The History of the Durham family

by G. Edward Neal

Thomas Durham

     Thomas Durham was born circa 1748 probably in Hanover Co., Virginia. He was the son of John Durham and although his mother's name is unknown, she may have belonged to the Mastin family of Spotsylvania Co., Va. Milton is also a family name so perhaps she was from the Milton family of Hanover Co., Va.

     Thomas is listed in the papers of Alexander Brown as having come of age in "Old Amherst" between 1761 and 1776. His father John is listed as having arrived there in 1761 and that is when John bought land in Albemarle Co. Thomas Durham is listed in the Amherst Co., Virginia Heads of Family census taken in 1783. Amherst Co. was formed in 1761 from part of Albemarle Co. There are seven whites listed for Thomas which would seem to indicate Thomas, his wife and five children but I have been able to identify only three sons. The other two may have died young or were females that we have been unable to identify. He is also listed in a 1790 tax list with sons James and Milton (David Milton Durham). The records also seem to indicate that Thomas had two wives and both may have been named Mary but we simply do not know.  

     A Marriage record for James Durham dated October 28, 1793 in Amherst Co. Virginia states that James Durham, bachelor,  had the consent of his father, Thomas Durham and that his bride Caty Fitzgerald, spinster, had the consent of her mother Mary Durham. A Patrick Fitzgerald stated that his sister, Caty Fitzgerald was 21 years old and a Bartlett Fitzgerald was the surety on the marriage bond.

     This marriage record clearly establishes that this Mary Durham was previously married to a Fitzgerald and that her daughter Caty [Catherine] married Thomas Durham's son James. Caty also had a brother Patrick Fitzgerald and possibly a brother Bartlett Fitzgerald. Other records indicate that there was also a brother named Benjamin Fitzgerald. I believe Mary was the Mary Bartlett who was first married to John Fitzgerald but that is simply an educated guess. I am also guessing that this Mary Durham was Thomas' second wife and James' stepmother. Mary may have, in fact, remarried another Durham but I believe she remarried this Thomas Durham. An interesting side note is that Bartlett Fitzgerald and his brother Benjamin both used the last name of Hawkins when they served in the Revolutionary War. Records also show the name as Gerald and Jerrol. Bartlett married Maskey Coleman a sister to David Milton Durham's wife Jane Coleman.

      There is a Thomas Durham on the 1809 tax list for Amherst Co. Va. and it seems likely that he stayed in Virginia and died there after 1809.

     According to all the information available today, the children of Thomas Durham:

  1. David Milton Durham

     David Milton Durham was the son of Thomas and Mary Durham and was born in 1768 in Amherst Co. Virginia. He is listed in various records as David Milton Durham, Milton David Durham, Milton D. Durham and David M. Durham etc., so we cannot be absolutely certain which is correct.  He had a son named Milton and he had a son named David. In later court records, the name appears as David M. Durham. All things considered, I believe the name to be David Milton Durham and that for whatever reason, he used both David and Milton interchangeably depending on how he felt that day. It may also have depended on what name the clerk who wrote the record knew him by. For example, I have used my middle name most of my life but some people know me by my first name and others by my middle name.

     David Milton Durham married Jane Coleman, daughter of James Coleman and Elizabeth Leake, on March 10, 1794 in Albemarle/Amherst Co. Virginia. Surety on the bond was Bartlett Fitzgerald.  A history of the Coleman family can be found in the book, The Mobjack Bay Colemans, by Sherrianne Coleman Nicol, 1998 or by visiting the following website:  http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mobjackbaycolemans/

