Born about 1725 in Newtown on Long Island, New York, John Comfort was the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Haywood) Comfort. Benjamin and his brother, Robert Comfort, moved their families up the Hudson River to Montgomery in Ulster County, New York sometime between 1736 and 1748. There, John Comfort met and married Annatje Hannah Mould around 1750. She was part of a large Dutch community that was established in that area. Escaping religious persecution, her grandparents had immigrated to New York from the Palatine region in Germany decades before.
The Comforts settled, and their descendants remained, in an area that would later be known as the Comfort Hills. It was a range of elevated land about two miles west of the Village of Montgomery in present day Orange County.
By the time of the American Revolution, John Comfort was about 50 years old and the father of 10 children. Three of his four sons served with the Ulster Militia while Daniel, the youngest, stayed at home. Instead of marching with the militia himself, John furnished a substitute. In 1781, he arranged for Alexander Ferguson to serve for two weeks. Ferguson amassed a lengthy record of service by substituting for short periods for several different individuals.
No gravestone remains for John Comfort, so we do not have an exact date for his death. However, his will was probated in Ulster County in October 1795. As a sign of a successful life he apparently owned several tracts of land. He left various lots to each of his four sons. He also made ample arrangements for his widow and his five living daughters.
References and Notes
Comfort Families of Orange County New York, by Arthur H. Radacsh, 1962.
1832 Pension Application for Alexander Ferguson, R3499V.
New York Probate Records, 1629-1971 Ulster Wills 1787-1797 vol B pg 233.