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Letter of Harriet Diuguid in 1903
This letter by Harriet Diuguid (in about 1903) about her ancestry was written to her cousin Lizzie (Mary Elizabeth Diuguid 1846-1923), who married William Slayton Bourland in Nov 1841. William was postmaster in Calloway County, Kentucky on Oct 12, 1874. In her letter Harriet relates at length her knowledge of her family history that has been passed down from generation to generation. Her return address was 117 S. Jefferson St., Roanoke, VA, where she lived with her son, John Everett Diuguid.
Dear [Cousin] Lizzie,
I have always heard that our forefathers were originally French Huguenots who fled to Scotland from religious persecution and remained there until they called themselves Scots. Some time way back in the seventeen hundreds, four Diuguid brothers came to America, two of them settled in Virginia, one in what is now Kentucky and one in Georgia or Mississippi. The one from whom we are descended, I do not know his name, but suppose it was William Diuguid. He had a son named William D. who settled near Bent Creek in what is now the lower part of Appomattox County. Said William Diuguid had a son named George D.[iuguid] who was a Revolutionary soldier and he was our grandfather. He had seven sons and four daughters. William D. [son of George] married Miss Susannah Thornhill. They had eleven children and raised all except one who was, killed when he was eleven years old by a runaway horse. All of his family have passed away until you come to his grandchildren and they are very many in number.
George Diuguid's next son, Sampson Diuguid, married Miss Martha Patteson. They had ten children but only raised three of this number, namely: David, George and Harriet, the writer of this record, and I am the only representative of that generation of Sampson.
Stephen Diuguid married Miss Furbush. They had three children only and raised two of them, a son and a daughter. The daughter is still living - a Mrs. Pelter at her father's old homestead in Campbell Co., Va.
George Diuguid [11] married Miss Betsy Christian from near Richmond. They moved to Calloway Co., Ky. directly after their marriage. They had only two children. Their first son named Christian died when 6 or 8 years old of measles at Gauley Bridge in West Va. Uncle George had another son, William Diuguid, who lived to be 83 years old, raised seven sons and two daughters. His death occasioned the first link in his family to be broken. He was about ten or twelve years old when his father, Uncle George Diuguid died. Then his mother wrote to my father, Sampson Diuguid, to come to Kentucky and move her back to Va. as she wanted him to help her raise her two sons. He went at once to help her. They started on their journey back the third day after he arrived, and when they reached West Virginia, the death of her son, Chrlstian occurred. After his burial, they continued their journey to Virginia, and Cousin William lived with my father, he and his mother until he was 25 years old. He then returned to Murray, Calloway Co. Ky. where he spent his remaining days. My brother, George, and Cousin William were educated together, learned their trades together, and lived as brothers until Cousin William moved back to Kentucky.
James Diuguid married Miss Snead. They had one child, a son. He was killed in the Confederate War in the Battle of the Wilderness. Uncle James Settled in Salem, Va. and lived until his death in that place.
Uncle Edwin Diuguid was married but he moved out to Missouri in or near Franklin Co., but I never heard whom he married. He never returned to Va. He died and left three children, two daughters and one son. He and his son both followed the same course in life. They prospected in lead mines, but neither of them made any success in their occupation.
Uncle Jacob married Miss Caroline Patteson the first marriage. She did not live but a few years, died and left one son, James E. Diuguid. He did not live many years. He left one son named after himself. He is now living in Carroll Co., Ky. and has a family. I do not know much about them. Uncle Jacob's second wife, Miss Jett, of Kentucky, died,, They had four children: Hiram, Mrs. Dr. Gaines of Warsaw, Mrs. Owen of Ghent, and Mrs. J. I. Baker of Jett Co. Ky.
This closed the account of Grandfather's sons. His four daughters were Judy, who never married; Mary married William H. Patteson, an uncle of mine on my mother's side, and moved to Indiana. They had only one child. She is still living in Chicago, Mrs. Annie Anthony. Nancy married David B. Patteson. They had four children: three daughters and a son, Mrs. Lucy Christian, wife of Dr. W. Diuguid Christian, Mrs. Ann Price who died in Ky., Rozella died when just 17 years old and Cousin David Marcellus is the son, you know, who is at the Confederate Home in Oldham Cost Ky. and I expect he is getting quite feeble by this time. He and I are the only ones of the old ones now living. He is six years older than I am, living in the third year of borrowed time -that brings me in my 73rd year, but I am happy to tell you that I am not helpless by any means. I am able to help about domestic affairs. As yet I do not like to be waited on but will do all I can as long as I am able to do.