      In 1797/8, David and Jane moved to Kentucky in an area that became Casey County. Why they moved is not known but it may have been due to Jane's brother Samuel Coleman, who married Milley Coffee, being granted 1000 acres in the Barrens of Kentucky [Casey Co.] by the Government to make corn whiskey to be used by the government and sold to England for a large profit. In any event, David and Jane Durham left Amherst, along with other Colemans, and seems to have gone to Mecklenburg Co. Va. first. There were other Durhams in Mecklenburg Co. that later moved to Boyle Co Ky. but there is no evidence that they were related to these Durhams. David and Jane's second son James is recorded as being born in Mecklenburg Co. Va. in 1798 and also in Casey Co. Ky. in 1798. We cannot be sure that the records pertain to the same individual but if so, it is possible that they only stopped in Mecklenburg Co. Va. long enough for Jane to have her baby and then moved on to Casey Co. Ky. where the child's birth was also recorded. Travelling in 1798 was at best a difficult and extremely hard thing to do and we can only imagine how strong Jane must have been to endure the hardships of this trip while pregnant, giving birth, and then back in the wagon.

     In regards to going through Mecklenburg Co., however, it is interesting to note that Mecklenburg is not on the route one would normally take from the Amherst area to get to the Wilderness Trail and hence the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. This would actually have been out of their way so if they did go through Mecklenburg, they obviously had a particular reason for doing so. There are perhaps several reasons one can conjecture, including going through Burke County North Carolina where David's grandfather John lived, but this is something we most likely will never know. Interesting nevertheless.

    The landscape in Casey Co., Kentucky where David and Jane settled is basically rolling hills with many waterways throughout the area. In 1798 wild pigs, mountain lions and bears roamed freely throughout the area and Indians were known to camp at their hunting grounds on Doe Creek which is about seven miles from David and Jane's homestead.  According to an Everett Durham, who was 90 years old in 1976, David and Jane's house contained a cornerstone with the date 1798 and it was the foundation for their original home. This house was owned by a Artie Godbey (a Durham descendant) in 1976.

     Exactly how much land David Milton Durham owned or farmed is not known but on July 25, 1814 he made a motion to the court for 48½ acres to be surveyed. The survey was returned on October 24, 1814. He had previously been taxed on 100 acres so perhaps he sold all but the 48 acres and that was the reason for the survey or it may have been an additional land purchase.

       Most of David and Jane's children moved to Randolph Co., Missouri around 1840. Jane appears to have died sometime between 1830 and 1840 and David between 1840 and 1850. There are no records or oral history to indicate where David and Jane were buried but it seems likely that it was in Casey Co. It is of course, possible that one or both of them also moved to Randolph Co., Missouri and are buried there or somewhere between Kentucky and Missouri.  

This is the original home site of David Milton Durham and Jane Coleman. It has most likely been repaired (rebuilt)  and painted many times but still has the original 1798 corner stone. It is located on Brown Ridge in Casey County Kentucky and is now owned by a non Durham.

The children of David Milton Durham and Jane Coleman

1.   Coleman Durham

2.   John Durham

3.   James Durham

4.   Susan Durham

5.   Margaret Durham

6.   Milton Palmer Durham

7.   Thomas Durham

8.   George Durham

9.   Elizabeth Durham

10. Constantine Durham

11. David Durham

2. James Durham was born circa 1770 in Amherst Co., Virginia. A Marriage record for James Durham dated October 28, 1793 in Amherst Co. Virginia states that James Durham, bachelor,  had the consent of his father, Thomas Durham and that his bride Caty Fitzgerald, spinster, had the consent of her mother Mary Durham. A Patrick Fitzgerald stated that his sister, Caty Fitzgerald was 21 years old and a Bartlett Fitzgerald was the surety on the marriage bond.

     The marriage record shows that James married a Catherine Fitzgerald and that her mother was Mary Durham who was probably James' stepmother. It seems likely that this Mary was the Mary Bartlett who was the widow of John Fitzgerald and that her children by her first marriage were Catherine, Patrick, Bartlett and Benjamin Fitzgerald. Bartlett Fitzgerald married Maskey Coleman, a sister to Jane Coleman who married James' bother David Milton Durham.  

