John's occupation was Doctor.
- Occupation Notes
- 1. Introduction to the book:
"DR. JOHN DURAND
A Huguenot
Born 1664, La Rochelle, France
Among the number of Huguenots who took refuge in foreign lands after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV in 1685 was Dr. Jean (or John) Durand, his uncle, Noah Durand, and two cousins, George and Louis Durand. Their home was in La Rochelle, France.
Upon arriving in America, Dr. John left his uncle and cousins and went to South Carolina, remaining there, however, but one year. Returning to New York, he lived in New Rochelle for several months and then settled in Connecticut. He lived first at East Haven, where he applied himself diligently in acquiring a knowledge of the English language. It is said, however, that the accent of his 'mother tongue' remained throughout his life.
About 1696, Dr. John settled in Milford, Connecticut. He received a license to be married on September 10, 1698, in New York, to Elizabeth Bryan, daughter of Richard Bryan. Elizabeth's father was not living at the time of her marriage to Dr. John Durand, for it is recorded in a deed executed May 24, 1693 on page 56 of the Derby, Connecticut, Records that Alexander Bryan and Samuel Bryan are appointed administrators of the estate of Richard Bryan, deceased. On March 11, 1699, a conveyance of property to John Durand and Elizabeth, his wife, is recorded. In this year they removed to Derby, Connecticut, where their first child, John Durand was born on November 10, 1700.
Dr. John Durand's practice extended to Woodbury and to Wallingford. He was called and known as 'the little French doctor.' He regarded punctuality as the soul of business and never violated the most trivial engagement. In every relation of life he exhibited in an eminent degree the qualities of a gentleman. It is told of him, that upon every call for his services, day or night, he was never known to refuse when it was in his power to comply. Often he would ride
many hours in the cold and storms, knowing that it was doubtful if he received compensation, but his kindness of heart would not allow him to refuse.
Much has been lost that would throw light upon Dr. John Durand's habits, his ways of thinking, and upon his observations of things. The relentless paper mills that devoured so many papers and books with records of untold value during the war of 1861-65 have much to answer for as destroyers of history. The Bassett Paper Mill at Seymour, Connecticut, tore into shreds a book belonging to Dr. John Durand that would have been highly prized today. It was a diary giving a description of the army and what they encountered in the expedition against Canadain 1709. Dr. John Durand was the surgeon of a Connecticut regiment on this expedition. Mr. Sylvester Smith, one of the proprietors of the mill, informed Mr. Frederick Durand that he had rescued from a pile of refuse a very old and quaint diary book belonging to a Dr. John Durand, which was written in the early part of 1700. He asked Mr. Frederick Durand to call for this book at his office if he wanted it, but the latter, not knowing it belonged to his great-great-grandfather, and not being interested in antiquities, neglected to call for it and onsequently the book is lost.
There are many traditions regarding Dr. John Durand which have come down in various branches of the family. One tradition that he had two brothers who came with him to America is erroneous; the two brothers--George and Louis--were cousins of Dr. John Durand, sons of his uncle, Charles Durand.
Dr. John Durand was the only member of his father's family who came to America. His father's name was Jean Durand who and, from tradition and reports, it is believed that there were three children: Jean (John), Joseph, and Maria.
Dr. John Durand was educated as a young man to be a physician. After he came to America, he maintained a correspondence with his relatives in La Rochelle, France, and letters written to him were to be found as late as 1861.
His grave can be found in the Colonial Cemetery at Derby,
Connecticut. In the early 1900's, this cemetery was well taken care of by the Sarah Riggs Humphrey Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The grave is marked with a rough blue stone, the inscription being nearly obliterated. It reads
Here lyes ye body of
Doct. John Durand
Died
March ye 29TH, in ye year 1727
AG'D 60
Dr. John Durand was recognized as a man of marked ability. The energy and nobility of character which he possessed was transmitted to each and every one of his children, and they all possessed in a high degree the more solid traits of character.
There are many references to Doctor John Durand in the Colonial Records of Connecticut and in the Derby Town Records. There are also references to his uncle, Noah Durand, notably one recorded in the 'Hist. Col.', 192, 200 [1 footnote: 'Connecticut Historical Collections' by John Warner Barber, 1836, pages 199 and 200.] regarding the early settlement of Humphreyville, in which Noah Durand, while hunting deer, accidentally killed an Indian named John Sunk. One of the two cousins of Dr. John Durand who came with him from France, George Durand, settled near Middletown, Connecticut.
Dr. John Durand's wife, Elizabeth Bryan, was a daughter of Richard Bryan, and a grand-daughter of Alexander Bryan. Alexander Bryan was a son of Thomas Bryan. In March 1605/06, Alexander Bryan married Anne Baldwin, daughter of Robert and Joan Baldwin of North Church, Hertfordshire. Robert Baldwin was the son of Henry and Alice (King) Baldwin of Dundridge, in the parish of Aston Clinton, Buckinghampshire, adjoining Aylesbury.
