My comments/notes will be added in BLUE below.
Kerry refers to the autobiography of "Ava Rillar Durbin Casper" often. I have posted her autobiography for reference and it can be seen by clicking HERE.
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Thomas Durbin notes edit note remove note last updated on 29 May 2011
THOMAS DURBIN (ca. 1758-1826)
BIRTH/PARENTAGE: Thomas Durbin was, we believe, he who was in the 1776 census of Susquehanna Hundred, Harford County, Maryland as age 18 and hence born about 1758. [Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh, MARYLAND RECORDS COLONIAL, REVOLUTIONARY, COUNTY AND CHURCH (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins Company, 1918) 2:371].
I was able to locate a copy of the Maryland Records online. See below for clippings from the book. It's a massive book - 714 pages!
Below is the reference to "Derbon, Thomas" referred to above.
I was able to locate a copy of the Maryland Records online. See below for clippings from the book. It's a massive book - 714 pages!
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| Maryland Records Title Page (Click to Enlarge) |
Below is the reference to "Derbon, Thomas" referred to above.
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| Maryland Records Page 176 (Click to Enlarge) |
"My grandfather, Daniel Durbin [1725-1774], was a resident of Maryland, Hafford [Harford] County, he married a girl by the name of Nancy Scott" wrote Thomas’s daughter, Ava Rillar Durbin Casper [Ava Rillar Durbin Casper, HISTORY OF AVA RILLAR DURBIN CASPER WRITTEN BY HERSELF (mimeographed by Gwen Sylvester Hunter), pp. 1-2; ].
St. George's Parish Register, Baltimore Co. [now Harford], MD shows that Daniel Durbin's wife Ann/Nancy was surnamed Mitchell [1726-1760].
I'm trying to locate a copy of the marriage mentioned above. While searching I ran across a link to Daniel and Ann (Mitchell) Durbin's online memorial. You can view it by clicking HERE.
To the left is a picture of Saint George's Episcopal Church Cemetery, Perryman, Harford County, Maryland, where Daniel and his wife Ann are buried.
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| Saint George's Cemetery (Click to Enlarge) |
To the left is a picture of Saint George's Episcopal Church Cemetery, Perryman, Harford County, Maryland, where Daniel and his wife Ann are buried.
It was Thomas’s grandmother who was a Scott [Avarilla Scott (1696-1741)] [Durbin, Daniel m. Ann Mitchell 11 Aug 1746--St. George's Parish Register, Baltimore (now Harford) County, MD].
MARRIAGE: DURBIN, Thomas, Marriage license to Clemence Litton on October 5, 1779 [(Ref: M).-Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125 ("Ref:M" means Marriage Records, 1774-1790, at the Harford County Courthouse)].
The book, Early Harford Countians, is available for sale online.
The book, Early Harford Countians, is available for sale online.
"Thomas [my father] married a girl by the name of Clemency Litten" [Ava Rillar Durbin Casper, HISTORY OF AVA RILLAR DURBIN CASPER WRITTEN BY HERSELF (mimeographed by Gwen Sylvester Hunter), pp. 1-2].
OCCUPATION:“Planter” (i.e., farmer); possibly stone mason.
DEATH: "In 1826 my father and mother died [there is some disagreement as to the year - some say it was 1828, but if they're reading weathered headstones 1826 and 1828 could be easily mistaken]. Mother died 29 January and was buried the 31st. Father died March 29, and was buried the 31st" [Ava Rillar Durbin Casper, HISTORY OF AVARILLAR DURBIN CASPER WRITTEN BY HERSELF (mimeographed by Gwen Sylvester Hunter), pp. 1-2].
By then Thomas and Clemency (Litten) Durbin were living in Richland County, Ohio.
LAND TRACTS: Durbins Beginning inherited in 1774 60 acres Valentine (1790) in Bethlehem Township, Washington Co, PA, south half of southwest quarter of section 9 in township 19 range 18 Worster, Knox Co, OH
BIOGRAPHY OF THOMAS AND CLEMENCY (LITTEN) DURBIN
BY KERRY WILLIAM BATE:
There are two contemporary Thomas Durbins in Harford County that need to be sorted out in order to present the history of our Thomas.
BY KERRY WILLIAM BATE:
There are two contemporary Thomas Durbins in Harford County that need to be sorted out in order to present the history of our Thomas.
For simplicity’s sake we’ll call our Thomas by the customary designation used in Harford County contemporary with Thomas’s life there, Thomas of Daniel, meaning Thomas son of Daniel [Thomas William Durbin (1755-1828)].
He had a first cousin, Thomas Durbin [(1760- ), brother of Francis] that we’ll designate as Eyetrap Thomas after the tract of land owned by his father, another Thomas Durbin [(1723- ), son of John Durbin (1681-1743)], husband of Margaret Stephens and uncle to our Thomas of Daniel.
Uncle Thomas will be Uncle Thomas; he was son of John and Avarilla (Scott) [(1696-1741)] Durbin and long out-lived Thomas Durbin’s father, Daniel Durbin.
There were also more distant Thomas Durbin cousins: Thomas Durbin who died before 2 September 1766 was son of Christopher [(1678-1709)], brother of that John Durbin who married Avarilla Scott, and Thomas Durbin, born 1743 and died before 26 February 1788 [Thomas (1743-1788) m. Frances Carty], was son of the Thomas who died before 2 September 1766. These last two will not appear in the following narrative.
Let’s begin with Eyetrap Thomas: we believe he is the Thomas "Durben" aged 16 (born ca. 1760) in 1776: Susquehannah Hundred, Bennett Barns, age 23, Hestor Barns, age 22, Thomas Durben, age 16 [Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh, MARYLAND RECORDS COLONIAL, REVOLUTIONARY, COUNTY AND CHURCH (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins Company, 1918) 2:371].
To the left is page 184 of the Maryland Records showing "Durben, Thomas.....16" living with head of household "Barns, Bennet" (age 23) and "Hestor" Barns (age 22).
When Bennett Barnes was taxed in 1774, his security was "Daniel Dirbin" [Henry C. Peden, Jr. EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:24], who could have been our Thomas’s father Daniel, but that Daniel Durbin felt he was close enough to death in January 1774 to write his will and was dead by March.
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| Maryland Records Page 184 (Click to Enlarge) |
When Bennett Barnes was taxed in 1774, his security was "Daniel Dirbin" [Henry C. Peden, Jr. EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:24], who could have been our Thomas’s father Daniel, but that Daniel Durbin felt he was close enough to death in January 1774 to write his will and was dead by March.
Bennett Barnes wasn’t much older than this Thomas Durbin, having been born 17 Sept 1753, son of Ford and Ruth (Garrett) Barnes [Robert W. Barnes, BALTIMORE COUNTY FAMILIES, 1659-1759 (Baltimore: Clearfield Company, Inc., 1989) p. 28]. [Book is available for sale online] Ford Barnes was nephew of Hannah Barnes Mitchell, wife of Kent Mitchell, Sr. [ibid, p. 451], and so had the following non-genealogical relationship to our Daniel Durbin and his son Thomas:
THOMAS MITCHELL == ANN …..!________________________________________! _________________! ! ! !ANN MITCHELL == DANIEL DURBIN KENT MITCHELL, SR. == HANNAH BARNES !! ______________________________!THOMAS DURBIN !FORD BARNES == RUTH GARRETT! BENNETT BARNES
We know that Daniel Durbin, father of our Thomas, was close to Kent Mitchell Jr. for he specifically mentions him in his will [to read this will, click HERE.] as a friend and “relation.” Nevertheless, we believe “Eyetrap Thomas” is the one living with Bennett Barnes, and we’ll first follow Eyetrap’s career.
