| Notes |
- [Emory_Anc.ged]
John "traveling preacher", son of Samuel Durbin and Ann Logsdon, was
married to Ann, daughter of Thomas Logsdon and Mary Logsdon, first
cousins, Maryland circa 1762.
John Durbin, according to James Virden of Versailles, Ohio, was t he first
Durbin in Kentucky, arriving with Daniel Boone in 1775, and was one of
the axmen who blazed the Wilderness Trail.
The Filson Club in Louisville, KY has a book on the Hayes family which
contains a list of the men with Boon e in 1775. William Hayes and William
Bush (Captain Billy Bush) are mentioned , but John Durbin is not. This
list was compiled by a researcher of the Daug hters of the American
Revolution.
According to James Virden, John and Ann ha d a daughter, Mary, in
Pennsylvania in 1775, and according to the census of R ichland County,
Illinois in 1850, another daughter in Kentucky in 1780. This second
daughter was Nancy, or Annie. John Durbin, then, came to Kentucky
between 1775 and 1780, and settled in an area near Harrodsburg or
Boonesboro. He was killed in Harrodsburg in 1797, according to James
Virden.
Ann and s on, Austin (or Augustin) were on the tax list of Madison County
in 1797 and 1 799. Since a part of the family was already living in
Barren County, Ann and Austin moved there in 1800; Ann dying the same
year.
It is said that Thoma s and John Durbin were engaged in mining saltpeter
(potassium nitrate, used i n medicine, gunpowder, and for fertilizer) from
the Mammoth Cave, now in pres ent Edmonson County. Hearing reports that
saltpeter abounded in another cave , known then as the Haunted Cave, they
decided to investigate. They arrived at the cave late in the day and
found that the report was true. The cave pr omised successful digging, so
Thomas told his brother John to return and get the tools and he would
remain at the cave.
When night came, Thomas Durbin bu ilt a small fire in the mouth of the
cave and prepared to rest and sleep as h e was somewhat weary. He
stretched out before the fire but had barely closed his eyes when he
heard a rip-roaring noise from within the cave. He seized the rifle by
his side and peered in the direction whence the noise came. By the dim
light from the fire he could indistinctly see the outline of an objec t
perched upon a ledge of rock. Leveling his fouling piece at the object
h e fired and at the crack of the rifle, the object fell from its perch.
Next morning upon investigating, he found he had killed a mammoth hoot
owl. That was the end of the haunt. It is needless to say the the
Durbin brothers enga ged in mining there unmolested by other diggers.
[From Durbin-Logsdon Genealog y by Betty Jewell Durbin Carson]
Please let me know if you have any questions..or know of any errors, changes, this is ongoing research..and ever growing orchard of family branches
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Abt 1734 - 1797 (63 years)
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