Daniel McDuffee I, the Emigrant, was born circa 1692 in County Antrim, Ulster, Ireland. His gravestone gives his date of death as 2 March 1767 "in the 76th year of his age", which would make him born in about 1692. The book Five Northern McDuffee Families gives his year of birth as 1691. Note: Find-a-Grave gives his birthplace as County Londonderry.
1,2,3,4 Daniel McDuffee I, the Emigrant, married
Ruth Britton, the Emigrant, circa 1717 in Coleraine, County Antrim, Ulster, Ireland.
2,4 Daniel McDuffee I, the Emigrant, died on 2 March 1767 in Londonderry, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, at age ~75. Another source gives his date of death as 4 March 1768.
5,3,4 He was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery at First Parish Congregational Church, East Derry, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. A large flat monument at the Forest Hill Cemetery, behind the First Parish Congregational Church in East Derry, New Hampshire, reads:
Erected in Memory of Mr.
Daniel McDuffee
and Mrs. Ruth, his wife
He departed this life March 2d, 1767
in the 76th year of his age.
Like (?) wife she (?) departed this Life
Nov. 9, 1778 in the 86th year of her age.
A listing of the early burials in the Forest Hill Cemetery prepared in 1982 by a Boy Scout, Steven O. Spinney, incorrectly lists the McDuffees (at page 37) as:
McDurle, Daniel Age 70 (sic, actually 76) Died 4-2-1707 (sic, actually 1767) Grave location: W-12
McDurle, Ruth Age 86 Died 11-9-1778 Grave location: W-12
CAVEAT: The deaths of Daniel and Ruth [Britton] McDuffee are not listed in the Vital Records of Londonderry, New Hampshire (1719 - 1910), so it is possible that they may have died and been buried elsewhere and that the monument in the Forest Hill Cemetery is only a memorial to them.
5,3,4 Daniel McDuffee I, the Emigrant, was also known as Daniel Makafee.
6 He was a locksmith and blacksmith.
Daniel McDuffee I, the Emigrant, and
Ruth McDuffee emigrated in 1720 from Ulster, Ireland, to Boston. After a few months' residence in Andover, Massachusetts, they settled down among their Scots-Irish Friends in Nutfield (now called Londonderry or East Derry), New Hampshire. They had six sons and three daughters.
2,7,8 He and Ruth McDuffee lived in 1728 in Rochester, Strafford County, New Hampshire, to America. They apparently initially lived in Boston, Massachusetts; in about 1728, they moved to Rochester, New Hampshire.
9 Daniel McDuffee was one of the original grantees of Londonderry and in the settlement of the Province line 1741, there was said to be cut off from Haverhill [now in Massachusetts], Daniel Mackafee [McDuffee], Hugh Macaffee [McDuffee] and John Macaffee [McDuffee]; the latter two were sons of the former.
Daniel lived on the Daniel Kimball place in Derry and was a blacksmith. He and his wife Ruth [Britton] came from Ireland. In 1737, Daniel bought [Lot] No. 89, 2d P., 2d D., and in 1841 was taxed for a mill. It was a corn mill and stood near the southwest corner of the lot. In 1748 he gave to his son John half of his farm "joining Rev. David McGregor's", but it is said that John and his brother Daniel afterwards went to Bradford, Vermont. In 1741 he gave his "dear brother Archibald" one-half of the lot; and his name was on the inventory of that year. He lived, where Thomas Fowler lived, and nothing further is known of him. In 1744 he gave his son Hugh, as his portion of his estate, all that part of No. 89 west of the brook and meadows; together with his corn mill, reserving the right to build a saw mill there if he chose, which probably was never done. The deed was witnessed by Samuel Macaffee [McDuffee].
6
History of Old Chester [N.H.] from 1719 to 1869
By Benjamin Chase
THE MCDUFFEE MILLS, — NEAR SCHOOL-HOUSE NO. 4, IN AUBURN.
In the inventory of 1741, James Campbell (who lived at the Pearly Chase place at Walnut hill) is set down as having a mill, and Daniel McDuffee (who lived at the Daniel Kimball place in Derry) had also a mill. The return of the bridle road from where Oilman Morse now lives, through the south woods, March 25, 1740, ended at Campbell's saw-mill. This had been the road to the Long Meadows. In the return of the road, March 5, 1747, it runs by the west end of Hugh McDuffee's corn-mill. Hugh McDuifee owned the corn-mill during his life, and Archibald and Mansfield McDuffee the saw-mill.
