Tim & Judy Duffie I am not a genealogist...I prefer to think of myself as a story-teller. Story tellers... need not worry about every jot and tittle. don't claim verbal plenary inspiration. Story tellers simply tell stories and hope they have entertained and/or educated the reader. I write the stories so that learning our family history will be a little more interesting than the Biblical...and Brenda begat Shirley, Laura, and Charles. I have done this in order to put our family history onto DVD which I will pass on to future generations. Hopefully this will provide a kick-start for any future family historians/story-tellers who would continue what I have begun. I learned rudimentary genealogy in order to determine when and how my surname got to be Duffie, not the original Irish Duffy. Once I had learned that, I began to discover family stories...stories like Bevy Of Beautiful Beach Babes, and Shootout In The Watermelon Patch...and this web site was born. There are several links to Genealogy Reports which will not work if you are viewing this site on the internet. I've built this in such a way that it can be viewed from a CD...and, since much of the information includes living persons, I only include those reports when sending a CD to my family members. However, there is still much to enjoy if you opt to continue on and read some of the family stories included. If you are visiting here to read about a particular branch of our family, go to Family Stories below and look for the link to that family. If you are interested in any of the family genealogy that I have uncovered, scroll down through this page and look for the family name of your interest. Enjoy E-Mail: Tim Duffie

The History of Surname Duffy

"Duffy is a name which comes from the Old Irish word "dubhthaich" which means "of the dark house". The Irish Duffys are a sept of the Scots Clan Macfie or McFie, which originated on the Island of Colonsay. The Scots Gaelic form of the name is "MacDubhsithe", which means "son of the People of Peace", or the faeryfolk.

"This name is now the single most common name in County Monaghan, where it originated. Its (modern) Irish version is Ó Dubthaigh, which means black, probably referring to hair."

We now know that our clan came from County Monaghan, Ireland, thanks to Greg Coombs, Grandson of Margaret Catherine Duffy.

• Margaret was the daughter of James Francis and Mary Eleanor Purtill Duffy.
• James Francis was the son of Jerome & Ann Elizabeth Williams Duffy.
• Jerome was the son of Patrick & Armina Collins Duffy and brother of James Munroe Duffy. (James Munroe and Harriet Allen Duffy ultimately changed the spelling of our name to "Duffie".)

The Family In Graphics: A "Power Point" presentation of many of the family portraits I've accumulated. There is probably something in here for all related families, including our newly located Trine family cousins. The "Lesher" family graphics include an excellent picture of Daniel John Lesher, son of Rebecca May Catherine Trine Lesher.

Viewing the Power Point presentation may require to lengthy download...but it can then be file saved to your hard drive for future reference.

Duffy/Duffie Family Web Pages & Genealogy Reports
I have included a variety of genealogy reports to give a better perspective of each
of our ancestral surnames...from both the paternal and maternal perspectives.

Of Interest to Collins - Duffie

• Patrick & Mary McNally Duffy, Sr. were the first of our family to immigrate to Canada. Descendants of this family would also include Patricia Duffy (Thomas Duffy), Greg Coombs (Margaret Catherine Duffy Marissen), and Lois Collins Curcio and Don Collins (Armina Collins Duffy).
  
• Israel & Lavinia Martin Collins were the parents of Armina Collins, wife of Patrick Duffy, Jr. This report provides maternal ancestors of the Duffy/Duffie family.
  
• Abel & Maria Alzina Boughner Collins were the brother & sister-in-law of Armina Collins Duffy. This provides a relatively large group of Duffie Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins without the clutter of the Duffy/Duffie clan.
  
• Samuel & Lucy Westin Jacob were the maternal grandparents of Harriet Allen Duffy, wife of James Munroe Duffy. James Munro & Harriet Allen Duffy were responsible for changing the spelling to Duffie for their descendants.
  

Of Interest To Beach - Duffie

I have never been able to determine the surname name of William Beach's wife, Emerencianna. She was listed as Emerencianna Beach on the 1851 Canadian census. One of the family rumors I've been chasing is the story that "commoner" William Beach married royalty, and that was the reason they had to leave England. If that rumor was true, then we may find Emerencianna listed in British royalty somewhere...someday.

