Individual Details

Cory Durfee

(6 May 1738 - 19 Jan 1786)



Apparently a Mayflower descendant.
Ancestry.com; Mayflower Birth & Deaths, Vol. 2
Child of Cory Durfee (Tho.3, Robert2, Tho. 1) & Deborah Conklin
Cory Durfee, b. 1 Mar 1785, Freetown; d. Jul 1815 Fall River, MA

FamilySearch.org family tree:
There is a mistake in Reed's Durfee Genealogy on page 194 of the first volume. There are excerpts from the administration papers of the estate of Deborah Durfee, daughter of Cory, and Deborah (Conklin) Durfee (later Deborah Cleveland) and Thomas Durfee, Deborah's brother, was appointed administrator. Reed states that he was appointed June 8,1789. Thomas would have been only 17 years old at that time. In the document Thomas's sister Sarah was called Sally Boomer but she didn't marry Perry Boomer until 1800. Thomas' sister Mary was called Mary Chase but she didn't marry Dudley Chase until 1794. Obviously the appointment date is wrong.
The other information which follows may be correct.Deborah was a resident of Troy, MA (now called Fall River), at the time of her death. Eight heirs were mentioned. Deborah Cleveland, her mother, her siblings Thomas Durfee, Sally Boomer, Mary Chase and Cory Durfee. The other three heirs mentioned were Deborah's half siblings from her mother's second marriage. They were Henry Cleveland, deceased, David Cleveland, deceased, and Lydia Cleveland, now Hunt. Recorded in Book 62, on page 300, in the Bristol County Registry of Probate in Taunton.
Cory was listed in Freetown, Bristol County, MA, on the 1771 Massachusetts Tax Valuation List. Thomas' will was dated February 4, 1772, and proved February 24,1772, and it was recorded in the Taunton, Bristol County, MA, Registry of Probate in Book 22 Page 154. In his will he left " ... to wife, Mary, part of the house to live in, etc. ... to son Thomas, 10 pounds, etc, ...to son Robert Durfee's children, $ 1.00, to son Elisha, $ 1.00, ... to daughter, Sarah Chase's children, $ 1.00, ... to daughter, Ann Liscome, $1.00, ... to daughter, Hope Durfee, chamber in house, ... to daughters, Mary Hathaway and Rebecca Hathaway, $ 1.00, each, ... to daughter, Hope Durfee, lot of land in Dartmouth, Bristol County, MA, which was given to my wife by her father, Thomas Cory, of Tiverton, Newport County, RI(deceased) ... to son, Cory Durfee, watch, plate, etc. ... and appoints him executor of the estate ... ".
On August 3, 1780, Cory enlisted as a private in Captain Henry Brightman's company of Colonel Hathaway's regiment of Freetown, Bristol County, MA, militia. He was discharged on August 7, 1780, after four days of service. The company marched to Rhode Island on alarm.
Hope Durfee, Cory's sister never married. Her will dated February 18, 1786, was recorded in the Bristol County Registry of Probate in Taunton, Bristol County, MA, Book 29, page 62. In her will she bequeathed " ... to cousin Thomas Durfee, son of Cory Durfee (deceased),$ 50.00 and pocketbook, to cousin Benjamin Durfee, son of my brother Cory(deceased), $ 20.00 ... ". " ... to cousin Cory Durfee, son of brother Cory (deceased), $ 20.00,to cousin Sarah Durfee, daughter of Cory, certain clothing and $ 50.00; to cousin Mary Durfee, daughter of Cory, a dress and $ 50.00, to cousin Deborah Durfee, daughter of Cory, clothing and $ 50.00, to cousin Hope Durfee, daughter of Cory, $ 20.00 ... ".
According to the Cleveland Genealogy, on page 202, Deborah and David Cleveland were married March 29, 1787. Reed gives March 18, 1787, as their marriage date.
On July 1, 1788, David and Deborah (Durfee) Cleveland were appointed guardians of the minor children of Cory Durfee, late of Freetown,deceased. The children were Mary, Deborah, Benjamin, Hopey, and Cory,all under 14 years of age. Taunton Registry Book 130, page 164.
On June 8, 1789, David Cleveland Sr. was appointed Ensign of the second company of militia of Freetown, Bristol County, MA. From the Cleveland Genealogy.
On October 1, 1793, Thomas Durfee 2nd was appointed guardian for Sally, Polly and Deborah Durfee, minors above the age of fourteen and Benjamin, Hopey and Cory Durfee, minors under the age of fourteen, children of Cory Durfee, late of Freetown. Thomas Durfee 2nd is almost certainly Cory Senior's oldest son who was over twenty one years old and he was called the 2nd because there was an older Thomas Durfee (probably a cousin) living in Freetown. A guardian was probably appointed because their mother Deborah had remarried. Recorded in the Taunton Registry in Book 130 page 306.
The Descendants of Thomas Durfee. William Field Reed. Washington,DC. Two volumes. 1902 and 1905. Volume 1 page 193.
The Cleveland Genealogy. Edmund Cleveland. 1899. Page 202.
Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War. Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Compiler. Boston. 1896-1909. Seventeen Volumes. Volume 5, page 84.

Events

Birth6 May 1738Freetown, Bristol County, Massachusetts
Marriage24 Oct 1771Deborah Conklin
Death19 Jan 1786Freetown, Bristol County, Massachusetts

Families

SpouseDeborah Conklin (1743 - 1815)
ChildThomas Durfee (1772 - 1857)
ChildSarah Durfee (1774 - 1866)
ChildMary Durfee (1776 - 1855)
ChildDeborah Durfee (1778 - 1778)
ChildDeborah Durfee (1779 - 1807)
ChildBenjamin Durfee (1781 - 1801)
ChildHope Durfee (1783 - 1807)
ChildCorey Durfee Jr. (1785 - 1815)