Asa Durkee (1754 - 1778)

Ancestors

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Military Service, and Death 2 Research Notes 3 Sources

Biography

Asa Durkee was born 28 December 1754 in Woodbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut Colony to parents Robert Durkee and Esther/Haester Durkee.^[1] He was baptized in neighboring Washington on 5 Jan 1755.^[2]

Military Service, and Death

Asa Durkee was a Soldier of the Revolution, and died in service. He enlisted on 10 Apr 1777, for the duration of the war, in the Eighth Connecticut Regiment, serving in Capt. Samuel Sanford's company. As a corporal, he participated in the Battle of Germantown and the defense of Fort Mifflin, in the outskirts of Philadelphia, and the bitter winter encampment at Valley Forge. He survived the winter, but was reported to have died on 28 May 1778 in the muster recorded the following month. The muster does not indicate whether he died in battle, from wounds, or from illness.^[3]

Research Notes

QUESTION OF FATHER'S IDENTITY: The Barbour Collection has two listings for Asa's birth:

1. Asa, s. of Thomas & Esther, b. 28 Dec. 1754 Vol. 1 P. 9
2. Asa, s. of Robert & Esther, b. 28 Dec. 1754 Vol. 1 P. 27.

There are other duplicate entries for Eunice (1751) and Sarah (1757) and Sarah's death (1757)/

However, there are single entris for David - Robert & Esther (1740/1), and Joseph - Robert & Esther (1743); and also another single for Sarah - Thomas & Esther (1749).

Possible solution: Windham vital records show:

1. Robert, s. of Thomas & Elizabeth, b. 10 Dec., 1713.
2. Robert m. Heaster [sic.] Warren, Apr. 25, 1738.

^[4] "Heaster" (Hester) and Esther can be easily misunderstood for the other, or possibly were interchangeable.

1. Thomas, s. of Thomas & Elizabeth, b. Dec. 14, 1717. Volume: Windham, page 81. Neither Windham nor Woodbury records show a marriage for a Thomas born in 1717.

Sources

1. ↑ "Connecticut, Vital Records, Prior to 1850," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPS1-SDMB : 20 February 2019), Asa Durkee, 28 Dec 1754; citing Birth, Woodbury, Litchfield, Connecticut, British Colonial America, Compiled by Lucius A. and Lucius B. Barbour, housed at State Library, Hartford, Connecticut; FHL microfilm 007833261.
2. ↑ The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Records - Washington, p. 30 in transcription, citing Vol. 2, p. 7 in original. Viewed on americanancestors.org($)
3. ↑ Boyle, Joseph Lee, Fire Cake and Water: The Connecticut Infantry at the Valley Forge Encampment, (1999, Genealogical Publishing Company), p. 63
4. ↑ Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928. Volume: Windham, page 80.