HelPeR - BYU Idaho Special Collections and Family History

Relatively Speaking
Andrew, son of Abram Duffield
(Revolutionary War Veteran). I’m
not sure if it is a post-mortem.
pieces of data that I didn’t have including Rebecca’s
birth and death date, birth and death dates for Andrew
Duffield, the middle name of Newton, and
the birth date of Hamilton Duffield. Andrew Duffield
was written about in the history of Pocahontas
County. His death is chronicled by his strangling
in a crupper, as his mother sat nearby. I was sure
that Nancy Ellen had to write this piece of paper, as
only she would have known the information stated
in it.
Next, I sent away for the Civil War records of
Henry Wesley Duffield. This information gave me
information about Henry, including the fact that he
had been hurt by a boulder while building a well.
The bone was never set correctly and it led to problems
throughout his life. I did learn that he died
in 1903 in Pocahontas County. This led me to the
fact that Henry, Newton, and Nancy were the only
children of John R. Duffield that could have been
in the “sugar camp” photo. Hamilton, Andrew, and
Sarah Jane were dead by the 1890s. John Emory was
living in Iowa and Robert McKendrey was living in
Colorado.
I knew the “sugar camp” photo had Newton,
Elizabeth, and Nancy Ellen. I was going to have to
make assumptions that I will never be able to prove.
I knew that Nancy’s husband died in 1893 and knew
he was tall. I assumed that the tall man was John
Marcellus Ratliff. I figured that the old lady in the
hat could indeed be Rebecca Sharp Duffield. I knew
she lived until November, 1894. This person was
definitely an older woman (at least one generation
Nancy Ellen Duffield
Ratliff (1857-1940)
older than everyone else in the
photo). The only other adult was
the man in the front. I knew that in
the 1890s Henry Wesley Duffield
was mostly crippled. Maybe that
is why this man is not standing. If
this was a family photo (most of
Newton’s and Nancy Ellen’s children
are in the photo), then Henry
Wesley would have been in the
photo. This is another point that
cannot be proven, but I think the
odds are greater than 50 percent
that it is him.
At this point, I didn’t think
that any other photos could be located.
I received an e-mail from a
man stating he was a descendant
of Andrew Duffield (1803-1883),
a brother of John R. Duffield. A
photo of Andrew was attached.
I cannot tell if it was taken while
Andrew was alive or if the photo
was a post-mortem. I did know that Andrew was one
of three children. His brother, William, had died in
1842 when a tree fell on him.
The family story does not end there. I had always
wondered about the death of Abram Duffield. I
knew from his Revolutionary War pension that he
was born in 1763. The Internet stated that he died
in 1835 when his federal pension ended. I never believed
this. In 1835, Abram moved from Nicholas
County, Virginia to Pocahontas County. I think that
the government could not find him and assumed
he had died and ended his pension. There is more
evidence to support this. Abram was listed on the
tax records in Pocahontas County from 1835 to 1840.
He is also listed in the 1840 census in Pocahontas
County. There is no way that he could have died
in 1835. As I said earlier, the history of Pocahontas
County talks about a sermon given at Abram’s home
when the author was a child. The author of the book
was born in 1830 and would have only had been
five when Abram died, if he had died in 1835. I did
not think anyone could remember an entire sermon
from when they were five years old.
The home in the Newton Duffield family photo
was burned down in the 1930s. However, the location
is known. This home was only about 100 yards
from the Duffield family cemetery. When the WPA
did an inventory of the cemetery during the FDR
administration, there was a stone standing that read
A. D. 11/13/1842.
This is the earliest stone in the inventory of the
cemetery at that time. The stone is not standing now.
48 © Ev e r t o n’s Ge n e a l o g i c a l He l p e r Ja n ua ry/Fe b r u a r y 2009