Kent Mitchell Jr. (1743-1786) is also listed on the Susquehanna Hundred Census with wife Hannah (Wood) (1743-1823) and children. See clip to the left.
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| Maryland Records Page 184 (Click to Enlarge) |
Eyetrap Thomas’s brother Francis Durbin died in 1777, aged about 29. Eyetrap Thomas was listed as “nearest of kin,” along with Mary Durbin, who may have been Francis’s six-year-old daughter [Henry C. Peden, Jr., HEIRS AND LEGATEES OF HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND 1774-1802 (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 2001), p. 6].
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| Maryland Records Page 191 (Click to Enlarge) |
Francis Durbin had two children, Mary and Francis, but apparently both died young because the next heir to inherit the estate was to be John Durbin [(1750-1781)], son of Uncle Thomas.
John Durbin was so stricken with patriotic fervor in support of the American Revolution he enlisted in the Continental Army on 24 December 1776 as a private in Col. Moses Hazen’s regiment. He may have had second thoughts over bad conditions and worse pay (“6 2/3 Dollars” for 26 days’ pay in June and July 1779) for he is recorded as deserting in March 1777.
However he rejoined his regiment and served until he was taken prisoner on 23 March 1780; the military bureaucracy, not aware he was a prisoner at first, listed him as deserting again in April of that year, but then corrected the record, “Prisr 23 Mar 80” [Revolutionary Records, Continental Troops, Hazen’s Regiment].
John Durbin died in British hands before the authorities could arrange his exchange or release [Revolutionary War records, Hazen’s Regiment, accessible at footnote.com images 11820656, 11820670, 11820692, 11820701, 11820712, 11820725, 11820735, 11820744, 11820759, 11820763; (19 April 1781):
“Non-commissioned officers and privates of Col. Hazen’s Regiment, belonging to the state of Maryland:…. N. B. John Durbin (from Capt. Carlile’s Co.) Prisoner of War, not mentioned in the Body of this list.” [ARCHIVES OF MD, MUSTER ROLLS AND OTHER RECORDS OF SERVICE OF MD TROOPS IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 18: 598].
To the left is a copy of the Roll of Captain John Carlile in Colonel Moses Hazen's Regiment. John Durbin is seen at the bottom of this list from June & July 1779. Other documents were also found online at my fold3.com account.
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| (Click to Enlarge) |
John having died, Francis Durbin’s estate eventually went to Eyetrap Thomas, who seems to have had the sort of worldly character that shocked the neighbors.
This must be the Thomas Durbin listed repeatedly in the court records between 1784 and 1788 for being involved in various fights-assaulting William Taylor and Nathaniel Bayless [1783], Moses Wood [1784, 1788], Thomas Kelly [1788], and being assaulted by John ***** and John Craig [1785] [Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125].
Uncle Thomas was probably deceased by then, and in any case was too old to be taking up pugilism, and Thomas of Daniel left Harford County around 1783/1784.
Eyetrap Thomas capped his 18th century career by being declared bankrupt and imprisoned for debt:
“And Francis [Durbin] died so [the land] descended to his brother John and John entered as a soldier in the American service in the late war and there died, so land descended to his brother Thomas who was served in Harford County Court for debt and imprisoned and, on 9 Nov 1785 did deliver to the Sheriff a list of his property and advertise on 16 Sept 1789 for sale” [Harford County Land Records K:469, abstract from Michael Pierce].
When, by 1790 and 1791 Thomas Durbin of Deer Creek Lower and Susquehanna Hundreds is listed among the insolvents on the tax rolls and noted as “gone” [Henry C. Peden, Jr., INHABITANTS OF HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND 1791-1800 (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 2001) p. 100], this is undoubtedly Eyetrap Thomas.
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We now turn our attention to Thomas of Daniel, whom we identify as the following: Susquehannah Hundred
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| Maryland Records Page 176 (Click to Enlarge) |
Martha.....38
Isaac.....16
John.....11
Mary.....9
Marth.....5
Elisabeth.....3
Prise, Mary.....27
Prise, Wm......6
Durben, Thomas.....18
The reasons for our identification are varied, none of them locked-down proof, but overall we think convincing. Daniel Durbin’s will says,
“Also it is my will and desire that on my decease my house I live in and the land thereto belonging be rented out by my friend Charles Gilbert [A "Charles Gilbert" is named as the one who recorded the Susquehanna Hundred Census and is also listed on the census as age 53, born 1723, two years before Daniel, making him about the same age as Daniel.] for the best price that can be got until my Son Thomas arrives at the age of Twenty one years for the sole benefit and advantage of my Said Son Thomas the rents to be yearly received and received [reserved] for him and paid him on his arriving at the age of Twenty one Years as aforesaid and if it Should happen that I die before my said Son is put to Some trade it is my will and desire that my said friend Charles Gilbert bind out my Said Son Thomas to some good calling until he shall arrive at age as aforesaid, And I do hereby appoint my said friend Charles Gilbert the Guardian of my Said Son and his Estate” [Harford County Wills, Md. (Book AJ 2:134-35); Ralph H. Morgan, Jr., HARFORD COUNTY WILLS 1774-1800 HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND (Silver Spring, MD: Family Line Publications, 1990) p. 17].
Thomas Durbin was also a taxable in the household of John “Peremon” in Susquehanna Hundred in 1776 [Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125; 2:372], and he had likely been apprenticed by Charles Gilbert to Periman to learn the stone mason’s trade [Harford County Wills, Md. (Book AJ 2:134-35].
It is doubtful if the 16-year-old Thomas Durbin, living with 23-year-old Bennett Barnes, was learning a trade. Furthermore, our Thomas married in 1779, when the Thomas Durbin living with Periman would have been 21, the right age for an apprenticeship to end and in time to receive his inheritance from Gilbert.
All of this is a very long way to explain why we believe our Thomas Durbin was born about 1758, but not on his father’s farm, Durbin’s Beginning, since Daniel Durbin didn’t get the warrant to occupy that land until 1760, while the parcels around it, Lough’s Lot, Hall’s Plains, and Obadiah’s Venture, had been claimed in 1710, 1703, and 1713, respectively [Mpierce1@aol.com (Michael Pierce) 12/27/2010 9:12 PM email to Kerry Bate].
This would suggest the farm was somewhat marginal, and when, thanks to Baltimore and Harford, land tracts expert Michael Pierce providing me a map, I looked at an aerial view of this land on Mapquest on 27 December 2010, I found a good portion of it is wooded, suggesting its agricultural advantages are still minimal. This parcel is shaped somewhat like a backward “1” but with the bottom of that one angular, as thus: “ ̷ ” instead of flat (thus: "__”);
Harford County records show that the later Baker owners built a house on the lower third of the “1” in 1850, and this may have been where the original house stood since it’s located somewhat between the extremities of north and south.
Thomas Durbin’s daughter, who was probably named Avarilla-her great-grandmother’s name-but called herself Ava Rillar, wrote a brief autobiography and like most such efforts, we’re very grateful she wrote anything and frustrated that a lot of questions we have don’t get answered.