Aunt Betsy Diuguid-is the last one of Grandfather George Diuguid's children to mention. She married a Baptist preacher named Mace Harris and had several children. I knew all of her daughters. All of them are dead. She had several sons but I do not know anything of them. In fact I never met them at all.
About two years ago, a Mrs. Cummings came to Lynchburg, she said to hunt her Diuguid relatives. She said her grandmother was Ann Diuguids her grandfather was William Harriss, her mother was a Jeffries. They live in Selma, Alabama. Mrs. Cummings resembles the Diuguid family very much indeed. Her mother is a widow, has three daughters and Mrs. Cummings is the oldest, the only one who is married. She has one child, a girl. Her sisters have names of the Diuguid family up to the present date. I am not able to trace her family relationship up. I sincerely wish I could,. Perhaps she is a descendant of the original Diuguid brother who came from Scotland and settled in Georgia or Mississippi. I do not mean him really but a son or a grandson of his and perhaps the Harriss name of her grandfather might be related in some way to Aunt Betsy Harris. If you can find out anything of this connection I would be more than glad for you to let me know concerning it.
In the last letter I had from you, you asked me for the record of the Diuguid family. I have never been able to get the one Aunt Judy Diuguid had when she lived at Uncle Jacobs. I wrote for it but they said it had gotten lost. Dr. William Diuguid Christian had one also but I received the same account of that as I did Aunt Judy's. It had gotten lost in moving so I concluded I would try to do the best I could with my knowledge to write you all as I know of no other source from which you will gather as much as you will in this letter.
I left you too quickly in telling you about Uncle Jacob's life transactions so I will have to go back and finish his course out for you. He was married four times. I told you of twice so now comes the third time. This time he married near St. Louis or Lewisville, I do not know which. This wife was either a schoolteacher or owned and ran a cattle raising farm, I do not know which. Indeed I do not know her name. He had no children by his last two wives.
His fourth wife was a widow Warfield, nee Miss Joyce Diuguid, a daughter of Cousin George E. Diuguid, perhaps the descendant of the brother from Scotland who settled in Kentucky. Uncle Jacob's fourth wife had a sister named Mrs. Susan Drake, who had a daughter named Georgie. I saw them once. They came to visit my father in Lynchburg about 1840. 1 was then about ten years old. This last wife had a daughter by her Warfield husband who is a Mrs. Dortch, somewhere near Trenton, Ky., if I am not mistaken. I do not know where Uncle Jacob's last wife is. She outlived him. She was the first lady Uncle Jacob ever addressed? and after refusing him the first time, she married Rev. Warfield and he died and her his widow. She remained a widow whilst Uncle Jacob married and lost three wives. Then he returned and married his first love.
Well, Cousin Lizzie, as I imagine your patience has been entirely worn out, I will draw this long letter to a close hoping that the limit of your patience has not been so severely tried that you will not honor me with a reply. I wish I could come to see you instead of write to you but I have put the visiting time off too long. Perhaps I could not make the trip safely. My only regret is that I did not undertake it whilst Cousin William was alive and I deeply regret not writing this letter because I think he would have enjoyed it so very much. I wish some of you all western relations would pay us a visit. Indeed we would be glad to see you or any of your father's family for I certainly love to see my relatives and it I cannot see them I love to write them. So with very much love for you and yours - your entire family, I will close this letter hoping that you will write me very soon. Give my love to your mother and to your sisters and brothers when you see them.
My address:
[Signed]
Mrs. H. L. Diuguid,
111 N. Jefferson St.,
Roanoke, Va.
Some information from William Diuguid of Buckingham County, Virginia, by Eleanor Harris Macrae. Privately published. n.d.
The descendants of Susan Diuguid and George Anderson Spiller are courtesy of Karen Lucas Lawless of Kingwood, Texas.