| Home Surname List Name Index Sources Email Us | Fourth Generation69. DANIEL COMSTOCK68,78,79 was born on 19 July 1686 in Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island.7,46,66 He died on 22 December 1768 at the age of 82 in Smithfield, Providence County, Rhode Island.7,49 "The monthly meeting of Friends, 1708, Dec. 20, denied him 'to be of our profession till he repent and amend his ways,' for beating and abusing a man." The name of Daniel Comstock's first wife and mother of his two sons is unknown. If he distributed lands to his sons about the time they reached age 21 [1735 to Azariah and 1738 to Daniel], it is likely he married sometime prior to 1714. He would have been age 28 in 1714 - if he married about age 25 as many did, that would have been say 1710-1712. His residence was Providence at that time. As the record above from 1708 indicates he was Quaker, and he was still Quaker when he married his second wife in Smithfield in 1750 - it is likely clues to this marriage and first wife could be found in Quaker records if they exist. Also the name Azariah is not used by any other Comstock family - which might be a clue to his wife's family. History of Woonsocket: The Early Records of the Town of Providence
Smithfield, RI, DB 1, p.253-255 20 Mar 1731/1732 Hazadiah Comstock, Daniel Comstock, John Sayles [husband of Elizabeth Comstock, a sister], Ichabod Comstock, David Comstock [son of Samuel Jr, dec'd, and a nephew of the others], Thomas Comstock, John Comstock, and Job Comstock sold to John Balcom, 8 acres of land in Smithfield. The land was on both sides of the highway on the north side of the Great Hollow, bounded on the north & west by John Arnold, on the south by Thomas Smith, and on the east with Balcom. [This is undoubtedly a sale of land that belonged to Capt Samuel Comstock, father of most of the above named] The deed was recorded 10 Feb 1735/1736. Smithfield RI, DB 1, p.256-257 10 Jun 1735 John Comstock to Daniel Comstock, 10 acres bordering the Branch river and the land of their brother Ichabod Comstock. Smithfield RI, DB 1, p.388 21 Dec 1735 Daniel Comstock to his well beloved son Azariah, four acres part of his homestead in Smithfield. Recorded 4 Apr 1738. The earliest of the above deeds to Azariah and Daniel seem to have made to his sons about the time they reached age 21. A list of Deputies and Representatives in the General Assembly from Smithfield are listed in History of the Town of Smithfield, by Thomas Steere, E. L. Freeman & Co., Providence, 1881 Providence Court of Common Pleas [Civil Cases] Smithfield RI, DB 2, p.417-418 14 May 1745 Daniel Comstock of Smithfield sold for 145£'s old tenor money paid by Jonathan Read late of Salem, Essex Co, Massachusetts Bay Colony now a resident of Smithfield a Parcel adjacent the eastern part of Read's Land, 16 acres. He was on the north side of the highway and west side of a little brook, also bounded on the northeast with lands of Daniel Comstock. Signed with his mark - a "C". Smithfield, RI, DB 3, p.303-305 6 Dec 1745 Daniel Comstock to Daniel Comstock, Junr, 45 acres in Smithfield. Signed with "Mark" of Daniel Comstock. Rec. 27 Aug 1753. 1748 Daniel and his son Daniel Jr were on a list of freemen, Smithfield. Azariah was added in 1749. History of Woonsocket Page 032, Smithfield Monthly Meeting, Smithfield, Providence Co., RI
In 1768, Elizabeth made administrator of Daniel's estate. Smithfield RI, DB 6, Pt. 2, p.31 26 Dec 1768 Azariah Comstock of Richmond in the province of New Hampshire, Blacksmith, sold to Israel Comstock, Daniel Comstock, and Jacob Comstock [his nephews, sons of brother Daniel], a tract of 100 acres, one half of all the land "my Honrd Father Daniel Comstock late of Smithfield died Seized of in quantity and quality". Zerviah Comstock also signed the deed. Rec. 10 Jan 1769. DANIEL COMSTOCK and ??? [COMSTOCK] were married before 1714. ??? [COMSTOCK] was born about 1690.7 Nothing has ever been discovered about the first wife of Daniel. She was undoubtedly a neighbor from one of the closely associated Rhode Island families. There is a good chance she had a father or brother named Azariah since she named one of her sons that name and it had not occured previously in the Comstock family - the other son was named Daniel for his father. There is the possibility that she was Quaker. Daniel himself was chastised for fighting in the Quaker monthly meeting in December of 1708 - he would have been about 22 years old. Then many years later, 1750, he would marry his second wife Elizabeth Buffum, in the Quaker brotherhood at Smithfield. Searching the Vital Records of Rhode Island, 1636-1850 by Arnold reveals that not many people