Thomas Durfee

Male 1643 - 1712  (69 years)


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  • Name Thomas Durfee 
    Born 1643  England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Died 14 Jul 1712  Portsmouth, RI Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I22115  Sorensen-Remington Family Tree
    Last Modified 7 Aug 2018 

    Father Job Durfee,   b. Abt 1613 
    Mother Judieh Borden 
    Family ID F08396  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Ann Hill 
    Married Abt 1665  Portsmouth, RI Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Robert Durfee,   b. Abt 1665
     2. Thomas Durfee,   b. Abt 1667
     3. William Durfee,   b. Abt 1671
     4. Benjamin Durfee,   b. Abt 1673
     5. Richard Durfee,   b. Abt 1675
    Last Modified 7 Aug 2018 
    Family ID F08395  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 2 Deliverance Hall,   b. 1655, Portsmouth, RI Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Feb 1720/21, Portsmouth, RI Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 66 years) 
    Married Bef 1688 
    Children 
     1. Patience Durfee,   b. Abt 1688
     2. Deliverance Durfee,   b. Abt 1692
    Last Modified 7 Aug 2018 
    Family ID F08402  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • The will of Thomas Durfee of Portsmouth, dated 4 Feb 1709/10, proved 17 July 1712, mentions wife Deliverance; sons Richard (eldest), Thomas, William, Richard (dec'd), and Benjamin (youngest); daughters Patience Tallman and Deliverance Durfee (youngest); grandsons, sons of Richard: Richard & Thomas.

      "Thomas DURFEE (742) was born in 1643 in England. LDS Family Search Ancestral File indicates that he was born Oct 1643 in Portsmouth, RI, where he was also chistened. (AFN: 9M2P-N5 & film # 1760781) Bonnie Hubbard's material indicates that he was born in England in 1643. He died on 14 Jul 1712 in Portsmouth, Newport Co., RI. He was buried in Portsmouth, Newport Co., RI. (LDS Family Search Ancestral File, AFN: 9M2P-N5) IMMIGRANT - "The Durfee article in Boyer, p. 183, says that there were no Durfees in England before 1628 nor after 1723 and that they were probably French Huguenot. The first in America was Thomas, born in England in 1643. Family tradition (Reed) says he came to Portsmouth in 1660 and '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 family wasn't admitting it even as late as 1902 but Boyer describes the proof: 'In 1664 the 'insoelent carriadge of Thomas Durfee with the sayd [Peter] Tallmans wife' was brought to the attention of the Rhode Island General Assembly {RCRI, 2:85], and on 3 May 1665 Peter Tallman was given a divorce from his wife as she admitted she had had a child 'begotten by another man' [RCRI, 2:123].' Thomas probably came as a redemptioner. Such a person was one who couldn't pay his passage and was sold at auction for the lowest term of years for which anyone would take him. Thomas was admitted a freeman of Portsmouth in 1673 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 Haven, Connecticut, and sold eight acres of Portsmouth land to Thomas Durfee for

  • Sources 
    1. [S013612] Email from Isaac & Jennylyn, dated 20 Dec 2006.