Comfort (Burton) Wolf (abt. 1685 - aft. 1762)

Born about 1685 in Accomack County, English Colony of Virginia [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Prettyman Sr. — married about 1710 in Sussex Co., Delaware

Descendants

Died after 3 Aug 1762 after about age 77 in Sussex County, Delaware Colony

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Chet Snow [send private message], Ruth Montgomery [send private message], and Gerald Jones [send private message]

Biography

Comfort Burton was born around 1685 in Accomack County, Virginia and died after 3 Aug 1762 in Sussex County, Delaware. She was most-likely the daughter of Robert Burton and his first wife, Catherine Cotton. (See Research Notes for details of parentage.)

Comfort Burton married three times -- her husbands kept dying! - and that is why she is referred to in various combinations as Comfort Burton/Prettyman/Thomas/Wolf.

Marriage #1: Thomas Prettyman

Comfort Burton first married her Sussex County neighbor, Thomas Prettyman, Sr., early in 1710 when both were around 25 years old. Alas, no marriage or birth certificates exist for these early years in Sussex County, Colonial Delaware.

Thomas Prettyman Sr. and his family lived with his father, John Prettyman II, at Tower Hill, Lewes & Rehoboth Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware, where he received a grant of 200 acres.

Children with Thomas Prettyman

Thomas and Comfort (Burton) Prettyman had three children:

• Thomas Prettyman, Jr., born circa 1710, married Elizabeth Enloe; died in 1790
• Elizabeth Prettyman, born 25 Nov. 1712; marriedWilliam Eli Coulter; died 1769 in Pennsylvania
• Robert Prettyman, born circa 1714 -died before age 21, no children

Death of Husband Thomas Prettyman

Thomas Prettyman Sr. died between 17 May and 17 July 1719 - around July 1, 1719. He was just 34 years old.

Thomas Prettyman's will was proven July 17, 1719. In it, he named "Comfort Prettyman" as his wife and Executor and his three children: Thomas Prettyman Jr., Robert, and Elizabeth.^[1]

Marriage #2: Thomas Walker

After Thomas Prettyman's death, with small children to raise, Comfort (Burton) Prettyman soon married another Sussex County planter, Thomas Walker. He was older (b. ca. 1676) and possibly a widower. They married before 1724 in Sussex County, Delaware. When Thomas Walker died in September 1731, his will named his wife, Comfort Walker, and his 4 children (3 sons, 1 daughter):^[2]

• Jacob Walker
• James Walker
• George Walker
• Comfort Walker

It is assumed that all four of these Walker children were born of Comfort (Burton, Prettyman) Walker. (Note: Should another mother be proven, please correct this profile.)

Marriage #3: Reese Wolf

Still in her 40s and with sizeable land-holdings, Comfort (Burton) Walker was a very-eligible widow in the early 1730s. A few years after her second husband died, she re-married a third time, this time to local planter, Reese Wolf (Wolf/Wolfe/Woolf), who was born around 1685.

Reese would be her third and final husband. They had no children together.

Gifts from Comfort to Her Children

In August 1762, when she was nearly 80 years old, Comfort and Reese Woolf made a "Deed Gift" to her oldest surviving son, Thomas Prettyman, Jr. That gift included all her lands in Indian River Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware.^[3]

Tahis land per deed was part of 1100 acres of land formerly owned by Robert Burton, Esq., and willed by Robert to his daughter Comfort and her two children: Thomas and Elizabeth Prettyman in 1724. The deed confirms that Robert was the father of Comfort and grandfather to her two children, Thomas and Elizabeth Prettyman.^[4]

Death of Comfort Burton/Prettyman/Walker/Wolfe

Comfort (Burton, Prettyman, Walker) Woolf died shortly after this August 3, 1762, gift deed to her oldest son, Thomas Prettyman, Jr.

Comfort was already deceased when, on June 17, 1763, Thomas' sister, Elizabeth (Prettyman) Coulter, petitioned the court to be named heiress of their deceased brother Robert Prettyman's land-holdings in Sussex County. Robert had died earlier as a minor (under 21) with no heirs.^[5]

Research Notes

Comfort's Parents: There is an ongoing genealogical debate as to whether Comfort was the daughter of Perry Leatherbury and his wife Comfort Bagwell Leatherbury, and a step-daughter of Robert Burton, Esq., or that she was the natural daughter of Robert Burton by either his second wife, Comfort Bagwell, widow of Perry Leatherbury, or by Robert Burton's first wife, Catherine Cotton.

