He was a Lieutenant in the French and Indian War. Col. McDuffee entered upon military life in the French and Indian wars. In the Earl of Loudon’s Expedition against Crown Point, he was commissioned a lieutenant in March, 1757, by Gov. Benning Wentworth. In January 1758 he received a similar commission in William Stark’s company of Rangers, and was authorized to fill up the company in any part of the Colonies. The soldiers of New Hampshire were so expert in Indian warfare, and so inured to fatigue and danger, that valuable services were expected of these rangers. They were raised by express desire of Lord Loudon, to be employed in winter as well as summer, and proved so useful in skirmishing and procuring intelligence that they were kept in service till the close of the war. They sailed in the expedition to Louisburg and were engaged in the siege of that city until its surrender. Lieut. McDuffee with his rangers was employed in scouring the island, making prisoners of the French, men, women, and children, in accordance with an order from Gen. Whitmore detaching him for this special service. In the battle which resulted in the surrender of Quebec he commanded a considerable detachment under Gen. Wolfe. He spent the following winter in that city, where he became enamored of a young French lady of aristocratic family and was very devoted in his attentions. His addresses were not encouraged by the parents, however, and the family secretly removed from the city in order to interrupt the acquaintance. This disappointment was the reason of his remaining unmarried through life. So says tradition.
5 Never marrying, he adopted his brother Daniel McDuffee's son John McDuffee.
1 He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Revolutionary War in 1776. On the approach of the Revolutionary War he took an active part in behalf of the colonies and throughout the war was a zealous and enthusiastic friend of independence. In 1774 he was appointed one of the town committee of Correspondence, and was delegate to the first Provincial Congress at Exeter in May 1775. War had by this time become unavoidable, and this Congress was principally occupied in devising measures, raising men, and collecting munitions, for the defense of the Colony. He gave to this object not only the influence of his voice, but the force of his example, for on May 20, 1774, only three days from the opening of the Congress, his name was enrolled as Lieutenant Colonel of the Second Regiment commanded by Col. Enoch Poor. As he was at that time one of the Selectmen, a town meeting was called to fill his place. His regiment was not fully organized at the time of the battle at Bunker Hill, but hearing the cannonading in the morning of that day, he mounted his horse and left his home in Rochester arriving at the field of battle the same evening. He remained at Camp Winter Hill and Cambridge during the siege of Boston, then went with the troops to New York, and thence up the Hudson River to Mount Independence, where many New Hampshire troops were stationed, and where he filled the office of Brigade Commissary or Paymaster.
5,6 Lt. Col. John McDuffee IV lived in 1779 in Old Dover Road, Rochester, Strafford County, New Hampshire,
McDuffee House, Rochester, New Hampshire Our house is a 1729-1779 gambrel 3 story colonial in Rochester, NH. I smiled when I read your piece on evolving technology and how houses have evolved to be more "user friendly" over the years. Well, I smiled because my grand old house stands almost as it did 220 years ago, seemingly with a stiff back and firm resolve against any "new fangled changes".
Living in the Col. John McDuffee House is like living in a museum, almost. There are some concessions to modern living like no more than two electrical outlets in any one of the 13 rooms, and overhead lighting in three of those same 13 rooms. They still make candles and Aladdin makes a great kerosene lamp so electricity at every fingertip is no big deal. We do have a furnace but it must work overtime to keep 3500 square feet a little bit warm since the windows are all original. I am going to go the interior storms route this year just because I am getting old and spoiled.
As an old house lover I have come to believe that the thing that seperates people who love old houses from those who don't is character. We appreciate that there have been other generations live and die within these same walls. Wainscotting , handplaned and fitted with planks in excess of 30 inches, reminds us of where we came from. Building posts that are 10" X 10" make you realize that this home was built to endure for generations and this is why it is as straight today as the day it was built. I don't play golf. If I did I doubt that there would be enough time to love this old house. Yes, it is true that they are a lot of work and we do suffer somewhat because of it. I am reminded of something that I read about wine. The French say that the difference between a good wine and a great wine is with a great wine, the grapes have had to suffer a little. If this is true, we have a vintage house, Chateau McDuffee, 1729.
John and Sharon Moscone
78 Old Dover Road
Rochester, NH 03857
*****
"McDuffee House Featured on HGTV: On March 5, 2001, the House & Garden Television Network (HGTV) telecast a program called "If Walls Could Talk". The feature story was the late 1700s home built by Col. John McDuffee, on Old Dover Road in Rochester, New Hampshire. The new owners of the house, John Moscone and Sharon Barube, gave a very insightful tour of the artifacts left by the McDuffee families that had occupied the property for 200 years. The "walls" talked volumes to them.
. . . The house sits on a very large lot that originally consisted of 85 acres. The land was given by William of Orange to Col. McDuffee's parents, John and Martha McDuffee, for being supporters at the siege of Londonderry (Ireland). In 1729, they granted it to their son (the original house was disassembled and re-erected as a part of a store in downtown Rochester). . . ."
Source: Clan Chatter, a publication of the MacDuffee/Macfie Clan Society of America, Inc. Volume 33, Issue #2, August 2001.
