HelPeR - BYU Idaho Special Collections and Family History

Early on, I posted some queries
about the Duffield family. I
found out that there was a book
written in 1901 about the history
of Pocahontas County. In this
book, Abram Duffield (Newton’s
Revolutionary War veteran grandfather)
and John R. Duffield were
discussed. The book stated that
Newton’s parents were John R.
Duffield (1801-1885) and Rebecca
Sharp (1814-1894), who lived in
Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
The children of John R. and
Rebecca were: Hamilton (1837-
after 1860), Sarah Jane Duffield
Moore (1839-1879), Henry Wesley
(1842-1903), Andrew (1844-1846), Robert McKendrey
(1847-1922), John Emory (1849-1916), Newton (1852-
1921) and Nancy Ellen Duffield Ratliff (1857-1943).
I also learned from this book that Newton lived in
the home that Abram had lived in. Wow, my Newton
Duffield family photo had picked up historical significance.
Not only had my 2nd-great grandfathers
lived there, my 4th-great grandfather, who was a
Revolutionary War veteran, had lived there.
I was soon contacted by a man in Colorado who
saw one of my postings (I live in Ohio). He was a
great-grandson of McKendrey Duffield. He knew
about the life and times of their great-grandfather
Robert McKendrey Duffield and his brother John
Emory Duffield and sent me some information. I
sent them information about Newton and his family.
They told me that they were going to make a trip
to Pocahontas County. I decided
to meet them there. Over the past
couple years we have met there
three times. We have found many
historical findings. We have found
where the home in the photograph
stood and we know where the
sugar camp stood. We also have
found the trace in the creek where
John R. Duffield’s grist mill stood.
Parts of the mill were moved to
Babcock State Park in West Virginia
and still stand. The church
(built 1835) and school (built in the
1860s) these people used are still
standing today. They contacted
some of their relatives and found
a young photo of Robert McKendrey.
It turns out that he died a
terrible death getting run over by
his stagecoach, crushing his skull.
Relative y Speaking
I also found out that Robert used
his brother John as his banker.
When John died, Robert took all
his money out of the bank and
buried it on his land. This money
was wiped away in a flood.
I found a website for John Leslie
Moore a couple of years ago. He
was a great-grandson of Sarah Jane
Duffield Moore and had a photo of
her. He told me that he also had a
photo of John Emory Duffield. It
took me some time to get a copy
of this photo. John died a couple
of years ago and his son sent me
McKendrey Duffield a copy of the photo. John Leslie
Moore told me that his family had
passed down information that Hamilton Duffield
had died of fever in Kansas in the 1860s.
Next, I was contacted by a great-great-granddaughter
of Nancy Ellen Duffield Ratliff. This person
had a good deal of family information and had two
photos of her (young and old). I knew that Nancy
had come to Ohio with Newton in 1918. They were
two of the three that stayed in West Virginia into the
20th century, the other being Henry Wesley Duffield.
The young photo of Nancy helped to identify one of
the adults in the “sugar camp” photo. I knew that her
husband, John Marcellus Ratliff, died in late 1893.
Family information stated he was very tall. Perhaps
he was the tall man in the “sugar camp” photo. This
person had a crucial piece of paper in their belongings
stating birth and death dates of many members
of the John R. Duffield family. It gave me several
Sarah Jane Duffield (1839-1879)
John Emory Duffield
Ja n ua ry/Fe b r u a r y 2009 Ev e r t o n’s Ge n e a l o g i c a l He l p e r © 47