Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.
William & John Comfort
Yesterday, 250 years-ago, the brothers, William and John Comfort, made purchases at the Colden store. They purchased fabric and needles, rum and molasses, salt and pepper, a comb and snuff, an empty keg and indigo, a pound of lead and a spelling book.
William Comfort was also involved in a land purchase from Colden. In his will of 1796 he describes a 150 acre parcel purchased from Cadwallader Colden.
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This article is one in a series of a daily accountings of Colden Store transactions. Be sure you read the first installment for an introduction to the store. You should also read this article which appeared in the Journal of the Orange County Historical Society.
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Technically there was no store activity recorded in the DayBook on this day, 250 years-ago. As I mentioned in the prior blog, entry dates were often not written down or entered in error. Yesterday's entries were more numerous (47) than usual which may mean some of today's (June 3rd) entries could have been mislabeled as June 2nd? In other words, the Comfort brothers may have actually shopped today (Friday, June 3, 1768) which gives me an excuse to slip in their story on this date.
John and William were 43 and 40 years of age respectively and were married to the Moul (Maul or Mould) sisters, Annetje and Elisabeth. The Comfort brothers appeared to be loyal to the Presbyterian congregations at the Brick Church and Goodwill Church while their wives attended the Dutch Reformed Church. By this date, John had five daughters, all baptized in the Dutch Reformed Church, while his sons were baptized at the Goodwill Church. Just a few weeks ago, on April 30, 1768, John's fifth daughter, Deborah, had been baptized. Likewise, William's two daughters to-date had been baptized in the Dutch Reformed Church.
John and William were in their 50s during the Revolutionary War. They were in the local militia, but it was their sons who likely found themselves on expeditions to New York City, Fort Montgomery, West Point, and the 'frontier' (Peenpack).
When they wrote their wills in the 1790s, they were approaching 70 years-of-age. In the wills they named sixteen children between the two of them. They were still living in the same general location, now known as Montgomery, Orange County, New York, USA. John's will. William's will.
The Comfort surname appears 33 times in the DayBook: John (15 instances; more than one person was named John... 1) John the brother, 2) John, the son of John 3) John, the "son of Robert"); William (10 instances); Benjamin (5; another brother?) Only John and William are mentioned in the Hanover Precinct (former Wallkill) Tax Assessment of 1779.
The story of John Jr., who came of age during the Revolution, is not totally clear, but what we do know is fascinating. He was deployed at age 18 with the Ulster militia, but at some point defected to the British. When the war ended, returning to Ulster, New York was not an option, and he chose Nova Scotia as his adopted home. He returned to New York in about 1790 only to leave again for Canada in 1812.
But on this date, 250 years-ago, John Jr. was a 10 year-old lad who accompanied his father to the Colden store.
The major source of the genealogy is here: https://johnblythedobson.org/genealogy/ff/Comfort-Robert.cfm#n_1-138
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On December 25, 1780, John Comfort was fined 11+ pounds as noted in the document "Hanover Assessment on Tories Whose Sons Are Supposed to have Gone to the Enemy" - Public Papers of George Clinton, vol 6, p522-523
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