| Notes |
- His birthplace has been given as both Rhode Island and Scotland.
The first mention of James Burdick in the public records is when he bought land from Azariah Reed (of Lanesborough, Mass.) for 13 pounds 4 shillings, recorded on 30 Oct 1770 (Book A, page 433). This document says that James is 'of Lanesboro'.
Another early record we have of James Burdick is his baptism into the Lanesborough Congregational Church as an adult on 27 Sep 1772. A second adult, Isaac Smith, was baptized on the same day. The record states that when he was baptized his wife, Phebe Burdick, was absent. Their daughters, Abigail, Phebee and Rachel were all baptized on 12 Nov 1772. Their son, Enoch, was baptized 6 Nov 1774, and their son, Samuel on 25 August 1776. James Burdick served in the American Revolution as a private in Cpt. Joseph Barnes' Co, Col. Benjamin Symond's Regiment. His Berkshire County Regiment enlisted 26 Apr 1777, discharged 10 May 1777, Service 24 days; they marched to Saratoga, NY, by order of Maj. Gen. Gates. (from Mass. Soldiers and Sailors, Boston, 1896, p. 825). The land records of Lanesborough, Berkshire Co., Mass., show that James Burdick bought two lots in Richmond, Mass., on 28 Sep 1777 from his brother, Freedom Burdick, who was then living in Fredericksburg, Dutchess Co., NY.
Several of James' children were born in Coeymans Patent, New York, in the 1780's, which is directly west of Lanesborough, and has one county between (Renselaer Co.) and is 12 miles south of Albany. Coeymans Patent derives its name from a large tract of land purchased by Barent Pieterse Coeymans (Coymans, Koijemans) in 1673 and later divided among his descendants and a few early settlers after his death in 1710. The christening records of the Coeymans Reformed Church (1793-1845) in Albany, NY, were extracted in 1990, but no Burdick family members appear. This may be because they were 'dissenters'.
John Rockwell of Lanesborough sold land to James Burdick of Lanesborough for 35 pounds, being 10 acres bordering on land which James already owned. The deed is dated 14 March 1785. No mention is made of the name of John Rockwell's wife. (deed book C, page 219, film #1749798).
James Burdick of Lanesborough sold land to Isaac Smith Jr. of Lanesborough for 8 pounds 2 shillings , containing about 3 acres, and adjoining land already owned by Isaac Smith Jr. (Deed book C, page 521, film # 1749798).
James Birdict [sic] appears on the 1790 Census of Vermont, living in the town of South Hero, in Chittenden County. The Town Records say that his "Mark for sheep swine and Cattel is a happeney under the left Eare Rec'd on to Record this 7th Day of December 1791 by me Ebn'r Allen Town Clerk. April 12 1797 The above Mark is now Set to Warren Corbin. Constant Reynold Town Clerk." (Vol. 2, page 6)(film # 0028855)
In 1801, James Burdick, of the Township of Oxford, Ontario, Canada, was appointed by the Court to be a keeper of a Standard for Weights and Measures in the Room of Hammon Lawrence, who is discontinued (page 21).
The land records of West Oxford, entry # 59, show that on October 20, 1801, James Burdick, Yeoman, purchased Lot No. 16, in the Broken Front Concession, Oxford Township, Oxford County (on the Thames River) in a 'Clergy Reserve.' Clergy Reserve lands were given to the clergy of the Church of England, and were eventually sold by them in order to support themselves.
After he moved to Ontario, James Burdick built the second mill in the area, which was on Centreville Creek, in Oxford County, at the 1st Concession in 1806-7. It was a combination grist mill and sawmill, in a building sixteen feet square. In her book, Marjorie E. Cropp says that the Burdick family settled west of Beachville in 1803
On March 18, 1807, James Burdick was recommended for a Commission in the Militia of Oxford County, Ontario, and was noted to be a 'respectable' man (the Early History of the London District, Ontatio Historical Society, Vol 24, page 226).
The 1812 assessment of people living upon the Thames River shows Freedom Burdick, Enoch Burdick, Caleb Burdick, Isaac Burdick, Joel Piper, Allen Sage, Heman Janes, and Peter Teeple.
Here begin the notes from Dorothy Irene Haist (10 Oct 1909 - ____) as given on the Internet:
James appears to be the first Burdick of his line to leave Rhode Island. Church records show that he joined the Lanesborough Congregational Church, on Sept. 27 1772. It was from Massachusetts that he found himself involved in the American Revolution, and he appeared on the roster of the Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the War of the Revolution, Vol. 2 (pg. 825) as: BURDICK, JAMES. Private, Capt. Joseph Barns Co. Col. Benjamin Symonds (Berkshire Co.) regt.; enlisted April 26, 1777; discharged May 10, 1777; service 24 days; marched to Saratoga by order of Maj. Gen. Gates. The 1790 Census shows James and his family living in Chittenden Co., V ermont, and he later went to Oxford County, Ontario, where he lived near Ingersoll. James was apparently living at "Bertie" at the "Ferrying Place" in 1796 with his family and his son-in-law Hamon Lawrence. See the following public record:1797: Public Archives of Canada, Upper Canada Land Petitions, 'B' Bundle 3, part 1, 1791-1820, R. G. I. L3, Vol. 29,#12 See appendix... "On July 18,1797, 'Thomas Ingersoll wrote to the Surveyor General indicating that James Burdick had approached him in April of that year for permission to locate in Oxford-on-the-Thames. A supporting document to James' petition for a land grant as a UEL was a sworn declaration by Isaac Smith and Jonathon Smith of Lanesborough, Massachusetts dated January 19th 1798. Isaac Smith was likely the father of Phoebe Smith, the wife of James. "We the Subscribers, Inhabitants of the Town of Lanesborough in the County of Berkshire, & Commonwealth of Massachusetts do hereby Certify whom to it may concern that we were well acquainted with James Burdick some time since an Inhabitant of the Town of Lanesborough aforesaid that in the Late War between Great Britain n and America the said James Burdick took part on the side of the British Government that he was once and again called before Committees of Correspondence & safety was fined & confined to his farm and disarmed at the Battle of Bennington. The said James Burdick was with the British Army, was taken captive by the Americans and taken to Southam Gaol, there confined for Seven or Eight months. He then broke the goal and made his escape. Signed "Isaac Smith" Jonathan Smith" "Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Berkshire, Lanesborough, January 19th 1798" and sworn as-true before a Justice of the Peace. Burdick was given permission to take up residence on a lot in West Oxford, and as Ingersoll reported, "he has Ben on to Work Ever Since and has Cleared About twenty Acres". The day previous to Ingersolls letter, James Burdick's son, Samuel, had petitioned the Executive Council to be confirmed on the lot, and in reply the council granted a lease. That place was Centreville, where, "James Burdick, Esq., erected the first mill in the township." see Oxford Gazeteer (Hamiton, 1852) by 'Thomas Shenston. When that was is unclear. Shenston suggests around 1805, but searching has uncovered evidence that the mill was already in operation by 1799. (see Upper Thames Valley Conservation. Report 1952 Summary (Toronto, 1952), pg. 20: " A grist mill in Oxford Township is referred to in September of that year (1799). It is a short distance from Ingersoll's and in 1800 it is called 'Burdick's Mill' and its position fixed on the creek running through the Clergy Lot 16, Broken Front, Oxford West in the field notes of William Hambly
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1743 - 1807 (64 years)