Family of Austin Peay Duke, Sr.

by Gary D. Duke 03NOV2005

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I present the complete family of Austin Peay Duke as follows:


Name Dob State Spouse

Austin Peay Duke 00-00-1806 SC Lucinda Grace Edwards

Lucinda Grace 02-05-1822 AL Austin Peay Duke

Isaac Moses 04-22-1838 AL Mary C. Wood

Parthenia Ann 06-07-1839 AL ____ Blackwell?

Mary Caldonia 04-22-1843 AL

Bartlett Smith 12-24-1845 AL (Killed in War 1864)

Margaret Ann 05-24-1847 AL John J. Lewis

Reuben Watts 06-27-1848 AL Fannie Pelgreen

David 00-00-1850 AL (Died when 9 yrs old)

Austin Peay 06-17-1851 AL Sarah A. Joiner

Eugene B. 01-05-1854 AL Rachel Knowles

Lucy 00-00-1855 MS

George F. 00-00-1857 MS Martha J. Knowles

Martha Victoria 11-00-1858 MS B.F. Barefield?

B.F. Fleming

Thomas Bird 07-00-1859 MS Lucinda J. Cay


The lives of Austin Peay Duke (1806) and Lucinda Grace Edwards (1822) are covered in another report. This sketch will concern only the lives of their thirteen children.


1. ISAAC MOSES DUKE


This first child was born 4-22-1838 in Lowndes County, Alabama. His grandfather Duke was “Moses” Duke and his grandfather Edwards was “Isaac” Edwards ----- hence his names.

Before 1850, his parents had moved him to Pike County, Alabama and when he was 17

years old, they moved again to Jasper County, Mississippi, where they all lived in 1860.

Isaac was 23 when the Civil War began and records say he was a sergeant in Company I, 20th Mississippi Infantry. I do not yet have additional information about his service.

By the end of the War, Isaac’s parents moved again, this time to Union Parish, Louisiana.

It appears they lived near the small Louisiana town of “Sadie” which is located less than one mile from the northern border with Arkansas. Four miles north of that border, less than five miles away from Sadie, is the Arkansas town of “Lapile” (which is now called “Old Lapile” as there is a newer, larger town just to the north which is now “Lapile”). The family members became scattered between Sadie and Lapile with most of them being north of the border inside Arkansas. Almost all marriages were in Lapile.

Union Parish is in the middle of the northern Louisiana Parishes which border Arkansas and, in Union Parish, Isaac married in 1867 to Mary C. Wood.

Mary Wood’s parents were Oliver P. Wood, born 1825 Alabama and Mary Jane Wood, born 1820 Alabama. Oliver P. Wood’s parents were John Wood, born 1800 Georgia and Jenette Wood, born 1800 Georgia. Interestingly, John & Jennette Wood lived in Pike County, Alabama in 1850....as did Austin P. Duke. In 1850 Pike also lived Oliver P. Wood, 25m AL, wife Mary Jane 30f Al, with their 1st child, a girl named Mary born in 1848.

In 1860, John & Jenette Wood and Oliver P. Wood had moved their families to Union Parish, Louisiana. That is, John & Jenette lived in Union Parish, near Marion, but Oliver lived in Union Co. Arkansas, near Lapile.

By 1870, Isaac and Mary had a daughter, Palestine M., born in 1868 and a son, Thomas E., born in 1870. Mary’s grandparents, John & Jeanette Wood lived with them in Union Parish.

And her parents, Oliver & Mary, had also moved to Union Parish, living near Marion. They lived three houses from Isaac and Mary.

On 2-2-1876, Isaac’s father Austin, died in Union Parish.

Some other tragedy also happened because, by the 1880 census, Isaac and Mary had moved back east to Smith County, Mississippi, and their children were gone from the family. Mary’s parents Oliver & Mary both still lived in Union Parish and grandmother Jenette now lived with them. I can only assume that Isaac & Mary’s children had died. Smith County is the first county on the west side of Jasper where they used to live.

Jumping to the next available census in 1900, both Isaac M. Duke and Mary C. still lived in Smith County, Ms. Isaac was then 62 and Mary 52 years old.

They were still alive and living in the same place, town of Spinola, Mississippi, in the 1910 census:

I. M. Duke 73m

M. C. Duke 63f

By the 1920 census, Isaac had died in Smith County. Mary Duke still lived there, near Spinola, by herself at age 70. I feel certain there must have been some relatives around but cannot identify them. There were many “Dukes” families living in Smith during these years but none I can relate to Isaac & Mary.

I don’t know when Mary died.


2. PARTHENIA ANN DUKE


This 2nd child of Austin and Lucinda was born 6-7-1839 in Lowndes County, Alabama. She moved with her parents to Pike County and then to Jasper County by the time she was 16 years old.