This is the only hint we get of Thomas of Daniel’s childhood: “My grandfather, Daniel Durbin, was a resident of Maryland, Harford County. He married a girl by the name of Nancy Scott [Ann Mitchell]. They had five children, two boys and three girls. Two of them, a boy and a girl, were killed by the explosion of a powder horn. I do not know their names. The other names were Nancy, Ava Rillar, and Thomas, who was my father” [Ava Rillar Durbin Casper, HISTORY OF AVA RILLAR DURBIN CASPER WRITTEN BY HERSELF (mimeographed by Gwen Sylvester Hunter), pp. 1-2].
Daniel and Ann (Mitchell) Durbin had twins John and Scott Durbin on 11 March 1747, whose births were recorded in St. George’s Parish Register, Baltimore County (now Harford), Maryland [ST GEORGE’S PARISH REGISTERS];
Daniel’s will shows he had a daughter Avarilla, and Daniel’s granddaughter Ava Rillar says there was another daughter named Nancy, as well as a second, unnamed daughter who died, along with a son, in a powder horn explosion.
As we have implied, Durbin’s Beginning can’t have been much to support a family, but Thomas’ father Daniel had an interest at one time or another in other tracts: Hughes Enlargement, Hughes Choice, Durbin’s Choice, Durbin’s Chance, Obadiah's Venture (50 acres), and Improved Venture (50 acres); speculating in stolen or conquered Indian lands was a favorite colonial investment.
It is possible, however, that Daniel Durbin was also a carpenter, though the reference more likely belongs to the older man’s nephew Daniel (1741-1827) [“Nathan Rigbie (of Harford County’s) ledger (1772-1797)].
Often the account statements contain occupational or personal information…. Daniel Durbin [was identified] as a carpenter…” [Robert Barnes, Pat Melville, “Historical and Genealogical Data Found in a Ledger,” THE ARCHIVISTS BULLDOG vol. 12 (23 Nov 1998) no. 21].
The reference mentioned above can be found online by clicking HERE. The direct quote, from the previous link, is as follows:
The reference mentioned above can be found online by clicking HERE. The direct quote, from the previous link, is as follows:
"Often the account statements contain occupational or personal information about the individual. Daniel Kenly was identified as a schoolmaster, John Stone as a weaver, Thomas M. Hullock as a cooper, Daniel Durbin as a carpenter, Francis Foster as a wagon maker, and Henry Brown as a merchant in Baltimore City. Marey Pew was described as the wife of Daniel Pew, John Cromwell of Cecil County as the man who married John Hammond Dorsey's daughter, John Smith as James Baxter's son-in-law, and Margaret Dallam as a widow."
Thomas Durbin’s mother, Ann Mitchell, like all of her children (but Thomas and his sister Avarilla) died by the time Thomas’s father Daniel signed his will “and affixed my Seal this Nineteenth Day of January Anno Dom. 1774” [Harford County Wills, Md. (Book AJ 2:134-35); Ralph H. Morgan, Jr., HARFORD COUNTY WILLS 1774-1800 HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND (Silver Spring, MD: Family Line Publications, 1990) p. 17] because only three relatives are mentioned:
“it is my will that my beloved son Thomas Durbin have my Tract of Land called Durbins Beginning Containing Sixty acres being the place where I now live which Tract of Land called Durbins Beginning with all the Buildings and Improvements thereon I give and devise unto my Said Son Thomas to him and his Heirs and afsigns for ever.”Second “I give and Devise unto my beloved Daughter Avarilla Durbin all my right Interest and claim in the said two tracts of Land [Obadiah’s Venture and Improved Venture] and the appurtenances thereto belonging except as is herein after accepted willing and Desiring that the said Two Tracts of Land with the appurtenances thereto belonging be by the Said James Pritchard or his heirs conveyed unto my said Daughter Avarilla, the Said two Tracts or parcels of Land except such part thereof as I have heretofore Disposed of to Charles Gilbert to her heirs and afsigns forever.”
The last mention of a relationship is:
“ALSO as I have heretofore sold a parcel of Land to Robert Adair deed called Durbins chance which is not conveyed to the said Adair I do hereby empower and order that if the deed for the same should not be made in my life time that my friend and relation Kent Mitchell Jun: execute a deed agreeable to my bargain to the proper representative of the said Robert Adair at any time hereafter when legally Required.”
Daniel Durbin obviously had confidence in the business abilities of his daughter for he concluded his will with,
“I do hereby give and devise unto my beloved daughter Avarilla all the rest and remainder of my Estate in Every Shape and form that it may consist to her her Heirs and afsigns for Ever, and I do appoint my Said Daughter Avarilla the sole Executrix of this my last & only will” [Harford County Wills, Md. (Book AJ 2:134-35); Ralph H. Morgan, Jr., HARFORD COUNTY WILLS 1774-1800 HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND (Silver Spring, MD: Family Line Publications, 1990) p. 17;
While it is true that the other siblings were likely dead by the time of this will, I don't believe that exclusion from a will necessarily serves as proof to make that statement factually.
Daniel's wife, Ann "Nancy" Mitchell's death is recorded as 08 Sep 1760 on ancestry.com.
Again, I have transcribed the entire will and you can read by clicking HERE.
Daniel's wife, Ann "Nancy" Mitchell's death is recorded as 08 Sep 1760 on ancestry.com.
Again, I have transcribed the entire will and you can read by clicking HERE.
This latter abstract, curiously, fails to mention that Daniel Durbin called Kent Mitchell Jr. a friend and relation. The witnesses were Amos Garrett, Nicholas Baker Jr., and Kent Mitchell Jr., the last of whom was Thomas of Daniel’s cousin.
Daniel Durbin's wife, Ann "Nancy" Mitchell (1726-1760) had a brother - Kent Mitchell Sr. (1724-1793) m. Hannah Barnes. They had a son, Kent Mitchell Jr. (1743-1786) m. Hannah Wood (1743-1823)... hence, cousin to "Thomas of Daniel".
On 23 March 1774 these three witnesses:
“Severally made oath on the Holy Evangils of Almighty God, That they Saw the Testator Sign and Seal and heard him publish pronounce and Declare the same to be his last will and testament that at the time of his so doing he was to the best of their several apprehensions of sound mind memory and understanding”
Avarilla Durbin acted as executrix [Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:124].
So Thomas of Daniel was orphaned at around sixteen and placed under the care of Charles Gilbert. Charles Gilbert’s family had a long association with the Durbins, for Thomas of Daniel’s grandfather, John Durbin, joined Samuel Pritchard and the Gilbert heirs in posting a bond for the estate of Jarvis Gilbert, Charles’s father [Robert W. Barnes, BALTIMORE COUNTY FAMILIES, 1659-1759 (Baltimore: Clearfield Company, Inc., 2002), p. 251].
The book mentioned above is available for sale online.
Gilbert’s 26 November 1797 will bequeaths several parcels of land to his grandson Charles Gilbert including Obadiah’s Venture and The Improved Venture, parcels which were referenced in Daniel Durbin’s will as belonging partly to Gilbert and partly descending to Thomas of Daniel’s sister Avarilla.