James McDuffee is taxed in 1801 for two mills, which is the last tax on them. They soon went down. John McDuffee, son of Hugh, fell through the place for turning the runner and broke his neck. The saw-mill stood just above the present road leading to Derry, the corn-mill several rods below.
10 ========================
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.7 Daniel McDuffee was the ancestor of the American family of McDuffees. He left Londonderry, Ireland, with his wife, Ruth Britton McDuffee, and little daughter Martha, age 2, in 1720. They landed at Boston and spent the first winter at Andover, Massachusetts. They then joined their old friends and neighbors and settled at Nutfield (now called Londonderry or East Derry), New Hampshire, being among the first settlers of that town.
Daniel McDuffee was one of the Original Proprietors of the town of Londonderry, New Hampshire, and his farm of 100 acres was laid out to him by the committee appointed to divide the land. He lived on what was afterwards known as the Daniel Kimball Place and was a locksmith and blacksmith by trade.
From the History of Londonderry, New Hampshire, we learn that in 1721 he received fourteen shillings for making the town's stock of bullets. He was a very hospitable man, and his house was a home for the needy. He was a true patriot, and we find his name attached to the following patriot paper:
We, the subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage and promise that we will, to the utmost of our power, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, with arms oppose the hostile proceedings of the British Fleets and Armies, against the United American Colonies.
In 1735, Daniel McDuffee bought [Lot] no. 86, 2nd P., 2nd, Div. In 1741, he was taxed for a mill; it was a corn mill and stood near the southwest corner of the lot. He gave his "dear brother Archibald" McDuffee one-half of the lot, and his name was on the inventory of that year. In 1744, he gave to his son Hugh, as his portion of the estate, all that part of [Lot] 89 west of the brook and meadows, together with his corn mill, reserving the right to build a sawmill there if he chooses. In 1748, Daniel McDuffee gave his son John McDuffee one-half of his farm joining Rev. David McGregor's farm.
He died at Londonderry, New Hampshire, on March 4, 1768 [sic, actually 1767], while his wife [Ruth Britton McDuffee] survived him until 1776 [sic, actually 9 November 1778]. They had nine children, six of whom served in the French and Indian wars; they took part in the expedition into Canada, and three of them climbed the "Heights of Abraham" at the Battle of Quebec in 1759. ["The State of Vermont", page 41.].
Life Sketch: Daniel McDufee Aged 70. Husband of Ruth.
Of the numerous children who settled in New Hampshire and elsewhere, Daniel appears to be the only one who settled in Londonderry, New Hampshire, formerly called Nutfield. He came with his family to Boston in 1720 and lived there a few months, and then removed to Andover, Massachusetts, subsequently in 1721 removing to Londonderry, New Hampshire. His farm of one hundred acres was laid out to him by the committee, November 20, 1721.
Daniel, son of John and Martha McDuffie, served his time as a lockmaker, and married Ruth Britton of Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland; he came here with his wife and daughter [Martha] then two years old. Their pastor, Rev. James McGregor, of whose church he was a member, left Ireland a year or two before with some sixteen families of his parish. Daniel and Ruth Britton McDuffie had nine children. Martha, the oldest, was born in Ireland, and the remainder were born in America. Two sons and a daughter settled in Chester, New Hampshire; three sons went to Bradford, Vermont; and a son and daughter remained in Londonderry, New Hampshire".
(McDuffee/Macfie Historical Reference - Posted by: Jay McAfee; Date: April 25, 2013.)
Five Northern McDuffee Families [Available on FamilySearch.org]: Daniel, Archibald, John, Matthew, and Mansfield McDuffee were all said to be sons of John (ca. 1650-1720) and Martha (ca. 1650-1720) McDuffee. Besides the 5 brothers, there were two sisters, Ann and Mary, whose descendants were not traced. The children also used the name McFee or McAfee. Sometime during the 1720's, Daniel, Archibald, John, and Matthew immigrated to the United States. Mansfield did not immigrate but his son or sons did later. John was born 1690 in Ireland and married Mary. Daniel was born 1691 in Ireland and married Ruth Britton. Archibald was born in Ireland and married Elizabeth McPherson. Mansfield was born 1698 in Ireland but the name of his wife was not known. Matthew was born in Ireland and married Agness . Descendants have lived in Scotland, New York, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Kansas, Maine, and elsewhere.
Source: Publisher.