By the 1860 census, Parthenia Ann was 21 years old but still living in the house of her parents. It is reported that she married _____ Blackwell and there is a 2 year old girl in the household named “U.A. Blackwell” (I “think” the initials are “U.A.”) There is no husband for her and I only presume the child belongs to her as her name is still listed as Duke. There is no Blackwell associated with the family after that time. The female child also disappears from the family.

I cannot locate Parthenia after that 1860 census.


3. MARY CALDONIA DUKE


This daughter was born in 4-22-1843 in Lowndes County, Alabama. She moved with her parents to Pike County and then to Jasper County by the time she was 12 years old.

In the 1860 census, she lived with her parents in northwestern Jasper County, near the town of Montrose.

It is unanimously reported elsewhere that Mary C. Duke married on 1-26-1862 in Union County, Arkansas, to W. B. Alderson. That record lists the name as Mary E. Duke and Mary Caldonia Duke was still living in Jasper County, Mississippi, with her parents until they moved to Union Parish, Louisiana shortly after 1865. I do not believe the Union, Arkansas, record refers to her. I find no Alderson associated with any of the Duke family.

Because of a screw-up in the 1870 Union Parish census, I cannot ascertain whether Mary C. was there with the family. She could even have died after the 1860 census as I cannot locate her after 1860.


4. BARTLETT SMITH DUKE


This son was born 12-24-1845, probably in Lowndes County, Alabama. He moved to Jasper County, Mississippi, with his family when he was 10 years old.

He joined the “Jasper Greys” of the Confederate Army on May 6, 1861 when he was only 16 years old. The “Greys” were assigned to Co I, 20th Mississippi Infantry which was the same unit as his brother Isaac. The 20th Mississippi was at Ft Donelson in Tennessee and were part of the Confederate Army which was surrendered to U. S. Grant in 1862. They were exchanged at Vicksburg on 9-18-1862, then reorganized and stayed around Mississippi and Tennessee until May of 1864 when they were sent east to combine with the Army of the Tennessee which was then resisting Sherman on his march to Atlanta. Bartlett was killed in action on 8-6-1864, probably in the battles around Atlanta.


5. MARGARET ANN DUKE


This daughter was born in Lowndes or Pike County, Alabama, on 5-24- 1847. She moved with her parents to Pike and then to Jasper County when she was but 8 years old.

She still lived with the family near Montrose, Jasper County, Mississippi, in 1860. About 1865 her family moved again, to Union Parish, Louisiana, but Margaret Ann had already married in Jasper County to John J. Lewis. Margaret and John moved to Union Parish at the same time her parents moved there.

In the 1870 Union Parish census they were:

John J. Lewis 32m MS

Margaret A. 23f AL

Laura Ann 4f MS

Sarah 2f AR

William 6/12 m LA

They continued to live in Union Parish and continued to have lots of kids. By 1880

they were:

John J. Lewis 42m MS SC SC

Margaret A. 32f AL SC AL

Laura Ann 14f LA

William H. 10m LA

Duke 8m LA

Virginia 7f LA

Christian 4f LA

Edward 2m LA

James 1m LA

Ann C. Lewis 73f NC Scotland SC (John’s mother)

Next door to them lived Margaret’s younger brother, Thomas Bird Duke with his family.

I have not located the family after 1880 but George W. Lewis, “nephew” of Eugene B. Duke, lived with the Eugene Duke family in the 1900 census of Union County, Arkansas. George W. Lewis was born 1884 in Louisiana and appears to be another son of John & Margaret Lewis.


6. REUBEN WATTS DUKE


Reuben W. was born 6-27-1848 in Lowndes or Pike, Alabama, moved with his family to Jasper, Mississippi, then to Union Parish, Louisiana about 1865 while he was still only 17 years old.

On 1-1-1868 in Union County, Arkansas, Reuben married Fanny Pelgreen.

In the 1870 census, Ruben is found living with his in-laws:

William Pelgreen 52m SC

Sarah 50f NC

Harriet A. 23f Al

Georgia Ann 16f La

Fanny 14f La

William 12m La

Reuben Duke 21m La

Fanny Willson 21f Al

Caroline Harrison 16f La

Obviously the census report raises some questions........he married Fanny Pelgreen two years earlier.....but the Fanny Pelgreen in this record is still only 14 years old. I presume his wife is the the 21 year old Fanny but her name is reported as Willson ?? Who is Caroline Harrison? I don’t know these answers.