• William & Emerencianna Beach were the parents of Hugh Percy Beach.
  
• Alexander & Margaret Vandecar McCall were the parents of Elizabeth Mary McCall Beach. This provides the paternal ancestors of Elizabeth Mary McCall Beach.
  
• Margaret Vandecar for the maternal ancestors of Elizabeth Mary McCall Beach.

Maidstone, Essex County, Ontario, Canada
The 1870s Home Of Hugh Percy & Mary Elizabeth McCall Beach

The settlers along the Middle Road were largely emigrants from the Old Country, especially Ireland. In the 1840's the potato famine caused a heavy migration and Essex County received its share. Along the Middle Road and up toward Lake St. Clair the "Irish Settlement" grew and fourth and fifth generation descendants remain today. The village of Maidstone was the centre of the Irish community.

Of Interest To Duffie - Jenny - Lesher- Trine
Including the Trine/Bobemeyer Family Data Recently Uncovered

In 1832, a significant portion of the Trine family, including two of Rebecca May Catharine Trine Lesher's grand uncles, Jacob & Mathias, moved their families to the frontier of southwestern Ohio. I have posted a few Trine Family web pages:

• Trine/Bobenmeyer Graphics/History web page at: Trine Family On The Ohio Frontier
• Trine family burial sites in Trenton & Miltonville, Butler County, Ohio at: Trine Family Burials

Right: Daniel John Lesher (son of Nathan & Rebecca May Catharine Trine Lesher)
with Paul & Ralph (Lesher) Deevers, Shirley Lesher Duffie & Betty Lesher Jenny

Genealogy Reports for the Trine/Lesher family include:

• Jacob & Catherine Bobenmeyer Trine, Grand Aunt & Uncle to Rebecca May Catharine Trine Leasure/Lesher, were the first that I have found who braved the frontier as it existed in Southwestern Ohio in the early 1800s. Jacob Trine was the brother of Peter Trine, 4th Great Grandfather to my generation of the Duffie/Lesher/Jenny family. I'm reasonably certain Matteas & Susannah Carr Trine, another brother, were included in those mentioned in the article (Trine Family On The Ohio Frontier) linked above.
• Nathan & Rebecca May Catherine Trine Lesher were the grandparents of Clyde Lesher.
  
• George & Maria Barbara Seager Trein were the grandparents of Rebecca May Catherine Trine Lesher. According to ancestry.com, all those descended from Maria Barbara Seager can claim a relationship to Princess Grace Kelly.
  
• John Williman was the father of Anna Margaret Williman, wife of Daniel J. Lesher (above right).
  
• Joseph G. & Mary Gilstrap Pollard were the parents of Isaac G. Pollard, and the grandparents of Evalyn Pollard Lesher.
  
• Mary Gilstrap was the wife of Joseph G. Pollard. When Joseph died in 1850, she married Peter Herod Johnson. Most of the information I have found came from a descendant of Peter & Mary Gilstrap Pollard Johnson.
  
• Peter & Rachel Aydolett Gilstrap, Sr. were the great-great-grandparents of Mary Gilstrap Pollard Johnson. According to ancestry.com, all those descended from Rachel Aydolett can claim as family: Humphrey Bogart, Mamie Doud Eisenhower, Louisa May Alcott, William Faulkner, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frances Folsum Cleveland, to name a few.
  
• Lockey Davis was the mother of Mary Gilstrap Pollard.
  
• John Yoes was the father of Isaac G. Pollard's mother, Sarah Esther Yoes Pollard.
  
• William D. & Sarah Alexander Reed were the great-great grandparents of Evalyn Esther Pollard Lesher.
  

These individuals are not directly related to us, but they are essential to understanding the life of Isaac G. Pollard. Mary Lou Hays was the 2nd. wife of Isaac G. Pollard and mother of two of his children: Jesse Foss and Sarah A. Pollard. Isaac divorced Mary in 1882 in order to marry Elizabeth Dillahay. As of 4/22/08 I am exchanging e-mail with Isaac & Mary Hays Pollard's granddaughter, Lavona Pollard Blackwell, the daughter of Jesse Foss Pollard. Elizabeth Dillahay (right) was the 3rd. wife of Isaac G. Pollard and the mother of nine of his children. She was 16 years old at the time of her marriage to Isaac. According to newspaper articles, she was a "mulatto" and a student at the first black college in Arkansas, Walden Smith Seminary, now known as Philander Smith College.