It has been asserted that this Avarilla is she who is in the 1776 census of Susquehanna Hundred, Harford County, MD:
Susquehannah Hundred
Avariller Durbin aged 25
Delila Durbin age 2
The "Avariller" mentioned above is seen on page 175:
Interestingly, there is another "Durbin, Averiller.....17" on page 191:
[Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh, MARYLAND RECORDS COLONIAL, REVOLUTIONARY, COUNTY AND CHURCH (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins Company, 1918) vol. 2].
The "Avariller" mentioned above is seen on page 175:
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| Maryland Records Page 175 (Click to Enlarge) |
Interestingly, there is another "Durbin, Averiller.....17" on page 191:
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| Maryland Records Page 191 (Click to Enlarge) |
This is a possibility, but Avarilla was a common name in this part of Maryland [this is true - I counted 9 other Avarilla's on the Susquehannah Hundred Census alone] and our Avarilla had a cousin of the same name born on 22 September 1752 [“Durbin, Avarilla b 22 Sept 1752 d/o John Jr & Mary”, ST GEORGE’S PARISH REGISTER, BALTIMORE (NOW HARFORD COUNTY), MARYLAND] who, if we postulate an illegitimate birth for Delila, is also a fit.
The only other "Averiller.....25" (b. 1751) I found close to that age on the Susquehannah Hundred Census was one I found living with head of household "Haukins, Robart.....59" on page 180 of the Maryland Records. This is the cousin "Avarilla" mentioned above who married Richard Hawkins.
There were other Avarilla's living with Mitchell and Barnes families in the rest of the census (p. 186, 188-189, 189).
The only other "Averiller.....25" (b. 1751) I found close to that age on the Susquehannah Hundred Census was one I found living with head of household "Haukins, Robart.....59" on page 180 of the Maryland Records. This is the cousin "Avarilla" mentioned above who married Richard Hawkins.
There were other Avarilla's living with Mitchell and Barnes families in the rest of the census (p. 186, 188-189, 189).
However, the bastardy bonds of Harford County don’t record any Durbin having an illegitimate child between 1774 and 1844 [Henry C. Peden, Jr., BASTARDY CASES IN HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND, 1774-1844 (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 2001].
The book mentioned above is available for purchase online.
What I found on the census may be helpful in figuring this out later:
Given the commonality of the name Avarilla, the young ages at which women could become widows in Colonial America, and a lack of further evidence, we can’t be sure what Avarilla’s career was, though studying the disposition of the land she inherited is the most likely path to learn more.
A marriage license was issued to Thomas Durbin and “Clemence” Litton on 5 October 1779 [Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125].
Clemency was 17 in 1776, so born about 1759, a year younger than Thomas; she was listed as “Clemnency” in the 1776 census, Susquehanna Hundred, Harford County, Maryland, with her parents, Samuel and Ann (possibly Crawford) Litten [Gaius M. Brumbaugh, MARYLAND RECORDS COLONIAL, REVOLUTIONARY, COUNTY AND CHURCH FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES, (1928) vol. 2].
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| Maryland Records Page 180 (Click to Enlarge) |
Her actual name, as pointed out by her daughter Ava Rillar Durbin Casper, was “Clemency” [Ava Rillar Durbin Casper, HISTORY OF AVARILLAR DURBIN CASPER WRITTEN BY HERSELF (mimeographed by Gwen Sylvester Hunter), pp. 1-2].
The Littens, or as their name is more often spelled in earlier records, Littons - had been Quakers until Clemency’s grandfather, Thomas Litton, was “disowned” for having “fallen into the habit of excessive drinking of strong liquor & also indulging a man to cohabit with his daughter… our committee reported having visited him & that while he confessed drinking to excess, he denied the other charge; but Friends report that upon inquiry they find he appears guilty of suffering a man to cohabit with his daughter & also of gaming" [Bush River Meeting & Deer Creek Meeting (Maryland Quaker Records: Nottingham Monthly Meeting, Cecil County Book F - 1808-1836)].
Two of Clemency’s Litten's uncles were also disowned for unrelated offenses, but before we judge Quaker justice too harshly, let us always remember Quakers were among the few sects in America which not only disavowed war but also disciplined members for cruelty to, trafficking in, or owning slaves [“Nicholas Gassaway was charged with ‘giving orders to shoot one of his negroes on the legs… and banishing a negro to the West Indies…”-Henry C. Peden, Jr., QUAKER RECORDS OF NORTHERN MARYLAND 1716-1800 (Westminster, MD: Family Line Publications, 1994) pp. 60-61].
Clemency’s father Samuel, according to Methodist bishop Francis Asbury, “had been a ranting Quaker, and a rebellious man; but God hath touched his heart, and wrought a good work on him and several others here” [Deer Creek, in northwest Harford County], and Samuel Litten thereafter held many Methodist meetings at the Litten home [JOURNALS AND LETTERS OF FRANCIS ASBURY, 1:65-66, 76, 84, 91, 95-96, 99, 736].
Clemency and Thomas’s daughter writes that “In 1803 I joined the Methodists, lived a Methodist until 1825” [Ava Rillar Durbin Casper, HISTORY OF AVARILLAR DURBIN CASPER WRITTEN BY HERSELF (mimeographed by Gwen Sylvester Hunter), pp. 1-2], which is when Ava Rillar would have been thirteen years old, so it’s possible her parents were Methodists, like her maternal grandfather. (John Durbin, Thomas of Daniel’s grandfather, was Episcopalian and a member of the St George’s Parish Vestry [John Davis, BALTIMORE COUNTY, MARYLAND DEEDS 1659-1737 (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1996) 1: 341]).
The book mentioned above is available for purchase online.
The unrest leading to the American Revolution was very strong in Harford County, enough so that 34 elected (white male) citizen representatives signed the “Bush Declaration” of March 22, 1775:
"We the Committee of Harford County, having most seriously and maturely considered the Resolves and Association of the Continental Congress, and the Resolves of the Provincial Convention, do most heartily approve of the same, and as we esteem ourselves in a more particular manner, entrusted by our constituents to see them carried into execution, we do most solemnly pledge ourselves to each other, and to our Country, and engage ourselves by every tie held sacred among mankind to perform the same at the risque of our lives and fortunes."
Five of the 34 were Thomas of Daniel’s relatives and a sixth signer was a distant cousin of Clemency; several others were related in various ways by marriage. (The last Revolutionary-era Governor of Maryland, William Paca, was unrelated to the Durbins but his brother Aquila signed and both had Harford County roots ).
To see more information on the Bush Declaration click HERE.
To see more information on the Bush Declaration click HERE.
We don’t know how the American Revolution affected Thomas of Daniel: a list of “Non-Associators and Non-Enrollers in Harford County to the 10th September 1775” includes Samuel Litten, who was fined £2 10s and a Thomas Durbin who was fined £2 [Walter W. Preston, HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND (Baltimore: Regional Publishing Company, 1971 reprint), pp. 346-47;] Non-Associators or Non-Enrollers were those who refused military service and were fined to pay for a substitute] but Thomas of Daniel would have only been about 17 as we have pointed out, and so perhaps this was Uncle Thomas.
