THE Duke FAMILY
HISTORY PAPERS
"Given
to Adam Christmas of Duke family. Written by Lewis Y.
Christmas while his mother was still alive."
History
of the Duke Family.
[This
a copy, verbatim, written by George
Wortham, a lawyer of Granville County, North Carolina and a Colonel in the
late war of the Confederacy.
This history he obtained from the late Lewis Y. Christmas, of Warren County,
North Carolina, who was a retired gentleman of high veracity and integrity, who
devoted himself to collections of family genealogy, and also from letters and
other information abstained by said Wortham, and is in the main a correct
history.
This is the testimony of Dr. L. Green WARD,
of Texas, a native of Warren County, where he spent the greater part of his
life. November 1877.]
This history is copied from the MS of the
later Hon. Daniel R. Goodloe by his
niece Annie Goodloe ... Edgecomb
Co., NC
Feb.
13, 1911 for Mrs. W.P. Mercer.
1709 William Duke was a younger son of Raleigh
Duke, Esq. of Hays Farm, Dovershire, England and was born at that place in the
year 1709. Hays Farm is still owned by
the descendants of his older brother.
It was the birth place of Sir. Walter Raleigh, and a picture of it can
be seen in the first volume of Hawk's History of North Carolina.
Whether there was any relationship between
the Dukes and Ralieghs I do not know. [but Mr. Raleigh Daniel, of Virginia, a descendant of Sir Walter Raleigh] says that he always
understood that Hays Farm ascended the Duke family by intermarriage with the
Raleighs. His impression is that his father was so informed by them. Some favor is lent to this supposed marriage
by the fact that William Fever's father was named Raleigh Duke.
His parents dying when he was a small lad,
and the estate passed, according to English law and custom, to his oldest
brother, William Duke was left poor
and brought to Virginia by his relative Col. William Byrd, of Westover on James River who reared him and gave
him the rudiments of a good business education and better than all taught him
to work. {NOTE: It is said that William Raleigh
Duke was a grown man and well educated when he came to Virginia with Col.
Byrd and had an interest in the Virginia estate.}
1727
In 1727 Col. Byrd was appointed one of the Commissioners to run the dividing
line between Virginia and North Carolina, and as we learned from his published
account of the survey, he was so pleased with the soil of what is now Warren
and Granville, that he called it the "Land of Eden", and pronounced
it a great country for a young man a short time afterward, William Duke, probably through Col. Byrd's influence, moved to
North Carolina, and in 1735, married Mary a daughter of Thomas Edward Green, who lived in what is now
Warren County then a part of Edgecomb. William Duke settled on "Purchase
Patent", and had a lot of children.
Children of William Duke Sr:
2
Sally, who married Capt. Thomas
Christmas Nov 26 1764
3
Winifred, who married Jonathan Davis
4
Anne first, married John Christmas, second Robert Jones.
5
Tamar, wife first of William Wortham, second of Edward
Jones. Anne and Tamar were
twins.
6
Mary, wife of Isaac Howze.
Grandchildren of William Duke Sr:
1
Green Duke (Son of Green Duke Sr, who married Miss Parham
of Virginia) had children:
1 William
Duke Jr. who moved to Hardeman County, Tennessee, where his descendants now
live.
2 Green
Duke Jr, who married a Miss Robertson.
3 Lewis
P. Duke, who married Polly Ransom.
4 A Daughter, Sally, who married Henry
Fitts.
5 Elizabeth,
who married Dr. Thomas Hunt of
Granville.
6 A daughter, married a Mr. Collier, who
improved and settled in Ridgeway, Warren County, North Carolina. He sold it to Mr. Marshall, since purchased
by Dayly.
7 Nancy,
wife of Edward Clanton.
8 Rebecca,
wife, first of Lewis Lanier, second
of Capt. John Washington of Walnut
Grove, Granville Co, NC.
2
Sally, Daughter of William Duke Sr. Married Thomas
Christmas. Her first son:
1 William
Christmas, married Jane Yancey, they had three sons and three daughters.
The sons {of William} were:
1 William
Christmas
2 Thomas
Christmas
3 Lewis
Y. Christmas who never married.
The daughters {of William} were:
4 Mary
5 Sally
6 Jane
1 William
Christmas moved to Mississippi and had three sons, Henry, Richard and Hilliard. Now living there in 1872.
Richard died childless.
2
Martha, wife of Capt. John Green who had two children, Viz.
1 Thomas
E. Green of Warren County, who married 1823 Nancy Willis of Warrenton and had many children.
2 Sally,
a sister of Thomas E. Green, married
a Henry Yancey and left three sons.
1 John
Yancey married a Miss Body of Halifax
2 Alexander
Yancey married a Miss Bragg sister of Gen. Bragg and moved to Alabama.
3 The younger brother moved with Alexander
to AL.
3
Nancy, wife of Edward Tanner had children Viz:
1 John
Tanner now in Mississippi
2 Susan,
who married a Williams
3 Martha
who married another Williams
4 Alice
married Thomas Power.