Family genealogist, D. Mitchell Jones, whose website included "The Prettyman File," until it was taken offline in 2014^[6], argued that Comfort and her two sisters were the natural daughters of Robert Burton, not his step-daughters or daughters-in-law. F. Edward Wright in his 2005 book, "Colonial Families of Delaware," Vol. 3 (2nd ed.), accepts D. Mitchell Jones' findings, calling her "Comfort Burton," without firmly establishing her mother's identity, although he concludes ... possibly Catherine Cotton. Earlier unpublished research by Prof. C.A. Bonine, a Prettyman descendant who lived in Sussex County, Delaware, from 1950-1969, led him to believe Comfort was most-likely Perry Leatherbury's daughter but possibly that of Robert Burton and Comfort Bagwell, widow of Perry Leatherbury.

No birth or marriage certificates exist to prove or disprove Comfort's last name at birth, which hinges, at least somewhat, on when Catherine Cotton and Perry Leatherbury died, allowing widow Comfort Bagwell to marry widower Robert Burton. The woman who married Thomas Prettyman Sr. must have been born before 1692 to have reached 17 years old (the age of legal consent for a woman at that time & place) in 1710. It is known that all of Perry & Comfort Leatherbury's sons were born by 1690, while her 3 daughters were born in 1693 or later, as evidenced by Comfort (Bagwell, Leatherbury) Burton's 1709 will (Will is dated 5 April 1709).^[7] This makes it unlikely that the Comfort who married Thomas Prettyman Sr., was Perry Leatherbury's daughter.

According to D. Mitchell Jones: "There is one legal record with the name of Robert Burton's [first] wife and that is a 1692 deed in which she is "Catherin Burton". There is also a Bible record at the Delaware Archives which states that Robert Burton was married to a Catherine Cotton, on Feb. 11, 1676..." ^[8] It's generally accepted that both Catherine (Cotton) Burton and Perry Leatherbury died in 1709, and that Robert Burton only married Comfort (Bagwell) Leatherbury in about 1712. As Comfort Burton was born ca. 1685, she must have been Catherine Cotton's daughter.

According to Wright: Colonial Families of Delaware, vol. 3 (2nd ed) pg. 154, the mother of Robert, Elizabeth (and Thomas) Prettyman was Comfort Burton daughter of Robert Burton. In his 1724 will, Burton named 2 children of daughter Comfort, who was at the time Comfort Walker, as Thomas Prettyman, her first husband, had died in 1719. by: Marj Adams

Note N34In trying to sort the Burtons out, I have surmised the following but may be in error with so many names the same:

Robert Burton's daughter Elizabeth married the son of William Burton and Ann Stratton (Joseph). The Step-daughter of Robert Burton ( Ann Leatherbury) married one of Williams sons (Woolsey Burton)

The second husband of Elizabeth (William Prettyman) was the father of Elizabeth Prettyman who married Samuel Coulter. This is to distinguish this Elizabeth Prettyman from the Elizabeth Prettyman (daughter of Thomas Prettyman and Comfort Leatherbury) who married William Coulter. Record ID No.: MH:N34 - PRIN MH:I859

Sources

1. ↑ The Prettyman Family, by Rev Prettyman, pg 44; from D. Mitchell Jones' Prettyman Files on web archive. See Thomas Prettyman Sr.'s profile for a summary of his Will.
2. ↑ "Thomas Walker's Will". Made on March 22, 1731 Proven: Oct. 11, 1731. Heirs: wife Comfort Walker, sons Jacob, James, and George Walker, dau. Comfort Walker. - deValinger, Jr., Leon, compiler, "Calendar of Sussex County, Delaware, Probate Records 1680-1800", Heritage Book, Inc., Bowie, MD, page 40. Cited in "Colonial Families of Delaware," by F. Edward Wright, Vol. 3 (2nd ed.), 2005, pp. 154-55 & Prof. C.A. Bonine's genealogy notes.
3. ↑ On 3 August 1762, Deed of Gift. "Rees Woolf of Sussex, Yeoman, and Comfort, his wife ,a daughter of Robert Burton, deeded to Thomas Prettyman, son of Comfort, "for love and affection", their interest in all lands in Sussex County." Source: Land records of Sussex County Delaware 1753-1763, abstracts by Mary Marshall Brewer, p162 [Deeds Book I]
4. ↑ See Research Notes for details.
5. ↑ Cited on pg. 155 of "Colonial Families of Delaware," by F. Edward Wright, Vol. 3 (2nd ed.), 2005.
6. ↑ The genealogy research of D. Mitchell Jones; his website http://www.dmitchelljones.org/nextp6.htm, June 9, 2002, was taken offline in 2014 after he died in 2006 and has been replaced on WikiTree at Prettyman Files.
7. ↑ Wills and Administrations, Accomack County Virginia: 1663-1800, p. 44. Wife - Comfort Bagwell; sosonsns Perry, Edmund and Charles; dau[ghter]s: Comfort, Patience, Ann Leatherbury, all under 16 [i.e. born after 1692].
8. ↑ from D. Mitchell Jones' Prettyman Files