Alexander Bryan and his son, Richard, were great merchants in New England. They bought and sold lands in almost every town from New London to New York. They furnished goods to pay the Indians for nearly all the townships in this region. Their vessels traded not only in American ports but in England, Holland, and Spain. Their bills passed in exchange in all parts of the country, and particularly in England. It is doubtful if there was another merchant, out of Boston on the American coast, who did as large a business as Alexander Bryan from 1639 to 1670.
Richard Bryan married first, Mary, daughter of William and Margaret Pantry. After her death, he married second, on July 15, 1679 (Vital Statistics, Milford, Connecticut), Mary, baptized May 21, 1648 (1st Congregational Society of New Haven), and daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Heaton (widow) Wilmont, granddaughter of Benjamin and Ann Wilmot of New Haven, Connecticut. Mary (Wilmot) Bryan was sometimes called Mercy. Their child, Elizabeth Bryan, was born on April 19, 1680, Milford, Connecticut, and baptized April 25, 1680. She outlived her husband, Dr. John Durand. In the Town Records of Derby it is recorded that she deeded lands to her son, Ebenezer, in 1756 and, in an old memorandum book dated 1763, there is reference made of her living, at which time she would have been 83 years old. In the last years of her life, she made her home with her daughter. The Johnson families lived in the northern part of Derby (now called Seymour), and she was probably buried in this part of the town."
2. "ARMS IN BOOKPLATE USED BY DR. JEAN DURAND:
Durand - sa a fess dancettee or and in chief 3 fleurs-de-lis of the 2nd. Crest: a griffin's head erased, pierced with a spear"
3. p 8, item 1:
"Dr. John Durand
b. Dec. 26 1664, La Rochelle, France
Registre des Baptemes au Temple de la Ville Neuve depuis 1 Janvier 1660 jusqu'an 13 Juin 1668, p. 195.
d. March 29, 1727, Derby, Conn, aged 63
m. Sept. 10, 1698, Elizabeth, dau. of Richard and Mercy (Wilmot) Bryan
b. April 19, 1680, bp. April 25, 1680, Milford, Conn.
d.
Children
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Ebenezer b. Dec. 7, 1724
It is recorded in the old books of record in the Surrogate's office, New York City, under Marriage Licenses, V:302 '1698 - Durand, Dr. John--Eliza Bryan 10 Sept.'
After their marriage, they lived, apparently, in Milford, Connecticut for a year (Milford Land Records 2:109, Feb. 27, 1698/9) prior to settling in Derby, Connecticut. All their children were born in Derby.
Administration of the estate of Dr. John Durand was granted September 4, 1727 to Elizabeth and John Durand. (New Haven Probate Records 5:393). The burial notice of Dr. John Durand is listed in Derby Records as published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 84, 1930, page 135.
His wife outlived him by about thirty years for, in a land conveyance made by his children June 20, 1757, mention is made to 'our mother Elizabeth Durand.' (Derby Deeds 7:295).
Some land records about Dr. John Durand in the Derby Town records are:
Nov. 3, 1704, Sylvester Wooster for L[=pounds]12 sells to John and Elizabeth Durand land in Derby on Grassy Island, one and on-half acres.
June 12, 1712, Ebenezer Johnson, for L40 paid by John Durand and Elizabeth, his wife, sold twenty acres of meadowland in Derby.
Sept. 29, 1704, it was voted to sue Dr. Durand for ye town's highway, it being for a surrender of the highway where carts can pass.
Jan. 1, 1704/5, Dr. Durand made a proffer to the town to leave it to two indifferent men to settle, etc., which was finally arbitrated and satisfactorily settled.
Dec. 15, 1707, he was chosen by the town to be collector of the 'minister's race.' It was also voted that Dr. Durand and John Davis and their wives shall sit in the third row of seats facing the pulpit.
Dr. Durand owned the homestead of Edward Wooster, the first settler of Derby, and resided in it just opposite where the road from the bridge enters the river road at the old town of Derby. Dr. Durand claimed damages for encroachment on his land after the bridge was built.
In the records he was recorded as a chirurgeon or surgeon."
NY Gen & Bio Record 98:10, 1698, "Durend, Dr. John - Eliza. Bryan - 10 Sept. V:302"
From the autobiography of William F Durand:
"...my first paternal ancestor in the New World being Dr. Jean Durand, a Huguenot, trained as a doctor in France. He came from Rochelle, France, to this country about 1690, stopping first at New Rochelle, New York, and then moving on to Milford, Connecticut, where he married Elizabeth Bryan, the daughter of an English colonist.
They moved soon to Derby, Connecticut, situated some ten miles back from Milford and at the junction of the Housatonic and Naugatuck Rivers, as above noted. There they were allotted certain lands in the new community and Dr. Durand took up the practice of his profession. Ten children were born to the union."
Old Town of Derby, p 718:
Dr John Durand 
Click here for details of John's family with Mrs Elizabeth Bryan