In the 1880 census he was living in Union County, town of Lapile:

R. Dukes 33m AL AL AL

R. Francis 34f AL SC SC

Mary M. 8f AR

Samuel 3m AR


In 1900 he is in Union Parish, Louisiana:

Ruben W. Duke 11-1848 AL SC AL

Rebecca A. Duke 11-1840 AL AL AL


In 1910 they are in Winn Parish, Louisiana:

Rubin W. Duke 61m AL SC AL

Sarah A. 51f AR

(These last two records may indicate Rubin has remarried or they may only be census errors but his wife’s name is different each time.)


7. DAVID DUKE

This son was born in Pike County during the year of 1850 but died there of unknown causes when he was nine years old (some say he was only four years old but it matters little).


8. AUSTIN PEAY DUKE


This son, obviously named after his father, was born in Pike County, Alabama, on 6–17-1851. He moved with his parents to Jasper County in 1855 and then to Union Parish, Louisiana, about 1865 when he was still only 14 years old..

Austin is not seen in the 1870 census because there is an obvious flaw in the records. His father, Austin P. Duke, is listed in Union County, Arkansas, town of Lapile, but neither wife Lucinda nor the six youngest children who were all still at home at that time, are listed with him or elsewhere. I conclude a screw-up by the census taker.

On 7-23-1872 Austin married Sarah A. Joiner in Union County, Arkansas, and by the 1880 Arkansas census, town of Lapile, they had this family:

Austin Duke 28m AL SC AL

Sallie 27f MS AL AL

John 4m AR

Hiram 1m AR

.

Austin P. Duke Sr had died in Union Parish in 1776.

Austin P Duke Jr and Sarah have not been located after the 1880 census. They are not found in any Union County cemeteries but it appears they both were dead by early 1900 (after the birth of *Austin - below), before the census was taken that year, because in the town of Lapile, is their son Hiram. A marriage record in Union County says that Hiram Dukes married Mattie Culpepper there in 1898.

Hiram Duke 04-1879 AR MS MS head

Mattie 05-1880 AR wife

George 10-1898 AR son

Sarah 06-1900 AR daughter

The most convincing evidence is that, also in Lapile, is:

Gilbert Joiner 03-1851 MS head

Katherine C. 02-1856 AR wife

William 09-1875 AR son

Annie 03-1878 AR daughter

Katie 11-1880 AR daughter

*Ostin Duke 11-1889 AR nephew

*I think this must be “Austin” Duke and he has to be a son of Austin & Sarah who is now living with Sarah’s brother. So that makes three children for Austin and Sarah with a big gap between 1879 and 1889 so there are probably others yet unidentified.


9. EUGENE B. DUKE


This next son was born 1-5-1854 in Pike County, Alabama. His parents moved him to Jasper, Louisiana, the next year and then to Union Parish, Louisiana when he was still only 11 years old.

As was explained previously, he was missed with his father in Union in the 1870 census.

On 1-27-1876, in Union County, Arkansas, he married to Rachael Knowles. The Knowles family is seen in 1870 Union County:

William R. Knowles 48m AL

Sarah 35f AL

Rachael 16f AR

Catherine 14f AR

Drusilla 10f AR

Jane (Martha Jane) 9f AR

Margaret 5f AR

Eugene lived near the town of Johnson in Union County, Arkansas, at the time of the 1900 census:

Eugene B. Duke 1854m MS head

Rachael A. 1853f AR wife

Griffin 1878m AR son

Alonzo 1880m AR son

Drew W. 1881m AR son

Zachariah 1883m LA son

George N. Lewis 1884m LA nephew

I do not find Eugene or Rachael after the 1900 census but, in the 1910 census, living in Union County, Arkansas, are Drew W., Morgan and William Duke, all appearing to be sons of Eugene and Rachael. I do not find any graves for Eugene or Rachael in Union County but at the Strong City Cemetery are buried:

Drew W. Duke b 03-28-1881 d 09-30-1960

Henry Morgan Duke 03-22-1883 08-20-1960

Lou F. Duke 01-09-1880 08-05-1959

William Riley Duke 1881 1947

Eliza Peterson Duke 02-09-1879 02-16-1926

Martha Ann Duke 02-01-1887 03-24-1952


10. LUCY DUKE (LUCINDA?)


This daughter was born in Jasper, Louisiana about 1855 and moved with her family to Union Parish, Louisiana, when she was nine years old.

She, too, was missed in the 1870 census but must have been there in Union County.

Of all her later siblings, she is the only one of whom there is no marriage record in Union County, Arkansas, nor have I found her record in Louisiana.

It is erroneously reported by others that she married Tolbert Meadows and lived and died in and around Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. There was a woman named Lucy Ann Duke who married Tolbert Meadows but that Lucy Ann was a daughter of James J. Duke of Heard County, Georgia. The two Lucy’s were even born within a few months of each other. There is no evidence that James J. Duke of Georgia was related to Austin P. Duke.