• Comfort Burton was the daughter of Robert (Spencer) Burton, Esq., and his first wife, Catherine (Cotton) Burton. She was born around 1685 after the couple's move from Accomack County, Virginia, north to Sussex County, English colony of Delaware (lower 3 counties of Pennsylvania, officially).

Comfort Burton married 3 times:

1. Thomas Prettyman Sr.: Marriage Date: circa 1710
   1. 3 Children:
      1. Thomas Prettyman Jr., b. ca. 1710, d. b 26 Oct 1790
      2. Robert Prettyman3 b. ca. 1714
      3. Elizabeth Prettyman3 b. ca. 1716
2. Thomas Walker b. ca. 1675: Marriage Date: circa 1721
   1. 4 Children:
      1. Jacob Walker
      2. James Walker
      3. George Walker
      4. Comfort Walker
3. Reese Wolf b. ca. 1685: Marriage Date: circa 1740

See also:

• Accomack Wills... p71; Perry Leatherbury, Robert Prettyman is his father in-law.
• "Colonial Families of Delaware," by F. Edward Wright, Vol. 3 (2nd ed.), 2005.
• "The Prettyman File," on D. Mitchell Jones' website until 2014. Parts that were copied by Chet Snow are given on this and other Prettyman profiles on WikiTree. The "Prettyman Files" of D. Mitchell Jones are referred to in "Colonial Families of Delaware," by F. Edward Wright, Vol. 3 (2nd ed.), 2005. NOTE: The files are now available online at: D. Mitchell Jones' Prettyman Files on Web Archive .
• The unpublished family genealogy notes of Prof. C.A. Bonine, a Prettyman descendant, compiled 1952-69. In the possession of his grandson, Chet Snow as of June 2019.
• The Leeds Family Tree - Comfort Leatherbury. This older family genealogy argues that Comfort was the daughter of Perry Leatherbury and Comfort (Bagewll) Leatherbury. This has since been disavowed.
• Pratyman / Prettyman File on tntcarden.com
• The genealogy research of D. Mitchell Jones; his website http://www.dmitchelljones.org/nextp6.htm, June 9, 2002, was taken offline in 2014 after he died in 2006 and has been replaced on WikiTree at Prettyman Files.
• Comfort Burton on MilesFiles
• * Source: S500004 WikiTree Publication: MyHeritage <a href='http://www.wikitree.com' target='wikitree'>www.wikitree.com</a> Collection Media: 10109 https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10109-17104404/comfort-woolf-born-burton-in-wikitree Certainty: 4 Comfort Woolf (born Burton) Gender: Female; Birth: Circa 1693 - Accomack Co., Colonial Virginia. Marriage: Circa 1710 - Sussex Co., Delaware. Death: After Aug 3 1762 - Sussex County, Colonial Delaware. Father: Robert Burton, Esq. Mother: Comfort Burton (born Bagwell). Husband: Thomas Prettyman, Sr. Children: Thomas Prettyman, Jr.; Elizabeth Prettyman; Robert Prettyman. Record Role: 10109:17104404:

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Leatherbury-7 was created by Tommy Knowles, May 3, 2011. WikiTree profile Burton-878 was created through the import of Clayton Burton_2009-10-26.ged on Jul 4, 2011 by Clayton Burton These profiles were merged by Chet Snow who researched and rewrote the Biography section, adding sources, October 9, 2015. Additional research was done by Marj Adams, including adding F. Edward Wright's book as a source. Formatting and editing by Nicolette Slusser Toussaint in Feb. 2024.