is a descendant of Ebenezer Rising who was born in 1797, died in 1890, and is buried in Hoosick Falls. Walter’s and Harriet’s obituaries are reproduced in the Appendix. David R. Durfee married Sandra S. Sundquist April 1, 1957. Sandra was born December 28, 1935 in Manchester, Connecticut to Alfred Sundquist (1907-2002) and Vera Matteson Sundquist (1907-1991). Sandra had one sibling, Lynne, 1938-1989.Alfred was born in Natick, Rhode Island. His parents, Axel (1873-1933) and Esther Elmstrom, were immigrants from Sweden. Esther arrived in 1895 and Axel arrived in 1882. There is an interesting history of the Elmstrom family in the Appendix. Axel was a carpenter and Esther was a homemaker. He died in 1933 and she died thirty-four years later.It is believed that the first Matteson in America was Henry, who arrived in Rhode Island in either 1666 or 1678 (reports differ). Some reports say that he was of Danish descent, but came from Ulster, Ireland, while others say that he came directly from Denmark. The Matteson family lived in Rhode Island thenceforth. Vera’s mother, Sadie Norcliffe (1889-1967) was born in Rhode Island, to immigrants from England, Alfred and Hannah Norcliffe. Loyd Matteson Sr. died in 1938 and Sadie died in 1967. Alfred Sundquist’s sister Gertrude (“Trudy 1912-1997) married Vera’s brother Loyd Matteson Jr. (1909-1993) in 1933. David and Sandra had two children: David Rising Durfee Jr., born 12.17.1957, Agana, Guam, and Susan Norcliffe Durfee, born 9.22.1959 Manchester, Conn. (Married Peter Flynn 6.12.99)David married Debora L. Clovis on August 30, 1986 in Lutherville, Maryland.Debora was born September 27, 1953 in Cottonwood, Idaho. Her parents were Dale Clovis of Craigmont, Idaho, born December 1, 1924 and died March 16, 2016, and Josephine Miller, of Nez Perce, Idaho, born August 25, 1928 and died August 12, 2012.

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It is believed that the first Clovis, Johannes Clobus, came to America from Germany as a Hessian soldier around 1777 during the Revolution, and that he may have deserted and remained in America. He settled in Washington County, Maryland, in the Williamsport area and moved to Western Pennsylvania in 1809. His son Conrad (1786-1872) moved the family to West Virginia, Conrad’s son John (1813-1892) moved the family to Kansas, and John’s son Spencer (1855-1923) moved the family to Mason Precinct, Forest Town, Idaho sometime between 1900 to 1906. Spencer’s son Clyde (1887-1955) married Christina Kauffman (1887-1971) in 1908, they had eleven (11) children – including Dale (“Rufe”) -- and they lived in Craigmont, Idaho. The Miller family also came from Germany. Johann Michael Mueller II (1692–1771) was born in Steinwenden, Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and died January 4, 1771 in Hagerstown, Frederick, Maryland. His son was Daniel Miller (1710-1795), was born in Germany but died in Tennessee. Daniel’s son John (1753-1814) was born in Fincastle, Virginia and died in Indiana. His son Abraham George Miller (1785-1874) was born in Crab Orchard, Tennessee and died in Millersburg, Oregon. His son John Miller was born in 1830 in Indiana and died in Albany, Oregon in 1876. He and his wife Amanda were “pioneers of the state of Oregon since the days of forty-eight.” Their son Perry Eli Miller moved the family “east” to the recently cleared lands on the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho sometime after 1895, where he became a successful entrepreneur. He and his wife Anna Simpson (1872-1901) had three sons, Vonley (1894-1969), Bryan (1900- ) or Darl Vernon (about 1900-1961)[it’s my guess that Bryan and Darl are the same person: Bryan is 2 months old in the 1900 census, after which he disappears, while Darl is 10 years old in the 1910 census], and Verona Leroy “Leroy”(1895-1971), and a daughter, Leona Madge Madge”(1898-1976). After Anna Simpson passed away, Perry married Tracy Hoffman (1884-1984) in 1911. She insisted on being called “Aunt Tracy.” Leroy married Ruby Ogle (1896-1935), in 1918. Their children were Donna Jean (1921-2012), Donald (1925-1958), and Josephine “Jo”, (1928-2012).Dale and Josephine married November 28, 1947. Their children were David (1951- ), Debora (1953 - ), and Elizabeth (Libby) (1958- ). They lived in Craigmont, Idaho until 1965, when they moved the family to Lewiston. David married Joanne Granlund, born 1954, and they had two children, Matthew, born 1982, and Kristin, 1987-2019. Libby wed John Root in 2018. The obituaries for Rufe and Jo are in the Appendix.