Below are the pages from the book mention above:
Below are the pages from the book mention above:
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| History of Harford County Samuel Litten Page 347 (Click to Enlarge) |
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| History of Harford County Thomas Durbin Page 346 (Click to Enlarge) |
In addition to Samuel Litton and Thomas Durbin I also found a Daniel Durbin listed as a non-enroller:
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| Histroy of Harford County Daniel Durbin Page 346 (Click to Enlarge) |
Ava Rillar Durbin Casper says of her father-in-law, Peter Casper, “I have heard him say that he was in several battles and that he served through most of the Revolutionary War” [Ava Rillar Durbin Casper, HISTORY OF AVARILLAR DURBIN CASPER WRITTEN BY HERSELF (mimeographed by Gwen Sylvester Hunter), p. 1] but she says nothing of her parents and the revolution except that “They moved to Pennsylvania about the close of the Revolutionary War” [ibid.].
A grand jury was called 25 March 1783 at Scott’s Old Fields, now Bel Air, made up of “the reputable people of the county of that day” and the members included “Thos. Durbin,” who we think may be our Thomas because his father-in-law, “Samuel Litton”, was also a juror [Walter W. Preston, HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND (Baltimore: Regional Publishing Company, 1971 reprint), pp. 77-78] and his cousin Eyetrap Thomas’s career suggests he might not have been considered “reputable”. The Treaty of Paris ending that war was signed on 3 September 1783 and ratified in 1784.
Pictured to the left is a clipping from the book mentioned above and showing "Thos. Durbin" and "Samuel Litton".
It was indeed about then that Thomas and Clemency (Litten) Durbin left Maryland, for in 1784 Thomas Durbin conveyed Durbin’s Beginning to “the heirs of Nicholas Baker” [Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:17].
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| History of Harford County Page 77 (Click to Enlarge) |
It was indeed about then that Thomas and Clemency (Litten) Durbin left Maryland, for in 1784 Thomas Durbin conveyed Durbin’s Beginning to “the heirs of Nicholas Baker” [Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:17].
A Thomas Durbin signed an undated petition, apparently in the summer of 1776, asking the Continental Congress for a new State to be known as "Westsylvania," which comprised the upper Monongahela Valley in Pennsylvania [Howard L. Leckey, THE TEN MILE COUNTRY AND ITS PIONEER FAMILIES A GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF THE UPPER MONONGAHELA VALLEY (Baltimore: Clearfield Company, Inc., 2001) pp. 143, 145; ], an area settled by many of Clemency’s relatives. But this was too early for Thomas of Daniel unless the dating is wrong. (Pennsylvania authorities were so outraged by the agitation to secede from their state that the Assembly declared it treason and subject to the death penalty).
The book mentioned above is available to purchase online. I was able to get one clipping from a preview which mentioned an "Avarilla Durbin" in reference to a Richard Hawkins who was born in 1748.
Note that Richard served with the Maryland line in the American Revolution.
The Susquehanna Hundred census (to the left) claims that Richard was age 23 which would place his birth in 1753. However, I can see how a "23" and "28" could be easily mistaken. Until I find an actual copy of the census I'm going with the birth date mention in The Tenmile Country (1748).
Notice that Richard and Avarilla were living with his parents at the time of this census. Richard had just been previously married to Elizabeth Cox and the Elizabeth (age 11 months) on the census is their only child according to The Tenmile Country article shown above. Richard and Avarilla were likely married around this time.
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| The Tenmile Country Page 80 (Click to Enlarge) |
Note that Richard served with the Maryland line in the American Revolution.
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| Maryland Records Page 180 (Click to Enlarge) |
Notice that Richard and Avarilla were living with his parents at the time of this census. Richard had just been previously married to Elizabeth Cox and the Elizabeth (age 11 months) on the census is their only child according to The Tenmile Country article shown above. Richard and Avarilla were likely married around this time.
Thomas’s Litton in-laws found Pennsylvania promising as early as 1 August 1766, when “Warrant #102 [was] issued to John Litton” for 326 acres on the Southside Beaver Dam, Branch of the Juniata River; the same date Samuel Litton was issued warrant #103 for another 326 acres in the same location [Edward D. Price, PA Department of Community Affairs, 10 November 1970 to Mrs. Howard Litton, Jr., copy in my possession].
Samuel Litten sold his remaining tracts in Harford County in 1783, by which time they both had neighbors, friends, and relatives who had relocated; later, in 1786, Bishop Asbury noted in his journal that he “Crossed the Monongahela [at Redstone at Old Fort, PA], where they are building a town [Brownsville]. I am now among some of my old friends that moved from Maryland to this country” [JOURNALS AND LETTERS OF FRANCIS ASBURY, 1:492, 81].
Samuel Durbin, oldest known son of Thomas and Clemency, was born in 1783 according to an old family bible [Miss Mildred G. Durbin, Record Copied at Columbus, Ohio, Dec. 6, 1938--EARLY VITAL RECORDS OF OHIO, by the DAR, EARLY BIBLE AND FAMILY RECORDS OF FRANKLIN COUNTY, OHIO, pp. 42-44], and a history of Knox County places Samuel’s birth in Pennsylvania [N.N. Hill, Jr., HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, OHIO (1881) 657: “DURBIN, Samuel, Fredericktown, deceased; was born in Pennsylvania about the year 1780…”]. We’re inclined to think the birth location about right but the bible more correct when it comes to the year.
The book above was available for download and to the left is a clip concerning the paragraph above.
A Thomas Durbin is also mentioned in this book as "Among the earliest settlers in Fredericktown" which, according to page 560, was established 11 Nov 1807.
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| History of Knox County Page 657 (Click to Enlarge) |
A Thomas Durbin is also mentioned in this book as "Among the earliest settlers in Fredericktown" which, according to page 560, was established 11 Nov 1807.
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| History of Knox County Page 564 (Click to Enlarge) |
NOTE: There is a lot of "Ohio Durbin" history in this book. I've saved the book for future reference.
Thomas Durbin gave a bond on 30 June 1785 to be guardian of his 18-year-old first cousin once removed, Shadrack Mitchell, son of his father’s “friend and relation” (and Thomas Durbin’s own first cousin), Kent Mitchell Jr., who had recently died in Washington County. Durbin’s father-in-law, Samuel Litten, joined him in that bond [WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA GRANTEES 1 B 148 Bond; Raymond Martin Bell, ESTATE RECORDS 1781-1796 AND DEED RECORDS 1782-1785 IN WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA (1967); see vol. 6, GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF PA, p. 21].
A year and a half later Thomas Durbin, a resident of Bethlehem Township, Washington County, PA, recorded the ear mark for his cattle: “Thomas Durbin his Mark} A Crop of the left ear and three ***** the under part of the right ear a Cross the same (recorded the 10th Day of February 1787 } Bethlehem Twp” [WASHINGTON COUNTY RECORDS, 1 C 265 Ear Mark].
Two days later he paid £13 10s to buy a 66 ¾ acre tract called “Valentine” from George Kender of Bethlehem [ibid., 1 D 168 (12 February 1787)]. We don’t find Thomas Durbin in the 1790 federal census but he and his wife “Clemency” sold “Valentine” on 23 March 1790 to John Ross for £104 “Pennsylvania money”, with W. Wallace and Andrew Boggs witnessing the deed [WASHINGTON COUNTY RECORDS, 1 H 127 Bethlehem] so he was either overlooked or living in a household where someone else was considered the head.