Kinship Reports

These will be the generations most likely to peruse these reports, so each of you can determine your kinship to people relative to your relationship to Brenda & Laura. Michael Woods, Grandson of Martha Gertrude Beach Woods, is a 2nd Cousin to Ed, Tim, and Brenda Duffie, and a 2nd Cousin 1X removed to Shirley, Laura, and Charles Woodworth.

• Brenda K. Duffie Kinship Report
  
• Laura K. Woodworth Kinship Report
  
• Laura Jane Schuler Kinship Report
  

Our Family History
In Short Story Format

Beach Family Stories	Duffie Family Stories	Lesher Family Stories	Pollard Family Stories
Trine Family Stories

Beach Family Stories

Bevy Of Beautiful Beach Babes	Search for the identify of the seven Beach Sisters in the series of three pictures, ca 1900-1910.
Walla Walla Washington	Identifying the woman with Elizabeth Mary McCall Beach in a photograph taken in Walla Walla, Washington, ca 1895.
Shootout In The Watermelon Patch	How Hugh Percy Beach defended his watermelons from ruthless Cowboys and Indians on his Nebraska farm, ca 1890.
The Children's Blizzard of 1888	A real life example of the snow Sarah Ann Beach Duffie talked about walking through in the plains of Nebraska.
From Palaces To Cow Chips	From royalty to collecting cow chips in Nebraska.

Duffie Family Stories

The History Of The Surname Duffy	A history of our surname as well as a history of County Monaghan, home of Patrick & Mary McNally Duffy before they immigrated to Canada in the 1830s.
Our Irish Republican Army Connection	Why did Harriet Allen Duffy change the spelling to Duffie? Was it because she didn't want to be associated with the Catholics as we were led to believe, or was she worried about the family link to the "Bread Duffy Clan" of the Irish Republican Army?

Lesher Family Stories

From Leasure To Lesher	What was our original surname, and who changed it to Lesher?
Samuel Lesher, Civil War Veteran	Additional conjecture about other "Leasure" individuals who may have changed their names to Lesher. Samuel Leasure-Lesher, brother of Nathan Leasure-Lesher.
Daniel John Lesher: Wagonmaker	Daniel John and Anna Williman grew up in Otter Creek Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. They married and moved to Transfer where Daniel, the son of a wagonmaker, set up his blacksmith shop.
The Man Who Didn't Believe In Banks	John B. Benninghoff, Great Grandfather of Evalyn Pollard Lesher, was one of the wealthiest of the Titusville/Oil City, Pennsylvania, oil barons. He was robbed of $250,000, spent thousands chasing the "bad guys" west, but never recovered a penny of his loss.
Clyde & Evalyn Pollard Lesher's First Transportation	Clyde & Evalyn Pollard Lesher and Shirley Evalyn Lesher on Clyde's 1910 gas powered velocipede, ca 1920.
Leasure/Lesher Jewish Connection	Our Jewish connection as discovered when I located Simon & Susan Jetta Trine Goldman, Middletown, Ohio.
Paul Emerson Lesher's Letters	Letters from Paul Lesher from Boot Camp to France with the American Expeditionary Forces, 1918.

Pollard Family Stories

Our Vivacious Cousin Cherokee	Cherokee "Cherry" Gilstrap, 2nd. cousin 6x removed to my generation of the Lesher/Jenny/Duffie clan, and the hands-down winner of the greatest name in the history of our family!
Who Was That Masked Man?	We're not quite sure where he came from...or exactly when he disappeared. Rootsweb.com is full of contradictory databases as to exactly what his name was. This Pollard/Lesher/Jenny/Duffy clan Grandfather is our own personal "Lone Ranger"!
Fleeing The KKK	An Arkasas Methodist preacher living in Little Rock, Arkansas in the 1860s, who joined the Union Army during the Civil War (Strike 1), served on the Board of Trustees for a Black College in Little Rock in the 1870s (Strike 2), married a 16 year old "mulatto" girl in 1883 (Strike 3)...then Isaac G. Pollard fled the "Good Ole Boys" to Pennsylvania!

