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Patrick & Mary Margaret McNally Duffy Primary Surnames Include: Aydelott, Beach, Benninghoff, Bobenmeyer, Collins, Duffie/Duffy
Created by: Timothy A. Duffie
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I am not a genealogist...I prefer to think of myself as a story-teller. Story tellers...
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. As I learn new, interesting, and sometimes humorous facts about the history of our various ancestral families, I write them into stories. I hope this makes our family history a little more interesting than the Biblical...and Joseph begat Marlene, Robert, and Clarence. Also, several new-found "cousins" from a variety of family branches have stumbled onto this web site while researching their particular surname, and the stories help them learn what I have found over the years. If you are visiting here because you are descended from a particular family, and wish to see what I have written about that branch, go to Family Stories below and look for the link to that family. The primary surnames with stories include Beach, Duffy/Duffie, Lesher, Pollard, and Trine.
Enjoy |
 Tim & Judy 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."
Power Point Presentation
I've created a Power Point presentation from several graphics representative of all branches of my Duffie-Lesher families. File save the presentation to your hard drive, then open it.
Genealogy Reports
Of Interest to Collins - Duffie
The name ‘McNally’ has been recorded in South East Ulster for hundreds of years and is very common today in counties Monaghan, Armagh and Tyrone. Irish surnames such as McNally are derived from Gaelic names which were Anglicised over time to their present form. Genealogical experts have put forward two possible Gaelic origins for McNally.
In some of the earliest written records available which mention the ancestors of the McNally family (1790, 1802 and 1820’s), the name was spelt “McEnally”. At some stage it was changed in spelling to simply “McNally”. Some people in Monaghan would often still pronounce McNally as McEnally.
Of Interest To Beach - Duffie - Mills - Woods
Maidstone, Essex County, Ontario, Canada, was the 1870s home Of Hugh Percy & Mary Elizabeth McCall Beach McCall Name Meaning and History
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. |
 Mary Elizabeth McCall Beach |
Of Interest To Duffie - Jenny - Lesher - Pollard - Trine
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Some of the following genealogical reports include conclusions as to the ancestry of Joseph G. Pollard. We know Joseph G. to be the father of Isaac G. Pollard, Grandfather of Isaac Haven Pollard, and GGrandfather of Evalyn Esther Pollard Lesher. However, everything prior to Joseph G. Pollard is conjecture based on deductive logic and conclusions drawn from several known factors. I have support from others more experienced in this than I.
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 Isaac G. Pollard, ca 1877 |
I suspect that our 6th ggrandfather, Isaac Morris, Sr., owned a substantial number of those 11,300 slaves. In his will, quoted in this story, we learn that he bequeathed several of his slaves to our 5th ggrandmother, Leah Sarah Morris Pollard.
Ahnentafel Reports
An ahnentafel report traces a given individual back as far as the data allows. It is the only way I know of to pick up all ancestors, both Paternal & Maternal, in one report. I've created an ahnentafel report for Shirley Lesher & Monroe Duffie. This will provide ancestral data for both primary families. It'll cross your eyes trying to remember that you are going backwards, but these are the most informative reports we have:
Family Group Sheets
Family Group Sheets provide a snapshot of one family exclusively w/applicable notes. When linking to the Family Group Sheet
of our ancestors of the Gentler Persuasion, I have included her surname as well as her married name to provide the proper family link.
| Beach | Duffy | Lesher |
Current Projects
Emerencianna Frith Beach: b about 1814, London, England. Married William Beach either in London or Wales. Immigrated to U.S. about 1842. Lived in New York, New York, 'til about 1843. First three children born in New York. Moved to Ontario, Canada, mid-1842. After her first husband, GGrandfather William Beach, died, she married John Sherrod. When she died, she was buried with William Beach at the Christ Church Anglican & East Oxford Pioneer Cemetery.
Mary Lou Hays & Elizabeth Ann Dillahay
| These individuals are not directly related to us, but they are essential to understanding the life of Isaac G. Pollard.