were named Azariah. I found only one instance of the name prior to 1749 - that of the birth of Azariah Dring, 27 Mar 1710, in Little Compton, Newport, RI. Azariah was apparently the child of Thomas and Mary Butler - I find no online genealogies that trace Thomas Dring's ancestry. An earlier Thomas Dring was a publisher in London. I belive the Quaker records could hold the key to this mystery. Here are some facts about Quakerism in Rhode Island from The Narragansett Friends' Meeting in the XVIII Century: with a Chapter on Quaker Beginnings in Rhode Island, by Caroline Hazard, The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1900 The first mention of Quakers in Rhode Island was the year 1657 when a letter arrived from the commissioners of the United Colonies addressed to the governor of Rhode Island, .....divers Quakers are arrived which may prove dangerous to the colonies….last year a companie of Quakers arrived at Boston….our request that you …remove those Quakers that have been received and for the future prohibite theire cominge amongst you... At the time the above letter was written, the Massachusetts government was banishing and sending Quakers into Rhode Island. Apparently they simply wanted to hand the problem over. There was a reply from Rhode Island. Benedict Arnold was president of the colony. Signers of the letter were William Baulston, Randall Houlden, Arthur Fenner & William Field. Oct 13, 1657 Mary Dyer was one of the very active Quakers in Massachusetts, jailed several times and finally hung June 1, 1660. Within a year of Mary Dyer's death, the Rhode Island yearly meeting was established which grew till it became the general meeting for the whole of New England. George Fox came 30 3rd month [May] 1672 ….attended the June yearly meeting for Friends in New England. He had meeting at Narragansett, across the Bay from Newport. The meeting house on the old Pequot trail was destroyed by Indians in Dec of 1675, killing those inside including women & children. This was the incitement of the Great Swamp Fight which ended King Philip's War. In 1699, the Rhode Island quarterly meeting was established, consisting of three monthly meetings, Rhode Island, Dartmouth & Narragansett [1st called Kingstown meeting but changed to Greenwich & included all the Friends on the West side of the Bay from Narragansett to Providence.] A meeting-house was built in East Greenwich in 1699. Records begin 5th month, 1699 at the house of John Briggs. A month later it was held at Jabez Green's. Meeting house then built in East Greenwich. Monthly meetings here included representatives from South Kingston, Providence & Warwick. In 1707, meetings were held in rotation, three yearly at Providence, then three at Kingstown. This continued until 1718, when Providence became a distinct monthly meeting. DANIEL COMSTOCK and ??? [COMSTOCK] had the following children:
DANIEL COMSTOCK and Elizabeth BUFFUM were married on 2 August 1750.7,80,81 Elizabeth BUFFUM82, daughter of Benjamin BUFFUM and Elizabeth [BUFFUM], was born on 26 April 1709.83 She died after February 1783 at the age of 73.84,85 Death of Elizabeth is given as 1768 in the Comstock books. However, she was administrator for the estate of her husband Daniel Comstock who died Dec 22, 1768. She is listed in the Southwick book as second wife of Jonathan, "widow Elizabeth Comstock, nee Buffum, widow of Daniel Comstock" . She was still living when Jonathan Southwick wrote his will 21 Feb 1783. Jonathan Southwick wrote Will 21 Feb 1783. "I give and bequeath to Elizabeth Southwick, my wife, all and everything whatsoever that she brought with her into my estate, together with all the rents now due upon and for her right and privilege in and unto her first husband's estate, according to an agreement that she and I made before our marriage; and further my will is, and I hereby direct and order my two sons John Southwick and Zacheus Southwick (by first wife), for and in consideration of the larger part of my estate herein willed unto them for the intent and on account of their paying our sundry sums to divers of my family, to render and deliver unto her my said wife the following articles in the manner and proportion hereafter expressed, viz: The said John Southwick to render and deliver to her six bushels of merchantable Indian corn yearly during her life, and that the said Zacheus render and deliver to her twenty pounds of merchantable fresh pork yearly during her life, or in other articles to that value as she and the said John and Zacheus may agree, which as I judge it a reasonable and sufficient maintenance, do make no further provision for her." Rhode Island History, 1878 |