He was on the tax lists for East Bethlehem Township by 1793 [Raymond Martin Bell, TAX LISTS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA 1784-85, 1793] and is recorded in the 1800 US Census of Pike Run Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania:
Thomas Durbin 1 free white male under 10
1 free white male aged 10 15
1 free white male 16 to 25
1 free white male 26 to 44
1 free white female under 10
1 free white female 10 to 15
1 free white female 26 to 44
4 household members under 16
2 over 25
total household: 7-
[1800 US Census: Pike Run, Washington, Pennsylvania; Roll: 44; Page: 850,851; Image: 91; Family History Library Film: 363347].
Shortly after this census, however, the family moved to the Richland/Knox County area of Ohio, for Ava Rillar wrote of herself, “Ava Rillar Durbin was born 26 November 1790 in Washington County, Pennsylvania, moved with her father’s family to Ohio when eleven years old” [Ava Rillar Durbin Casper, HISTORY OF AVARILLAR DURBIN CASPER WRITTEN BY HERSELF (mimeographed by Gwen Sylvester Hunter), pp. 1-2], which would be 1801 or 1802.
The Durbins bought land but under the new ordinances it didn’t have an intriguing name to puzzle posterity: instead it was mathematically precise, the way Thomas Jefferson’s mind was precise: the south half of SW ¼ of section 9 in township 19 range 18 in Worster, Knox County, Ohio [Knox County Deeds, 2:44].
"Originally,” writes the county historian, “the territory was covered with a dense growth of oak, walnut, ash, elm, chestnut, hickory, linn, gum, sassafras, sycamore, hard and soft maple, and a good variety of the smaller growths. A large per cent of the land is yet covered with forest, although Jefferson is one of the most thickly settled townships in the county” [HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY, OHIO, pp. 426-29].
The book mentioned above is available online and I've saved a copy for future reference. To the left is a clip of page 426 as mentioned in the paragraph above.
"Originally,” writes the county historian, “the territory was covered with a dense growth of oak, walnut, ash, elm, chestnut, hickory, linn, gum, sassafras, sycamore, hard and soft maple, and a good variety of the smaller growths. A large per cent of the land is yet covered with forest, although Jefferson is one of the most thickly settled townships in the county” [HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY, OHIO, pp. 426-29].
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| History of Richland County Page 426 (Click to Enlarge) |
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| History of Richland County Page 435 (Click to Enlarge) |
Again, there is a lot of Durbin history to investigate in this book as well. I've saved a copy to search through later.
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| History of Richland County Page 427 (Click to Enlarge) |
Ava Rillar has two brothers... Thomas, and Scott. The paragraph on page 427 claims they were from Virginia. Ava Rillar was briefly in Virginia, but that was shortly after her marriage in 1809. I'll have to investigate this in more depth later.
An election was held on 11 October 1808 in the town of Frederick and voters included Thomas Durbin and Samuel Durbin, but whether Thomas Sr. or Jr. we don‘t know; we read that, “Among the earliest settlers in Fredericktown are found the names of… Thomas Durbin…” [HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, p. 560].
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| History of Knox County Ohio Page 560 (Click to Enlarge) |
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| History of Knox County Ohio Page 564 (Click to Enlarge) |
To the right is the clip (from page 564) which mentions the earliest settlers of Fredericktown.
According to a later election list, Thomas and Scott Durbin are alleged to have been from Virginia, but that is wrong. Their brother-in-law, William Casper, wasn’t a Kentuckian as asserted, either [ibid., p. 427].
The page (427) mentioned above must be a typo... I can't find any mention on that page of either of those names. I searched the rest of the book and couldn't find any mention of the three together either.
Ava Rillar leaves some mystery about her family for she writes of her parents, “They had fifteen children, nine lived to be men and women, four boys and two girls, Samuel, Ava Rillar, Scott, Elizabeth, Thomas and John.
Samuel married Rebecca Collins. Ava Rillar married William Casper [6 May 1809]. Scott married Margaret Davis [27 October 1812]. Elizabeth married James Walker [2 November 1809]. Thomas married Abi Collins. John married Sarah Fitting [26 April 1821]” [Ava Rillar Durbin Casper, HISTORY OF AVARILLAR DURBIN CASPER WRITTEN BY HERSELF (mimeographed by Gwen Sylvester Hunter), pp. 1-2].
It appears that what she meant was of her parents’ fifteen children, nine of them reached adulthood but only six of them married and had children. Who the remaining children are hasn’t been discovered, but a clue might lie in the names Ava Rillar gave her own children for she seemed to favor family names and yet she had a Duncan Spears Casper and a Lydia Spears Casper.
Duncan Spears Casper’s namesake was Duncan Spier (often spelled Spear), born 16 June 1765 in Sussex County, Delaware, and died in June 1832 in Knox County, Ohio. The name of his wife is unknown, but he had a son William Spier born 16 May 1788 in Upper Canada [Ontario] who married Catherine Will (ca. 1793-1863) and they had eleven children.
Spier filed a claim for a Revolutionary War pension in 1832 and reported that, among other engagements, he was at the Battle of Yorktown. Spier confided to the Pension Office that “at the time of the breaking out of the Revolutionary War-that about a year after the war he he [sic] removed to Maryland, & after a short residence there (thinks about 1 year) he moved to Pennsylvania where he resided about ten years-Then resided for about 17 years in Upper Canada, when at the approach of the last war & hostilities between the two countries when declarant removed to this State in the County of Richland where he has resided ever since” [17 September 1832 affidavit in the Duncan Spier/Dennis Slaven pension application files; see Footnote.com for the entire file].
A second affidavit, dated 11 November 1833, disclosed that “by way of explanation, & to avoid Confusion and mistake in respect to his name: That his fathers name was Lanton Slaven, and his mothers maiden name was ‘Spier.’ That his father and mother both died before he was Six years old. That Declarants proper name was ‘Dennis Slaven’ instead of ‘Duncan Spier’ and that according to his best recollection, it was by the name of ‘Dennis Slaven’ that he Served in the revolutionary War. His only doubt on that subject is whether it was ‘Dennis Slaven’ or ‘Dennis Slaven Spier’ (as he was known by both names) but he believes it was by the *************** further explains that he became Commonly known by the name of ‘Spier’ as his sirname in consequence of living when young most generally with his mothers relations. And he gradually lost the name of ‘Dennis’ and acquired the name of ‘Duncan’ from living among scotch people in the State of Pennsylvania who said that Dennis was an Irish name, and that it was ‘Duncan’ in Scotch.
In this way Declarants name became changed, and he is now known alone by the name of ‘Duncan Spier” [ibid.]. He also says that “Samuel Poppleston (a clergyman) and William Casper reside in Declarants neighborhood and have been long acquainted with him.” (The old warrior didn’t mention in his pension application that he’d also been called out for service in the war which brought him back to the States, the War of 1812).
This is followed by the following statement:
“We Samuel Poppleton a clergyman residing in the township of Jefferson in Richland County state of Ohio, and William Casper residing in the same Township hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Duncan Spier who has subscribed and sworn to the above Declaration. That we believe him to be Sixty Eight years of age; that he is reputed and believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution and that we concur in that opinion."
James Poppleton Sworn and Subscribed to the William Casper Day & year aforesaid ”The affidavit adds that Casper is “a credible person - and that this Statement is entitled to Credit” [ibid.]. It is obvious from this failed pension application that William Casper was a good friend of Duncan Spier if not, perhaps, some kind of relation through Casper’s wife.
