Thomas Cordery (abt. 1736 - aft. 1783)

Born about 1736 in Halifax District, Georgia [uncertain]

Descendants

Died after 1783 after about age 47 in Pensacola, West Florida, New Spain

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Unknown origins-Please read notes and do not add family without proper documentation.

Biography

Thomas was born around 1736. Where he was born and who his parents are are not known. He first appears on a land survey in 1759 in St. George's parish in Georgia. He had 200 acres and had been living in Georgia for three years at that time.

By 1764, he was running a tavern in St. George. He received an additional land grant and a license for a trading post.

As conflicts between Patriots and Loyalists heated up, Thomas sought refuge in east Florida.^[1] From there he moved to Pensacola, Florida where he opened a public house. In 1776 he received a king's grant for 200 acres at Old Tisco Bunting, nine miles north of Pensacola.^[2]

In 1783, he appears on a refugee list as Thomas Codery "who came to the Province of Eastern Florida in consequence of the evacuation of the Province of Georgia." There were 2 males and 2 females in the household. His wife's name is not recorded. It is shortly after this time that his son, Thomas, starts to pursue his own adventures and takes a Cherokee wife.

Notes

The area where Thomas lived in Georgia starts out being known as the Halifax District, then St. George's Parish. In 1777, it becomes Burke County, Georgia.

The places in the status fields are the places where we have first and last records. His actual place of birth and death are not known.

Name appears spelled in a variety of ways-Cordery, Cordrey, Cordray, Cawdrey, Caudry.

Two Thomas Cordery families appear in Florida records in the 1780's. Don Shadburn in his book, goes to some trouble to separate the two families and assign records. People are really bad to lump every Thomas Cordery they see into the same pile when they can not possibly be the same person. In 1758, one (Cordery-11) is in Virginia; the other (Cordery-26) is in Georgia. In 1783, both are in Florida, but records describe two different families. It was escalating conflicts between Patriots and Loyalists that were driving the movements of both families. While precise birth dates aren't known, there is likely a 20+- year difference in their ages.

So we have:

1. Thomas of Halifax born ca 1736, father of Thomas of the Chattahoochee, 1763-1841, who takes Sonicooie as a wife.
2. Thomas of Frederick County dies in 1763, father of Thomas of St. Augustine b. 1722

Sources

1. ↑ 1768 DeBraun's Census, has him there as a planter
2. ↑ July 1775 survey; 5 Jan 1776, king's-grant recorded at the Public Records Office in London

• Shadburn, Don L., Unhallowed Intrusion, A History of Cherokee Families of Forsyth County, Georgia, McNaughton & Gunn, 1993, pp. 84-87.