Lieut. Col. John McDuffee was born in 1722; he was a lieutenant in the French and Indian wars. He served in the Revolutionary army nearly five years, continuously, being a part of the time brigade-commissary. He was the first Representative of the town in the Provincial Assembly of 1762; also a member of the State Legislature in 1782. He was six years a State Senator, being part of that time senior Senator, hence served as President of the Senate. He died 15 October 1817, aged ninety years.
2 LEADING MEN OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD -- LT COL. JOHN MCDUFFEE The parents of Col. John McDuffee were among those Scotch families that had been settled in the north of Ireland in the reign of James I, and who emigrated to America to obtain freedom from Popish laws and from the rents and tithes with which they were burdened. This son was born in 1724, soon after their arrival in this country, and the family were among the early settlers of Rochester, New Hampshire.
Col. McDuffee entered upon military life in the French and Indian wars. In the Earl of Loudon’s Expedition against Crown Point, he was commissioned a lieutenant in March, 1757, by Gov. Benning Wentworth. In January 1758 he received a similar commission in William Stark’s company of Rangers, and was authorized to fill up the company in any part of the Colonies. The soldiers of New Hampshire were so expert in Indian warfare, and so inured to fatigue and danger, that valuable services were expected of these rangers. They were raised by express desire of Lord Loudon, to be
employed in winter as well as summer, and proved so useful in skirmishing and procuring intelligence that they were kept in service till the close of the war. They sailed in the expedition to Louisburg and were engaged in the siege of that city until its surrender. Lieut. McDuffee with his rangers was employed in scouring the island, making prisoners of the French, men, women, and children, in accordance with an order from Gen. Whitmore detaching him for this special service. In the battle which resulted in the surrender of Quebec he commanded a considerable detachment under Gen. Wolfe. He spent the following winter in that city, where he became enamored of a young French lady of aristocratic family and was very devoted in his attentions. His addresses were not encouraged by the parents, however, and the family secretly removed from the city in order to interrupt the acquaintance. This disappointment was the reason of his remaining unmarried through life. So says tradition.
After the conquest of Canada, he returned home and in 1762 was chosen Representative to the Provincial Assembly, being the first person chosen to this office in Rochester. He was frequently employed by the government in making surveys of public works. In 1768, in accordance with an act passed by the Assembly, he was engaged in laying out a highway from Durham Falls to Coos. In 1786, on petition of John Stark, the legislature appointed a committee, of which Col. McDuffee was one, to run out the lines of Mason’s Patent. Upon the basis of this survey a settlement was made with the Masonian Proprietors, finally disposing of a question which had been a source of trouble, vexation, and expense from the first settlement of New Hampshire.
On the approach of the Revolutionary War he took an active part in behalf of the colonies and throughout the war was a zealous and enthusiastic friend of independence. In 1774 he was appointed one of the town committee of Correspondence, and was delegate to the first Provincial Congress at Exeter in May 1775. War had by this time become unavoidable, and this Congress was principally occupied in devising measures, raising men, and collecting munitions, for the defense of the Colony. He gave to this object not only the influence of his voice, but the force of his example, for on May 20, 1774, only three days from the opening of the Congress, his name was enrolled as Lieutenant Colonel of the Second Regiment commanded by Col. Enoch Poor. As he was at that time one of the Selectmen, a town meeting was called to fill his place. His regiment was not fully organized at the time of the battle at Bunker Hill, but hearing the cannonading in the morning of that day, he mounted his horse and left his home in Rochester arriving at the field of battle the same evening. He remained at Camp Winter Hill and Cambridge during the siege of Boston, then went with the troops to New York, and thence up the Hudson River to Mount Independence, where many New Hampshire troops were stationed, and where he filled the office of Brigade Commissary or Paymaster.
His name occurs frequently in the town records of Rochester during the close of the year 1779. He was a representative to the State Legislature in 1782. He was two years a member of the State Senate under the new Constitution, occupying the position of "Senior" Senator by which title the chairman of that body was then called. He was also for four years a Senator under the revised Constitution. His life was mostly spent in public service. He retained his faculties remarkably until a few months before his death, which occurred Oct. 15, 1817, at the age of ninety-three.
Col. McDuffee was a man of noble form and commanding appearance, six feet two inches in height, of a large frame, yet not corpulent. With a high sense of honor, he was firm and independent in the maintenance of his opinions. When the first pension act was passed, he was advised to apply for a pension, but he spurned the suggestion with indignation, saying that it was sufficient reward to him to see the object accomplished for which he had fought. Impetuous in his feelings, he had no patience with any kind of oppression or injustice. His passions were especially violent against the enemies of his country; and in the last years of his life he might frequently have been heard muttering imprecations against Tories and Redcoats, for, from being many years a soldier associating with rough companions, he had acquired so fixed a habit of profanity that he seemed to be utterly unconscious of the vice. The "New Hampshire Gazetteer" wrote "He was a man of strong mind and memory, of extensive information and a sincere friend of his country."
SOURCE: History of the Town of Rochester, New Hampshire, From 1722-1890
by Franklin McDuffee, A.M., edited and revised by Silvanus Hayward.
In two Volumes -- Vol. I., Manchester, The John B. Clarke Co.,
Printers. 1892. Pages 117-120.
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