Trine Family Stories

Bobenmeyer/Trine Move To Ohio	This is the story of the Bobenmoyer/Bobenmeyer family's arrival America in the early 1700s. While not directly related to the Lesher/Jenny/Duffie family, Catherine Bobenmeyer married Jacob Trine and is the 4th Great Grand Aunt-In-Law to my generation of the family.
Simon Goldman	The history of Simon Goldman and the first Jewish family to move to Middletown, Butler County, Ohio. Simon married Susan Trine, daughter of Jacob & Catherine Bobenmeyer Trine, of Trenton, Butler County, Ohio.
Marcus S. & Olive Mortimer Remington Goldman	Marcus S. Goldman, grandson of Simon & Susan Trine Goldman, and his wife, Olive Mortimer Remington Goldman, each led rather remarkable lives. Included are remarks about Olive Goldman from Presudent Harry S. Truman and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Trine/Bobenmeyer Legacy	The legacy of the Trine-Bobenmeyer families of Fairfield Township, Butler County, Ohio.

Originally started as a "Lesher Family" military history, I've expanded this page to include all those within our "family tree" who served.

• Our Family Military History: from the Revolutionary War through Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The story of one of our ancestors, John B. Benninghoff, one of the first oil barons of Titusville/Oil City, Pennsylvania.

• John Benninghoff: the Man Who Didn't Believe In Banks

The full index and link to copies of all of Paul Emerson Lesher's letters home.

• Paul Emerson Lesher's Letters Home: from Boot Camp to the Battle of the Argonne Forest, The Great War, 1918-19.

Rootsweb Sites & Misc. Sources

The following are links to census reports and other confirming data that I've file saved over the past six or seven years.

• Beach Family Graphics: graphics submitted by Michael E. Woods, grandson of Arthur & Martha Gertrude Beach Mills. Contains most of the Beach Sisters from about 1910 thru the 1930s.
• Place Usage Report: a complete listing of where we came from...contingent on data entry accuracy.
• 1870 Otter Creek Township Census: our Lesher ancestors and the marriage links within Otter Creek Township, Mercer County, in the 1870s. If anyone can add other marriage links, please send them to Tim Duffie.
• Patrick & Armina Collins Duffy: a rootsweb file that lists all the children of Patrick & Armina Collins Duffy except James Munro Duffy. This was taken from a census, and he'd married Harriet Allen by then and was living within a few doors of the family. Whomever located this data failed to link him with the others.
• Census Lookup: 1901 Oxford County Census Lookup - Results. All "Duffy" listings in Oxford County. All are probably related to us in some distant way. Page includes an active link to the Archives Of Canada where you can do your own search.
• Ingersoll Chronicle: 1902, Blake Munro Duffy Marriage to Lucinda Campbell
• Ingersoll Chronicle: 1909, Lucinda Duffy Death Notice
• Ingersoll Tribune: Lucinda Duffy Death Notice
• Patrick & Armina Duffy Children, 1857
• Patrick Duffy, Census 1871

Family Web Pages

• Monroe A. Duffie: Letters and Postcards from Monroe A. Duffie during WWII.
  
• Monroe A. Duffie Personal History: Report Cards, Newspaper Articles, etc, from his life.
  
• Duffie Family History: My original research into the Duffie/Duffy family with support data.
  
• Search For The Beach Sisters: the conclusions regarding the three Beach Sister Pictures...who, when, and where the pictures were taken.
  
• Beach Family Support Data: the support data for the summary page; history of the Beach family as assembled from internet data.
  
• Beach Sisters By Family Group: All the information I've found regarding our Beach family heritage. Includes Elizabeth Carlyle, missionary nurse to Peking who fled China in the face of the Japanese invasion in the early 1930s.
• Pollard Family: Research Notes
• Leshers Research: What little we've learned about our Lesher Roots is documented on this page.