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David Jr, and Debora have two sons: Samuel Clovis Durfee, born 12.1.1992 and Nathaniel Clovis Durfee, born 6.5.95, both born in Baltimore, Maryland.

APPENDIX

1866 Cambridge MapCambridge Map todayDurfee Cemetery InformationObituariesExcerpt from Durfee, Thomas, Gleanings from the Judicial History of Rhode Island (1883) on murder of Rebecca Cornell and trial of Thomas Cornell BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arnold, Samuel, A History of the State of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations (1859) https://archive.org/details/historyofstateof01inarno/page/386Bayles, Richard, History of Newport County, Rhode Island From the year 1638 to the year 1887, including the settlement of its towns, and their subsequent progress (1888)Brodie, Fawn, No Man Knows My History, The Life of Joseph Smith (1945), p 43n.https://archive.org/details/NoManKnowsMyHistory/page/n69Brownell, George, Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Thomas Brownell, 1619-1910 (1910), particularly pp. 36-38, 108-09 (Gideon and Earle), 202 (Earle and Lemuel)https://archive.org/details/genealogicalreco00byubrow/page/n9Cornell, John, Genealogy of the Cornell family: being an account of the descendants of Thomas Cornell of Portsmouth, R.I., (1902)https://archive.org/details/genealogyofcorne00corn/page/n10Crane, Elaine, Killed Strangely, The Death of Rebecca Cornell (2004) Durfee, Thomas, Gleanings from the Judicial History of Rhode Island (1883)

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Jon Durfey “Baptism of Thomas Durfey of Portsmouth, RI found,” March 29, 2013 at https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/durfee/879/Rick Durfey Balmer, The Three "Original" 17th Century Durfee Immigrants.” September 14, 2012 https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/durfee/876/Rick Durfey Balmer “Revised Story of Ann Hill Tallman and Thomas Durfee” https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/durfee/819/GreenerPasture.com, “Descendants of Thomas Durfee – 1634-1712”https://www.greenerpasture.com/Ancestors/Details/9344 Harris Family News, “Nathan Harris,” http://harrisfamilynews.com/direct_harris_nathan.htmMcKinley, Edward, The Suffrage Franchise in the Thirteen English Colonies in America (1905)Miner Descent, “Peter Tallman,” Posted on May 14, 2010,http://minerdescent.com/2010/05/14/peter-tallman/ Niles, Grace Greylock, The Hoosac Valley, Its Legends and History (1912), ch. 12, titled “Old Schaghticoke and Old Cambridge Districts,” at pp. 251-70https://archive.org/details/hoosacvalleyitsl00nileuoft/page/n10Perry, Amos, The early records of the town of Portsmouth (1901) https://archive.org/details/earlyrecordsofto02port/page/168The Post Star, Sep 15, 1995, Anne Simko, “Quakers recall act of peace during American Revolution” https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~hoxieschenck/genealogy/Stuart_10_08_06/b10.htmRecords of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 1664-1677 (1857) https://archive.org/details/recordsofcolonyo02rhod/page/n3Reed, William, The Descendants of Thomas Durfee of Portsmouth, R. I. (1902) https://archive.org/details/descendantsoftho00lcreed/page/n6

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Rhode Island Court Records, Records of the Court of Trials of the Colony of Providence Plantations, 1662-1670, volume II (1922)https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=kvFCAQAAMAAJ&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA9Rhode Island Habitat Restoration, Historical Overview (on conditions in Rhode Island before European settlement)http://www.edc.uri.edu/restoration/html/tech_sci/socio/hist.htmTurner, Orasmus, History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps & Gorham's Purchase, and Morris' Reserve (1852) https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=TUX698v8KGkC&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA383Wheeler Folk.org Tenth Generation http://www.wheelerfolk.org/keithgen/d1043.htm

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