5 Mary G., wife of Col. Richard Power, had
children Viz:
1 Edward
2 John
3 Amanda,
who married a Collier of Franklin.
3 Winifred,
3rd child of William Duke Sr.
Married Jonathan
Davis. There children were:
1 William
Davis who moved to Chester, Virginia and married there.
2 Green
Davis, who moved to Kentucky and thence to Indiana, where he had numerous
descendants.
3 Wiley
Davis
4 Jonathan
Davis, who married Susan Wortham,
daughter of John Wortham and
granddaughter of William and Tamar Wortham and sister to Dr. J.S. Wortham. Their children were:
1 Sally
who died unmarried.
2 Susan
who married Robert Mabin and now
resides with her daughter, Mrs. Ladd in Baltimore.
3 Mary,
who married Robert Boyd.
4 Elizabeth,
who married Henry Hunter of
Granville County.
5 James
W. Davis who married a Doty.
6 Lewis
J. Davis, who died in the Confederate Army, and whose widow has since
married a Mr. Charlz of Mississippi and moved there with her children.
5 William
Davis {Original manuscript says 4th} [two Williams? glc]
6 David
Davis {Original manuscript says
5th}
7 Nancy
Davis, who married William Duke
{Grandson of William Duke Sr. descendant of Winifred Duke}
8 Mary,
who married Yarborough.
9 Martha
10 Winifred
4 Anne
Duke {Called Nanny Duke}
Anne, 4th daughter of William Duke Sr. married first to John Christmas, by whom she had three children, Viz:
1 Henry,
a naval officer who died at sea.
2 Mary,
who married Philamon Hawkins of
Franklin County.
3 Martha,
married to Alison Williams whose
children were:
1 Dr. Henry
Williams who married a Miss Smith
2 James,
married Gen. Burton's daughter.
3 Wesley,
never married
4 Mary,
married a Burwell
5 Mercy
"Nancy", never married
Anne daughter of William Duke Sr., and widow of John
Christmas, married a second time to Robert
Jones. Their children were:
4 Dr. Thomas
Cook Jones, who married Tempi
Williams the daughter of ... one son ...
5 William
Duke Jones, of White Sulphur Springs, Warren County, North Carolina. His
children were:
1 Ann
Bignall, who married John BOYD
2 Minerva, married Henry Fitts
3 Mary
Eliza, married Joe Summerville
and moved to Tennessee
4 Joseph
Speed Jones, Sheriff of Warren County, married Lucy Pitaway and had many children
5 John
Jones, married also a Pitaway
6 Elizabeth,
married Robert Jones of Essex Co.,
VA
7 Nancy
Jones, married Rev. John Early
of Virginia. A Bishop in the Methodist Church.
8 Sally
Jones married Rev. John Glenn of
Oxford, Granville County, moved to Tennessee and has a son:
1 William
a distinguished Lawyer. He has other
descendants.
9 Edward
Jones who married Miss Seiville, his cousin ...
5 Tamar,
Daughter of William Duke Sr., first ,
William Wortham. Oct 4 1764, second,
Edward Jones.
By her first husband she had:
1 Nancy
Wortham... who married William
Marshall
2 James
Wortham, born 6th August 1771, married Sally
Davis.
3 William
Wortham, born 21st April 1773
4 John
Wortham, born 6 March 1775, marred Miss Jordan.
5 Thomas
Wortham, born 24th November, 1776, married Miss Molly.
6 Benjamin
Heath Wortham, born 2nd December, 1778, married Polly Lanier.
7 Edward
Wortham, born 11th December 1780.
8 Duke
Wortham, born 1st December 1782
9 Mary
Elizabeth, born 16th September 1784, married Mr. Nicholson
10 Robert
1
Nancy, born 1767, married a Marshall
and had children.
1 Mary,
who married Spotswood Burwell and
was the mother of
1 Henry
Armstead
2 Robert
3 William
2 Elizabeth,
who married William Blackwell, who
married Miss Cook of Warrenton.
3 William
D. Wortham (of Henderson)
2
James Wortham, born 1771, married Sally,
daughter of ... James ... of Island Creek, Granville County, NC and had
children:
1 Susan,
who married her cousin Jonathan Davis
Jr., son of Winifred , daughter of William
Duke Sr.
2 Dr. James
T. Wortham who first married Roweana,
only child of Capt. John Washington
of Walnut Grove, Granville Co., NC and granddaughter of Green Duke Sr. Their children were:
1 Sally
2 Rebecca
3 John
4 Robert
all of whom died unmarried.
5 George
married a Watson of Bertie Co. but is now a childless widower.
6 Susan
A., married Dr. Isaac Jackson of
Columbus County
7 James
John Wortham, married Martha Green
of Goshem, Granville County, moved to South Carolina, was Senator from All
Saints Parish a number of years and died in 1867 of a wound received in service
during the war. He left a son.
1 James
T. Wortham Jr.
8 Mary,
who married Col. Tornley George of
Whiteville, NC.
Dr.
Wortham married a second time, Charity,
daughter of Philip and Mary Alston of Warren County. No child.
