Thomas Durrant was born in England in 1811 (1810), and there learned the trade of shoemaker. When a boy of twenty years he came to Prince Edward Island. Afterward he lived for seventeen years in Nova Scotia, where, in 1843, he married Margaret Day, who was born in that Province. Mr. and Mrs. Durrant became the parents of the following children: William, who was a Union solider in the war of the Rebellion, being a member of the Fourteenth Wis. V[olunteer] I[nfantry], and died in Minnesota soon after the war; Thomas, also a Union soldier of war, now a farmer of Lanark Township, Portage Co., Wis.; Charles, killed in the army at Whitewater Bridge, Mo.; James and John, of Farmington, Waupaca county; George W., subject of this sketch; Willard, of Lind township, Waupaca county; Mary, who was the wife of Royal Ballard, and died in North Dakota; and Benjamin, a farmer.
In 1848 Thomas Durrant removed to Boston, Mass., where he remained till the spring of 1855. He had followed his trade of shoemaker and saved some money; and, as the West at that time offered better chances for a home to a man of his means than the Eastern States, he concluded, in May, 1855, to come to Wisconsin. The journey was made partly by rail, partly by water, and Waupaca county was his destination; there were no railroads at that time into this part of Wisconsin, so he came from Oshkosh to Gill's Landing by boat, and then by wheeled conveyance to the town of Waupaca, Waupaca county, where his first settlement was made. He bought land in Section 4 of that township, made it his home for six years, sold it out to Mr. Plowman, and removed to Hortonville, Outagamie county, where he remained one year, going then to Farmington. Afterward he bought 120 acres in Lanark township, Portage county, and again went to farming. After about half a dozen years there he bought a farm in Section 3, Lind township, Waupaca county, where but few and rude improvements had been made. Here he made his home till his death which occurred on this farm July 29, 1884; his wife died March, 1885; each was seventy-five years of age, at the time of death, and they were both buried in Waupaca Cemetery. Mr. Durrant added to the value of his farm in many ways, and when he died the improvements had practically all been made. He was greatly handicapped as the result of many unfortunate happenings, but none affected him so much physically as the loss of his left leg at the knee. This leg was first wounded by a scythe, then was in some way attached, and later was broken by being caught under the stringer of a bridge, which gave way while he was crossing with a loaded team. Politically he was a Republican, though no office-seeker, and he took little or no interest in politics.
Commemorative Biographical Record, Waupaca County
*****
Cause of death: Hemorrhage
*****
Unconfirmed: Possibly the son of
Joseph Durrant
Birth 5 Oct 1777 in Gillingham, Kent, England
Death 1858 in Medway, Penobscot, Maine, United States
and
Charlotte Walker
Birth Gillingham, Kent, England
Death Unknown
In 1848 Thomas Durrant removed to Boston, Mass., where he remained till the spring of 1855. He had followed his trade of shoemaker and saved some money; and, as the West at that time offered better chances for a home to a man of his means than the Eastern States, he concluded, in May, 1855, to come to Wisconsin. The journey was made partly by rail, partly by water, and Waupaca county was his destination; there were no railroads at that time into this part of Wisconsin, so he came from Oshkosh to Gill's Landing by boat, and then by wheeled conveyance to the town of Waupaca, Waupaca county, where his first settlement was made. He bought land in Section 4 of that township, made it his home for six years, sold it out to Mr. Plowman, and removed to Hortonville, Outagamie county, where he remained one year, going then to Farmington. Afterward he bought 120 acres in Lanark township, Portage county, and again went to farming. After about half a dozen years there he bought a farm in Section 3, Lind township, Waupaca county, where but few and rude improvements had been made. Here he made his home till his death which occurred on this farm July 29, 1884; his wife died March, 1885; each was seventy-five years of age, at the time of death, and they were both buried in Waupaca Cemetery. Mr. Durrant added to the value of his farm in many ways, and when he died the improvements had practically all been made. He was greatly handicapped as the result of many unfortunate happenings, but none affected him so much physically as the loss of his left leg at the knee. This leg was first wounded by a scythe, then was in some way attached, and later was broken by being caught under the stringer of a bridge, which gave way while he was crossing with a loaded team. Politically he was a Republican, though no office-seeker, and he took little or no interest in politics.