     James was on the 1799 tax list for Amherst Co. and on 15 September 1803 he purchased 65 acres for 25 Lbs. from a Daniel McDonald. The land was on the south side and joining the north fork of the Tye River which adjoined the lines of Thomas Durham and Zach Taliaferro. On 21 April 1800, James received a land grant for 100 acres on both sides of the North Fork of the Tye river adjoining Thomas Durham and Edmund Coffee's lines. This area, which later became Nelson County, is the same area that John Durham sold 78 acres in 1778 so it seems likely that Thomas (James' father) may have acquired his land from his father John. In any event, John and Thomas lived in the same basic area in Amherst County until John left in 1779 for North Carolina.

     Nothing further is known about James Durham and Catherine Fitzgerald.

3. Isaac Durham was born in Amherst County Virginia in 1774. He married Judith Oglesby in Amherst County Virginia on 23 January 1798. Judith was born in 1772 and was the daughter of Easter Oglesby who was a widow at the time of the marriage. There was a Jacob Oglesby in Amherst and later in Christian County Kentucky who was probably Judith's brother.

    Isaac was on the 1799 tax lists for Amherst Co. but moved to Christian County Kentucky sometime between then and 1810. By 1850, Isaac was living in Hamilton County Illinois where he died between 1850 and 1860. Judith was living with her son Simpson Durham in Hamilton Co. when she died in July of 1860 age 88 years.

    Census records indicate that Isaac and Judith may have had at least 10 children but only five are known at this time.

Children of Isaac Durham and Judith Oglesby:

1. Susan Durham was born probably in 1806 in Amherst County Virginia. Isaac Durham gave consent to her marriage in Christian County Kentucky on 3 May 1824. The name of her husband, however, was not legible and nothing further is known about her.
 

2. John W. Durham

3. Mary Durham was born in Amherst County Virginia circa 1810. Mary never married but had at least two sons and one daughter. The 1850 census for Hamilton Co. Il. show an Elizabeth born 1838 and a Carrol (Peter Carrol) born 1842. The 1860 census shows a Judith born 1840 and other records indicate her name was Judith Elizabeth. Mary was living with (Judith) Elizabeth and her husband Jacob (Jack) L. Burnett in 1870.

     Mary applied for a pension in 1864 based on her son Peter C. Durham's civil war service. Peter died of smallpox while serving in Memphis Tn. on 12 February 1864. Mary stated that she has no husband nor was she ever married and that the deceased soldier left no widow or children. She further states that her son was her sole support and Simpson M. Durham (her brother) and Elsa Johnson swore that to be true. Mary also stated that she has no other living son since the death of her former son James J. Durham who died in the war with Mexico in 1847 while in the line of duty of said war. Jacob L. Burnett and Juda Burnett also signed the application. Mary was granted a pension of $8.00 per month effective 12 February 1864.

 Children of Mary Durham.

(The father is unknown, however, based on Peter's middle name his surname may have been Carrol. Judith Elizabeth also had a son named Carol. James J. Durham appears to be somewhat older than Judith Elizabeth and Peter so he may in fact, have a different father.)

1. James J. Durham

2. Judith Elizabeth Durham

3. Peter Carrol Durham

4. Simpson M. Durham was born in 1812 in Christian County Kentucky. He married his first wife Elizabeth Woodridge on 1 February 1844 in Hamilton Co. Illinois but there does not appear to be any living children from this marriage. On 22 March 1849 he married Martha Ann Johnson in Hamilton County. Simpson died in Hamilton County in the 1860s. Martha was listed in the 1870 Hamilton Co. census with her son Peter. She may have remarried a William C. Trull by 1880.

Children of Simpson M. Durham and Martha Ann Johnson:

1. James W. Durham

5. Peter Durham was born in 1815 in Christian County Kentucky. He married Mary H. Woodridge in Hopkins County Kentucky in 1836. Peter was in the 1850 and 1860 census for Hamilton County Illinois and he died sometime between when the 1865 Illinois state census was taken and 1870. By 1870 his wife Mary had remarried Louis Lane who was 77 years old in 1870. Her son Stephen and daughter Mary Durham were living with her and Louis in 1870.