The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: VA
Qualifying Service: Private
Birth: 26 Sep 1763 / Fauquier / VA Death: 13 Nov 1842 / Pocahontas / VA
The marker is in a field near the Duffield Cemetery
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Author: SFC Gary Lee Duffield AF
Abraham Duffield (1763-1842)
Private, Augusta County, VA Militia
Abraham Duffield was born on September 26, 1763 in Fauquier County Virginia to Robert and Isabella (Given) Duffield.
Robert moved his family to New Found Creek (Bull Pasture River) in Augusta County, Virginia shortly after Abrahams’ birth.
Abraham enlisted in the Second Battalion of the Augusta County cavalry militia under Captain Peter Hull in 1779. Abraham was listed on the muster roll as being 16. Abraham’s unit was sent to the frontier to fight the 835 Indians. His unit was recalled to Staunton, Virginia in early June 1781. Captain Hull had received word that Lord Cornwallis was on the march and was headed towards Charlottesville, Virginia.
British troops under the command of General Banastre Tarleton (The Butcher); then attacked Charlottesville and captured some members of the Virginia Legislature. Fortunately, Thomas Jefferson escaped the British and fled to Staunton. Abraham’s company was one of the units ordered to guard the passage between Charlottesville and Staunton to ward off Tarleton’s advance. When Tarleton and Cornwallis retreated towards Yorktown, Captain Hull’s Cavalry Company, which included Abraham Duffield, joined with General Lafayette to follow Tarleton. Abraham was at Yorktown for Cornwallis’ surrender.
After Yorktown, Abraham returned home to Augusta County and settled in the Bull River Area. He re-enlisted in the Greenbrier County Virginia cavalry militia commanded by Captain Hull in March 1782. Abraham was sent to protect Halton’s fort in Monongalia County until he was mustered out in September 1782. Abraham’s name was found on the 1794 militia muster roll commanded by Captain Robert McCoy in Pendleton County, Virginia.
Abraham married Hannah Moore on February 3, 1799 in Warm Springs, Bath County, Virginia. In 1800, Abraham and his family moved to the part of Kanawha County that is now Nicholas County. He lived there until December 1835 when he moved to Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
Abraham died on November 12, 1842 in Pocahontas County and is buried in the Duffield Cemetery on Jericho Road.
Notes of interest:
Abraham’s son, John R. Duffield, owned a grist mill in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The mill was dismantled by the state in 1956 and moved to Babcock State Park, where it is now known as the Glad Spring Mill.
Abraham’s father, Robert Duffield rendered patriotic service in Augusta County, Virginia.
Abrahams wife’s father, Moses Moore, was a soldier at the Point Pleasant battle during the Lord Dunsmore War in 1774. He was later with George Rogers Clark during the battle for St Louis and Cahokia, Illinois in 1780.
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