Spier’s associations include Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, like Thomas and Clemency Litten, Durbin’s, and Casper’s own siblings are all otherwise accounted for.
We know Clemency had at least five sisters whose careers are unknown as well as several children who aren’t named in Ava Rillar Casper’s family record. Perhaps one of them married Duncan Spier.
When Thomas Durbin, Sr., and his wife Clemency sold their Ohio land on 3 March 1818 to Thomas Durbin Jr., the witnesses were William “Spear”, justice of the peace, and William Casper, a Durbin son-in-law [Knox County, Ohio, Deeds 2:44].
William Spear had also been clerk of Jefferson Township but “The township was heavily in debt, so they regarded it, and the Trustees agreed to serve for nothing; and by common consent William Spears was allowed $1 for services as Clerk.
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| History of Richland County Ohio Page 427 (Click to Enlarge) |
On September 3, 1816, this election district was again divided, and in Jefferson Township, William Casper and his nephew, Benjamin Thrailkill, were chosen as constables so it is possible that local politics rather than genealogical relationships brought the Spier/Spear and Casper families together [ HISTORY OF RICHLAND CO, OHIO, p. 427].
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| History of Richland County Ohio Page 427 (Click to Enlarge) |
We find the following in the 1820 US federal Census, Ohio, Richland County, Jefferson Township, 7 August 1820:
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| 1820 Census Page 3 (Click to Enlarge) |
THOMAS DURBIN
1 free white male 16-25
2 free white female under 10
1 person engaged in agriculture
2 free white persons under 16
4 total free white persons and 4 total all persons
On the same page of the census as Thomas Durbin and Scott Durbin, between Benjamin Thrailkill and William “Spier,” US Census Ohio, Richland County, Jefferson Township, 7 August 1820, we find: WILLIAM CROPER, believed to be William CASPER:
2 free white males under 10
1 free white male 26-44
4 free white females under 10
1 free white female 26-44
1 person engaged in agriculture
6 free white persons under 16
2 free white persons over 25
8 total free white persons, 8 total persons
On the next page of 1820 US federal Census, Ohio, Richland County, Jefferson Township, 7 August 1820:
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| 1820 Census Page 4 (Click to Enlarge) |
SCOTT DURBIN
2 free white males under 10
1 free white male 16-25
1 free white male 26-44
1 free white female under 10
1 free white female 26-44
2 persons engaged in agriculture
3 free white persons under 16
2 free white persons over 25
6 total free white persons and 6 total all persons
And on that same page: JOHN McDOWELL
1 free white male under 1
1 free white male 16-25
1 free white male 26-44
1 free white male 45 and older
1 free white female 26-44
1 free white female 44 and older
1 person engaged in agriculture
1 free white person under 16
4 free white persons over 25
6 total free white persons and 6 total all persons
It must be with this last couple, Thomas and Clemency’s son-in-law John McDowell and daughter Elizabeth [I don't find any record of Elizabeth marrying John McDowell. According to Ava Rillar autobiography, Elizabeth married James Walker. I'll dig into this a little more at a later date], that they spent their last years. Despite having lost many children in childhood, Richland County records attest to the survival of the Durbin name: Thomas Durbin Jr., Scott Durbin, John Durbin, Scott Durbin, Thomas Durbin- [“Richland County, Ohio, 1825 tax list, non-residents”, OHIO: THE CROSS ROAD OF OUR NATION, RECORDS AND PIONEER FAMILIES: 12:65.].
I was able to download and save the book mentioned above. However, there's not much to see... only the mention of their names and tax codes.
Thomas and Clemency would have been about sixty when they sold their Knox County land to their son Thomas Durbin Jr., and it is likely they lived quietly with the McDowells until their deaths, which Ava Rillar reports succinctly: “In 1826 my father and mother died. Mother died 29 January and was buried the 31st. Father died March 29, and was buried the 31st" [Ava Rillar Durbin Casper, HISTORY OF AVARILLAR DURBIN CASPER WRITTEN BY HERSELF (mimeographed by Gwen Sylvester Hunter), pp. 1-2].
They appear to have disposed of their estate before death and there is no will recorded in the county. For all we know of them from the public records, we really hardly know anything about them at all.
NOTES:
----DURBIN, Thomas. Taxable in Gunpowder Lower Hundred in 1774. (Ref:U)--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----DURBIN, Thomas. Fined as a Non-Associator in 1775. (Ref:N)--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----DERBIN, Thomas. Taxable in Gunpowder Lower Hundred, 1775.--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 2001) vol. 3: Supplement, p. 535.
----DURBIN, Thomas, taxable in household of John Periman, Susquehanna Hundred, 1775.--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----DURBIN, Thomas, taxable in the household of John Peremon, Susquehanna Hundred, 1776.--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----DURBIN, Thomas. Taxable in Gunpowder Lower Hundred in 1776. (Ref:V)--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----DURBIN, Thomas. Over age 18 in 1778, Gunpowder Lower Hundred (Ref:C)--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----DURBIN, Thomas, Marriage license to Clemence Litton on October 5, 1779. (Ref: M)--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----Thomas Durbin, signs an undated petition [possibly earlier 1780s] to the Continental Congress for a new State to be known as "Westsylvania," which comprised a part of Pennsylvania--see Howard L. Leckey, THE TENMILE COUNTRY AND ITS PIONEER FAMILIES A GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF THE UPPER MONONGAHELA VALLEY (Baltimore: Clearfield Company, Inc., 2001) pp. 143, 145.
----[1783] Thomas Durbin, Smiths Chance, pt. 50 acres; HA Gunpowder Upper and Gunpowder Lower Hundred, p. 61 MSA S1161-6-7. 1/4/5/49 Agnus Baker. Durbins Beginning, 58 acres. Daniel Durbin. HA Susquehanna Hundred, p. 142. MSA S 1161-6-12. 1/4/5/49Margaret Durbin. Eightrap, 24 ½ acres. HA Susquehanna Hundred, p. 142. MSA S 1161-6-12 1/4/5/49 Mary Durbin. HA Susquehanna Hundred, p. 142 MSA S 1161-6-12. 1/4/5/49 Thomas Durbin. Eightrap, 24 ½ acres. HA Susquehanna Hundred, p. 142. MSA S 1161-6-12. 1/4/5/49Henry Stump, Jr. Durbins Chance, 150 acres….-MD STATE ARCHIVES, MD INDEXES, Assessment of 1783 Harford Co MSA S 1437
----Grand Jury, March, 1783:.... Samuel Litton.... Thos. Durbin--Walter W. Preston, HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND (Baltimore: Regional Publishing Company, 1972 [reprint of 1901 original]) p. 77.
----DURBIN, Thomas, Landowner (1 white inhabitant) in Susquehanna Hundred in 1783. Tract: "Eightrap." (Ref:A).--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----DURBIN, Thomas. Charged with assaulting William Taylor, and listed on the c docket in August, 1783. (Ref:K).--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----DURBIN, Thomas. Head of household (76 white inhabitants) in Gunpowder Lower Hundred in 1783. Tract: part of "Smith's Chance." (Ref: A)--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----DURBIN, Thomas. Charged with assaulting Thomas Kelly, and listed on the criminal docket in August, 1788. (Ref:K).--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----DURBIN, Thomas. Charged with assaulting Nathaniel Bayless, and listed on the criminal docket in August, 1783. (Ref:K)--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----DURBIN, Thomas. Conveyance to Nicholas Baker's heirs in 1784. (Ref:L).--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----DURBIN, Thomas. Charged with assaulting Moses Wood in 1784, and listed on the criminal docket in 1788 (Ref:K)--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----Washington Co, PA Grantee Index:[30 June 1785] Thomas Durbin, al Tho Stokeley 30 June 1785 1 B 148 Bond Bond of Thomas Durbin and Samuel Litto [i.e., Litten], 30 June 1785, Durbin to be guardian of Shadrac Mitchell, age 19, recorded 30 June 1785.
