He married Ann Marwood on January 4, 1658, and shortly thereafter moved to Nansemond County, Virginia, where he lived for about two years.
On August 4, 1661, Durant purchased, in the second oldest recorded deed of the area,[2][3] land from Cisketando, king of the Yeopim Indian tribe.
His plantation, called "Wicocombe" (subsequently known as "Durant's Neck"), was located in Perquimans County, North Carolina.
A mariner turned planter, Durant was one of the ablest and most influential men in the county and a leader of the 1677 Culpeper's Rebellion,[5] an uprising over the requirement that all colonial goods be transported in British ships.
Durant's open opposition to Seth Sothel, one of the Lords Proprietor, led to his arrest and imprisonment.