Therefore, I find no record of Lucy Duke in Arkansas or Louisiana.....nothing after the family left Mississippi. There is no record establishing that her middle name was “Ann”. Perhaps she never made it to Louisiana?


11. GEORGE F. DUKE


This son was born in Jasper County, Mississippi, in 1857 and was moved to Union Parish, Louisiana, in 1865 when he was 8 years old.

He was missed in the 1870 census but undoubtedly lived in Union County with his family.

On March 29, 1877, he married in Union County, Arkansas, to Martha J. Knowles, sister to Rachael Knowles who had married his older brother, Eugene.

In the 1880 census, he lived in Union County, Arkansas:

G. F. Duke 24m MS

Martha J. 18f AR

Minnie 2f AR

I have not found George or his family after that time.


12. MARTHA VICTORIA DUKE

This daughter was born in November, 1858, in Jasper County, Mississippi, and was moved to Union Parish in 1865.

She, too, was missed in the 1870 census.

A marriage record in Union County, Arkansas, says that she married on Jan 11, 1877 to B. F. Barefield. Reports say that she later married Benjamin Frank Fleming. I presume the marriage record is correct but I am skeptical about the fact that both men have the initials “B.F.” supplemented by the fact that I am unable to locate any evidence of B.F. Barefield.. However, I am unable to locate Martha Victoria anywhere in 1880 so that my next evidence of her is in the 1900 census for Wood County, Texas, town of Winnsboro.

Benjamin Fleming 04-1858 head AL GA GA

Martha V. 11-1858 wife Ms SC AL

Cora (adopted) 01-1888 dau AL

Reford (adopted) 10-1892 son AL

Lucindy Duke 01-1822 Mother AL SC SC


As is seen, Lucinda Duke, wife of Austin P. Duke Sr, who died in Union Parish, Louisiana, in 1876, is now living in Texas with her daughter Martha. It is also noted that both children are “adopted” so it is likely that Martha V. was unable to have children.

In 1910 they live in Franklin County, Texas, which adjoins Wood County on the northeast side. I happen to now live 12 miles from the town of Winnsboro, Texas, and know that it still only has 3500 people. It is located so that part of the town is in Wood County, part in Franklin County, and part in Hopkins County.

Frank Fleming 52m AR head

Victoria 52f MS wife

Ella Duke 26f LA niece

Ollie Duke 24m LA nephew

As is seen below, Ella and Ollie are children of Thomas Duke..


13. THOMAS BIRD DUKE

This son and final child of Austin and Lucinda Duke, was born in July, 1859 in Jasper County, Mississippi. He was moved to Union Parish in 1865 and then missed in the 1870 census.

On 1-10-1878 he married in Union County, Arkansas, to Lucinda J. Cay

In the 1880 Union Parish, Louisiana, census, they lived next door to his sister, Margaret A. Lewis:

Thomas B. Duke 20m MS

Jane K. 21f AR

Lizzie 1f LA


In 1900 the family was going strong, still in Union Parish:

Tom B. Duke 07-1859 MS

Jane 01-1856 AR

Lizzie 10-1878 LA

Beulah 08-1881 LA

Ella 11-1883 LA

Ollie 12-1885 LA

Lila 03-1888 LA

Minnie 02-1890 LA

Crawford 09-1893 LA

Elsa 01-1895 LA (son)

Wesley 02-1900 LA


In 1910, they were still in Union Parish:

Tom B. Duke 50m MS

Jane L. 53f AR

Minnie 18f LA

Crawford E. 16m LA

Thomas E. 14m LA

George W. 10m LA


In 1920 they all live in Union Parish:

Tom B. Dukes 60m MS head

Lucinda 63f LA wife

Clara (Sisco?) 12f LA grand-daughter

Ruthie Sisco 6f LA grand-daughter


Ollie E. Dukes 34m head

Kate 25f wife

Orva 7m son

J. T. 5m son

Mary R 3.6f daughter

(Unnamed) 4/12m son


Crawford Dukes 24m head

Mary 19f wife

(All of these families lived side-by-side).


In 1930 they are all still there:

Tom B. Duke 70m

Lucinda 74f


Ollie E. Duke 44m

Kate and a bunch of kids


Crawford Duke 36m

Mary and some kids

(Still side-by-side)


Thomas B. Duke and Lucinda J. Duke are both buried in the Union Cemetery at Sadie, Louisiana. She died in 1932 and he in 1936. Son Ollie E. Duke is also buried there, having died 2-7-1966. This is the same cemetery where Austin P. Duke is buried.


Concerning the origin of Thomas’ “Bird” middle name, I speculate that his father, Austin, was somewhat of a family historian because there is a strong likelihood that an ancestor had the surname of “Byrd”.