----DURBIN, Thomas. Allegedly assaulted by John ***** and John Craig. Listed on the criminal docket in November, 1785. Another entry also shows an assault by Walter Taylor. (Ref:K)--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----[1785] Kent Mitchell, leaves children: Shadrick, Elizabeth, Mary, Thomas, Sarah, Isaac, Ezra, and wife Hannah.--Raymond Martin Bell, ESTATE RECORDS 1781-1796 AND DEED RECORDS 1782-85 IN WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA (1967) see vol 6, Gen Soc Pa: p. 21.
----[1786, April 1] SL 21751 Durbins Mistake, Thomas Durbin, 776 acres; 01/25/04/020; MSA S1197-1280
----[10 Feb 1787] Durbin, Thomas 10 Feb 1787 1 C 265 Ear Mark Thomas Durbin his Mark} A Crop of the left ear and three ***** the under part of the right ear a Crofs the same (recorded the 10th Day of February 1787 } Bethlehem TwpOur Thomas Durbin appears to be in Pennsylvania by 1783, when his son Samuel was said to have been born there, so the following item likely refers to another Thomas Durbin:
----Washington Co, PA Grantee Index:Durbin, Thomas Geo Kender ux 1788 1 D 168Geo Kender of Bethlehem, for 13 pounds, 10 shillings sells land called Valentine to Thomas "Derbin" 12 Feb 1787
----In Council December 20th. 1788 Walter Taylor of Harford County by his Petition to the Board sets forth, that he was presented in the Court of said County for an assault on a certain Thomas Durbin, in consequence whereof a Capias was issued and returned by the Sheriff caepi, that the Petitioner being unaquainted with Court business, and thinking that he might venture to wait 'till the second Court, when he could have procured evidence in his favor, did not appear when called by the Court, who thereupon amerced the Sheriff five pounds, which Sum the Petitioner must ultimately pay unless the interposition of this Board relieves him. The Petition is accompanied by the Deposition of two persons, proving that the said Taylor only interfered between Durbin and some other persons to whom he was offering violence. And four of the Justices of the said County having certified their belief in the facts set forth, the Board in consideration of all the Circumstances do direct that the above fine of five pounds be remitted.J.E. HowardJames BriceWm. HindmanJohn KiltyThe Council adjourned 'till tomorrow morning--ARCHIVES OF MARYLAND, LXXI, JOURNAL OF THE STATE COUNCIL, 1784-1789, pp. 313:14.
----DURBIN, Thomas. Charged with assaulting Moses Wood in 1784, and listed on the criminal docket in 1788 (Ref:K).--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
----DURBIN, Thomas. Owner of 1 slave in 1790 (Ref:S)--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125
---- DURBIN, Thomas. Head of household of 3 in 1790. (Ref:S)--Henry C. Peden, Jr., EARLY HARFORD COUNTIANS (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1999) 1:125---- [30 Sep 1790] Durbin, Thomas ux John Ross 30 Sept 1790 1 H 127 Bethlehem66 3/4 acres of tract "Valentine" that had belonged to George Kender sold by Thomas Durbin and Clemency his wife for 104 pounds Penn. money sold to John Ross. wt: W Wallac,e Andrew Boggs 23 Mar 1790---1793 East Bethlehem tax list: Thomas Durbin--Raymond Martin Bell, TAX LISTS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA 1784-85, 1793.
----HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, OHIO p. 560:"At the October election of 1808, the first regular vote was taken for State and county officers."The following is a copy of the poll-book of this township, one of the most populous in the county:"Poll-book of an election held in the township of Wayne, in the county of Knox, and State of Ohio, the eleventh day of October, 1808, at the house of Daniel and Abner Ayers, in the town of Frederick. John Kerr, chairman, Nathaniel M. Young, John Cook, Henry Roberts, judges, and Jacob Young. William W. Farquhar, clerks of the election, were duly sworn as the law directs, previous to their entering on the duties of their respective offices.Certified to by me William W. Farquhar A.J.[voters include:].... Casper Fitting, Thomas Durbin, Samuel Durbin...-"Among the earliest settlers in Fredericktown are found the names of... Thomas Durbin..."
----1818/19: Thomas Durbin Senr & Clemency his wife, to Thomas Durbin Jr, recorded 4 May 1819, dated 3 Mar 1818. Wit: Wm Spier (JP) and Wm Casper signed by Tho Durbin and Clemency Durbin. Land in south half of SW 1/4 of sect 9 in Twp 19 range 18 Worster--Knox County Deeds 2:44
----Richland County, Ohio, 1825 tax list, non-residents:Thomas Durbin Jr, Scott Durbin, John Durbin, Scott Durbin, Thomas Durbin--OHIO: THE CROSS ROAD OF OUR NATION, RECORDS AND PIONEER FAMILIES: 12:65.
----Logan Temple, Endowments for the Dead7530 John McDowel b Richland, OH, bp 9 Mar 1886, Duncan Speers Casper, nephew in law--p. 2407534 Thomas Durbin, b Richland, Ohio, bpt 2 Nov 1886, William Wallace Casper, nep.7558 Clemency Litten b Halford, Md, bpt 2 Mar 1886, Clemency Casper Neel, g dau.7559 Rebecca Collins b Richland Ohio, bp 15 Feb 1887, Mary Amelia Casper, niece.7579 Thomas Mc Dowel b Richland, Ohio, bpt 9 Mar 1886 Duncan Speers Casper cousin--p. 2407580 William Casper, "of Ger." bpt 2 Mar 1886, William Wallace Casper, gt gr son. (p 242)7630 Nancy Durbin b Halford, Md bpt 2 Mar 1886 Elizabeth Ann Casper Cook gt gd niece (p. 243)7631 Ova Rillar Durbin b Halford, Md, bpt 2 Mar 1886, Mary Amelia Casper, gt gd dau. 7633 Elizabeth Durbin, b Richland, Ohio, bpt 2 Mar 1886, Ann Erickson Casper, niece in law.7632 Abi Collins b Richland Ohio bpt 2 Mar 1886 Clemency Casper Neel, niece in law7659 James Walker b Halford, Md, bp 2 Mar 1886, William Wallace Casper, nep.John Mc Dowel, b Richland, Ohio, died "Neb" bpt 9 Mar 1886, Duncan Speers Casper, cousin--p 2447696 Matilda Durbin, b Richland, Ohio, bpt 15 Feb 1887 Ane Erickson Casper, cous in law.7699 Fannie Casper, b Richland Ohio, Elizabeth Ann Casper Cook 2 cousin7700 Sarah Durbin, b Richland, Ohio, bp 2 Mar 1886, Elizabeth Ann Casper Cook 2 cousin.
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Close kbate172added this on 30 May 2011
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