Peter Montfort was also known as Peter Monfore. Peter Montfort was born on 9. Sep. 1757 at Hunterdon County, New Jersey. He was the son of
Abraham Monfort and
Nelly Voorhees. Peter Montfort was baptized on 20. Dec. 1757 at Dutch Reformed Church, Readington, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. He married
Aeltje Covenhoven, daughter of
Garret Covenhoven and
Sarah Traphagen, on 10. Oct. 1779 at Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Peter Montfort died on 24. Jul. 1829 at Jefferson, Schoharie County, New York, at age 71.
Genealogical Data on the Monfore (Monfort) Family, pp. 11-12 by Fred H. Monfore, Yankton, S.D., September 1954
V. PETER (PIETER) MONFORE (MONFORT)--(born 1757; died 1829). Peter Monfore (Monfort), son of Abraham Monfort (Monfoort) and Neiltje (Nellie) van Voorhees, was born Sept. 9, 1757, in New Jersey; baptized on Dec. 20, 1757; died July 24, 1829, in Jefferson, Schoharie Co., New York. Buried in an abandoned cemetery at the edge of the town of Stamford, Delaware Co., New York.
He was married in Freehold, New Jersey, on Oct. 27, 1779, to Olive (Oeltje) Couvenhoven, who was born on June 27, 1758, a daughter of Garret Couvenhoven and Sarah Traphagen. Olive died at East Rush, Monroe Co., New York (just south of Rochester) on Aug. 23, 1824, and is buried in Grave's Cemetery (Simonson lot) R. 251, Mendon-Rush Road, a little east of East Rush, N.Y. The cemetery is near Abraham Simonson's (son-in-law) farm home.
Peter and his widowed mother, by order of the court, had sold his father's two farms in Hunterdon Co., New Jersey, to enable her to care for her four minor children, and Peter had sold his farm there at the same time, apparently. That was in 1793. Peter and Olive were married in New Jersey in 1779, and their first six children were baptized there, the last of the six being Sarah (June 15, 1792).
No record is available as to just what year Peter and Olive moved to Delaware Co., New York, nor date of purchase of their farm there. They must have had title, since they later sold to buy a farm in Monroe Co., New York.
From the deed, Peter and Olive lived in Delaware Co., near Harpersfield, in January (13), 1801, and Isaac, their youngest child, was born there on Sept. 14, 1803. Dr. Willard Monfort, of Detroit, a grandson of Isaac, believed Peter's children Olive and Ann also were born in Harpersfield (in 1797 and 1801 respectively), because their names are on file in Albany, N.Y. This would indicate that the family moved to New York state from New Jersey some time between 1793 and 1797. Abraham, Peter's father, was buried in New Jersey, but it is possible his widowed mother, Nellie, and the four minor children of Abraham and Nellie, moved to Harpersfield with Peter and Olive, and may be buried there.
Peter and Olive sold their farm near Harpersfield in 1823 and bought a farm near East Rush, Monroe Co., on Jun 4, 1824. Their eldest child, Nellie, had married Abraham Simonson and was living in Monroe County. Olive did not live long after reaching the new home. She died on Aug. 23, 1824. Peter sold teh East Rush farm on June 2, 1829, and he died on July 24, 1829. He was in Waterville on May 15, 1829, so he must have left East Rush before the sale was completed. Evidently he must have been sick and needed care.
Peter died in Jefferson, Schoharie Co., not far from Harpersfield, perhaps with one of his children, or his sister. A sister, "Aunt Ann", furnished the shroud. Two of his sons, Garret and David C., were
administrators of their father's estate.Peter used spelling of his name, instead of "Pieter", and also used the spelling "Monfore" instead of "Monfort" because, according to Dr. Willard Monfort, he felt it was more American. However, one or two of Peter's children continued to use the spelling "Monfort", as did some of the grandchildren.
Peter's son Garret usually spelled it "Monfore", and in a letter written on May 30, 1839, he explained that his father had adopted the final "e" instead of "t", "for the sake of distinction there being so many of the same name". However, one of Garret's sons, Dr. Whiting Griswold Monfort, who died in Illinois in 1838, used the "t" spelling.Peter Monfore and Olive Couvenhoven had ten children:-.