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Elizabeth Ann Dillahay |
Our Family History
In Short Story Format
| Beach Family Stories | Duffie Family Stories | Lesher Family Stories | Pollard Family Stories | Trine 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 Mary Elizabeth 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. |
| From Palaces To Cow Chips | From royalty to collecting cow chips in Nebraska. |
| 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. |
John Francis Duffy
Son of John H. & Margaret Bowie Duffy
Grandson of Francis & Adeline Belvia Cramer Duffy
GGrandson of Patrick & Mary Margaret McNally Duffy
Wounded 27 Aug 1918, Vis-en-Artois, France
Died 2 Sep 1918
See Also Attestation Paper & Death Record
| 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? |
| 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. |
| The Benninghoff Robbery NYT Article | The New York Times reports on the capture of four of the men who robbed (GGGGrandfather) John Benninghoff. |
| Mary Elizabeth Pollard Reed & Family | The sister of Isaac G. Pollard, Mary Elizabeth married Joseph Reed. A recently discovered photo of the Reed family, taken approximately 1880, shows several of our "cousins". Many of these cousins were located in Oklahoma where we might find current relatives. |
| Our Vivacious Cousin Cherokee | Cherokee "Cherry" Gilstrap, 2nd. Cousin 6X removed to my generation of the Pollard 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 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! |
| Gotta Have Me Summa Dat Kumback Sauce! | James Henry Pollard, son of Isaac G & Elizabeth Dillahay Pollard, was well known on the east side of Chicago for his Kumback Sauce. He served his sauce for years out of a walk up restaurant on Lake Michigan Drive. |
| The Grand Army Of The Republic | A synopsis of the life of Isaac G. Pollard including his Civil War record, run for the Senate in Pennsyvania, and membership in the Grand Army Of The Republic |
| Clement C. Maloney, Civil War POW | The son of Elizabeth Pollard Maloney, and a POW during the Civil War, died in 1864 at the Point Lookout Prisoner of War Camp, Maryland |
| Amelia County, Virginia | The data discovered that links Joseph & Mary Gilstrap Pollard to the Amelia County, Virginia, family of George Pollard. |
| Pioneer Educator | Benjamin Parham Aydelott was a pioneer educator in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, in the early 1800s. | The University of Cincinnati | Benjamin Parham Aydelott was the first president of the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, ultimately merged into the Dental Department of Univeristy of Cincinnati. |
| Trine Family On The Ohio Frontier | Our earliest family in the Southwestern Ohio Frontier |
| Trine Family Burials | Pioneer Cemetery, Trenton, Ohio & Miltonville Cemetery, Miltonville, Ohio |
| The Augspurgers of Trenton, Woodsdale, and Seven Mile, Butler County, Ohio | The Augspurger family of Butler County was instrumental in the founding of Trenton, Ohio, originally an Amish community. Additonal Augspurgers eventually settled in Warren & Preble Counties. |
| George & Peter Trine: Soldiers Of The Revolution | George & Peter Trine, possibly the earliest of our Trine ancestors to arrive in America, both served in the Revolutionary War. This story includes some interesting facts of our earliest ancestors in Pennsylvania. |
| 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. If you have any names to add, send them to Tim Duffie
Winning Hearts & Minds In Vietnam
I was in the Marines during the Vietnam War. I had the good fortune to have the opportunity to volunteer for a unique program started by the Marines in 1965. The Combined Action Program recognized 
the fact that the Americans could not expect any assistance from the villagers of Vietnam if they did not offer those villagers protection from the Viet Cong terrorists. This need for security was best described in the Preface to the story of my experiences in Phuoc My Hamlet, Trieu Ai Village, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, during the summer of 1967.
The Combined Action Program (CAP) placed a squad of Marines and one Navy Corpsman in 114 villages throughout the northern I-Corps area of Vietnam.
While in the village marketplace in the hamlet of Lai Phouc, two other Marines and I were able to rescue a 16 year old girl, Co Van Thi Hue from sexual harassment at the hands of several South Vietnamese Ranger officers. Later, after I was wounded and forced to leave the village, I went to say goodbye to Co Hue and the other villagers. Co Hue handed me a picture and said, "Remember me."
Co Van Thi Hue, Lai Phuoc Hamlet, Trieu Ai Village, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, 1973
I found Co Hue in 1994, as documented by Mary Robb Jackson's Emmy Award Winning documentary on KDKA TV, Pittsburg...Finding Peace. (You may be better off to "right click" on the link, select "Save Target As", and save it to your desktop. It may take as long as six or seven minutes to download.)
I returned to Phuoc My to visit with Co Hue and her family in 1996.
The story from 1967 to 1996 is at:
The story of one of our ancestors, John B. Benninghoff, one of the first oil barons of Titusville/Oil City, Pennsylvania.
The full index and link to copies of all of Paul Emerson Lesher's letters home.
Rootsweb Sites & Misc. Sources
The following are links to census reports and other confirming data that I've file saved over the past several years.
Family Web Pages