Commemorative Biographical Record, Waupaca County
*****
Cause of death: Hemorrhage
*****
Unconfirmed: Possibly the son of
Joseph Durrant
Birth 5 Oct 1777 in Gillingham, Kent, England
Death 1858 in Medway, Penobscot, Maine, United States
and
Charlotte Walker
Birth Gillingham, Kent, England
Death Unknown
Thomas Durrant was born in England in 1811 (1810), and there learned the trade of shoemaker. When a boy of twenty years he came to Prince Edward Island. Afterward he lived for seventeen years in Nova Scotia, where, in 1843, he married Margaret Day, who was born in that Province. Mr. and Mrs. Durrant became the parents of the following children: William, who was a Union solider in the war of the Rebellion, being a member of the Fourteenth Wis. V[olunteer] I[nfantry], and died in Minnesota soon after the war; Thomas, also a Union soldier of war, now a farmer of Lanark Township, Portage Co., Wis.; Charles, killed in the army at Whitewater Bridge, Mo.; James and John, of Farmington, Waupaca county; George W., subject of this sketch; Willard, of Lind township, Waupaca county; Mary, who was the wife of Royal Ballard, and died in North Dakota; and Benjamin, a farmer.
In 1848 Thomas Durrant removed to Boston, Mass., where he remained till the spring of 1855. He had followed his trade of shoemaker and saved some money; and, as the West at that time offered better chances for a home to a man of his means than the Eastern States, he concluded, in May, 1855, to come to Wisconsin. The journey was made partly by rail, partly by water, and Waupaca county was his destination; there were no railroads at that time into this part of Wisconsin, so he came from Oshkosh to Gill's Landing by boat, and then by wheeled conveyance to the town of Waupaca, Waupaca county, where his first settlement was made. He bought land in Section 4 of that township, made it his home for six years, sold it out to Mr. Plowman, and removed to Hortonville, Outagamie county, where he remained one year, going then to Farmington. Afterward he bought 120 acres in Lanark township, Portage county, and again went to farming. After about half a dozen years there he bought a farm in Section 3, Lind township, Waupaca county, where but few and rude improvements had been made. Here he made his home till his death which occurred on this farm July 29, 1884; his wife died March, 1885; each was seventy-five years of age, at the time of death, and they were both buried in Waupaca Cemetery. Mr. Durrant added to the value of his farm in many ways, and when he died the improvements had practically all been made. He was greatly handicapped as the result of many unfortunate happenings, but none affected him so much physically as the loss of his left leg at the knee. This leg was first wounded by a scythe, then was in some way attached, and later was broken by being caught under the stringer of a bridge, which gave way while he was crossing with a loaded team. Politically he was a Republican, though no office-seeker, and he took little or no interest in politics.
Commemorative Biographical Record, Waupaca County
*****
Cause of death: Hemorrhage
*****
Unconfirmed: Possibly the son of
Joseph Durrant
Birth 5 Oct 1777 in Gillingham, Kent, England
Death 1858 in Medway, Penobscot, Maine, United States
and
Charlotte Walker
Birth Gillingham, Kent, England
Death Unknown
In 1848 Thomas Durrant removed to Boston, Mass., where he remained till the spring of 1855. He had followed his trade of shoemaker and saved some money; and, as the West at that time offered better chances for a home to a man of his means than the Eastern States, he concluded, in May, 1855, to come to Wisconsin. The journey was made partly by rail, partly by water, and Waupaca county was his destination; there were no railroads at that time into this part of Wisconsin, so he came from Oshkosh to Gill's Landing by boat, and then by wheeled conveyance to the town of Waupaca, Waupaca county, where his first settlement was made. He bought land in Section 4 of that township, made it his home for six years, sold it out to Mr. Plowman, and removed to Hortonville, Outagamie county, where he remained one year, going then to Farmington. Afterward he bought 120 acres in Lanark township, Portage county, and again went to farming. After about half a dozen years there he bought a farm in Section 3, Lind township, Waupaca county, where but few and rude improvements had been made. Here he made his home till his death which occurred on this farm July 29, 1884; his wife died March, 1885; each was seventy-five years of age, at the time of death, and they were both buried in Waupaca Cemetery. Mr. Durrant added to the value of his farm in many ways, and when he died the improvements had practically all been made. He was greatly handicapped as the result of many unfortunate happenings, but none affected him so much physically as the loss of his left leg at the knee. This leg was first wounded by a scythe, then was in some way attached, and later was broken by being caught under the stringer of a bridge, which gave way while he was crossing with a loaded team. Politically he was a Republican, though no office-seeker, and he took little or no interest in politics.
Commemorative Biographical Record, Waupaca County
*****
Cause of death: Hemorrhage
*****
Unconfirmed: Possibly the son of
Joseph Durrant
Birth 5 Oct 1777 in Gillingham, Kent, England
Death 1858 in Medway, Penobscot, Maine, United States
and
Charlotte Walker
Birth Gillingham, Kent, England
Death Unknown
Inscription
Aged 74 Years
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