3
William Wortham, born 1773, married
and moved to ... Tennessee where he has descendants. Mrs. S. Southerland of
Warren County is his granddaughter.
4
John Wortham, born 26 March 1775,
married a Miss Jordan granddaughter of Benjamin
Ward and has a number of Children Viz:
1 James,
who married a Rigon
2 William
D., who married his cousin Fanny
Blackwell
3 Thomas,
who married Frances O'Brian
4 Robert,
who married a Webb
5 Richard,
who married a Britt
6 E.W.
Wortham, married first a Macraw, second, a Miss Harris, third a Miss
Rowland.
7 Patsy, who married Phil. Hawkins of Warren County
8 Sally,
married Blackwell
9 Nancy
died young
10 Mary
11 Susan
5
Thomas Wortham, born 1776, married
Molly, (an Aunt of Gov. John Molly
Morehead) settled in Rockingham County, NC, represented the country in the
Legislature moved to Tennessee thence to Kentucky where he died leaving
numerous descendants. One of these is Professor John Motly Wortham of the University of Louisiana and another
commander of a regiment in Kentucky on the Confederate side during the late
war.
6
Benjamin Heath Wortham, born 1778,
married his cousin Polly Lanier ...
moved to Tennessee where he has numerous descendants.
7
Edward Wortham, born 1780, married a
Power, moved to Tennessee where he has numerous descendants. A grandson of his
Col. John Wortham Commanded a
Georgia regiment during the late war.
8
Duke Wortham, born in 1782, moved to
Tennessee and thence to Kentucky. A son
of his was Col. of a Kentucky regiment on the Union side in the late war. His name was George Wortham. For a long
time his regiment picketed against the 5th North Carolina regiment Commanded by
Col. George Wortham son of Dr. J. S. Wortham.
9
Mary Elizabeth Wortham, born 16th
September 1784 married Lewis Nicholson
and had two children Viz:
1 Lewis
who went to Tennessee and
2 Martha
who married John Askew. No living
issue. {See Robert Jones Cemetery}
10
Robert Wortham born 19th of
September 1786, moved to Tennessee and thence to Texas where he has numerous
descendants. His son
1 Col. Luther
Wortham of Freetown County, Texas Commanded a Texas regiment on the
Confederate side in the late war.
Here ends the Genealogy of the Wortham-Duke that of the Jones-Duke follows on the next page.
Descendants of Tamar Duke and Edward Jones
and other children of William Duke
Sr. Tamar, daughter of William
Duke Sr had by her second husband, Edward
Jones.
11
William Green Jones, who married Mary Johnson granddaughter of William Green Sr. He was sheriff of Warren County many years.
12
Prescilla, wife of Major Leftridge
of the United States Army.
13
Betty Jones, wife of William Hunter of Warren County and
mother of
1 Henry
and others.
6 Mary
the sixth child of William Duke Sr.
married Isaac Howze and had
children:
1 M.
Howze
2 John
Howze
3 Mary
Howze who married Daniel Jones
of Franklin County and their daughter:
1 Mary
Reaves Jones married Dr James Kenik
Goodloe of Franklin County, son of
Henry Green Goodloe their children were:
1 Daniel
Reaves Goodloe
2 Henry
Garrett Goodloe, married his cousin Indiana daughter of Lewis Parham Duke and great grand daughter of William Duke Sr.
Green Duke
Sr.
The descendants of Green Duke Sr. who married a Parham of Virginia were:
1 William
Duke II, who moved to Hardeman County, Tennessee and married. His son
1 William
Duke III married his cousin Mary
Davis daughter of Jonathan Davis
and Winifred his wife.
2 Nancy,
married a Yarborough
3 Green
Duke Jr. married a Robertson and had two daughters
1 married Benny Johnson of Franklin County
2 daughter married Hicks of Franklin County
4 Lewis
Parham Duke, son of Green Duke Sr. married Polly Ransom daughter of Seymour
Ransom of Warren County. Their
children were:
1 Lawrence
Duke who married Betsy Baskerville,
daughter of George Baskerville. They
had one child.
1 Mary,
who married a Dr. Powell of Petersburg, Virginia their children now live (1911)
2 Indiana
who married Henry Garrett Goodloe,
her cousin and left children:
1 Lewis
Duke, married Miss Anne Lemay of
Raleigh, no children
2 Mary
Reaves who married Ogden E. Edwards
of Mass., no children.
2 Anne
Jones who married William George
Randall of Burke County, no living children.
3 Seymour
Ransom, who never married. He died
in Mobile of Yellow Fever about 1855.
4 Sally,
who married Henry Fitts and had
numerous descendants
1 daughter married Twitty
2 daughter married Twitty
3 daughter married Ezekiel Blanch
5 Elizabeth,
who married Dr. Thomas Hunt of
Granville County. Their children were:
1 Capt. John Hunt who married a sister of James Bullock of Townsville.
Their son
1 Richard
Bullock moved to Texas and died without children. After his death his widow married Judge Sipscombe and had by him:
1 Sally who married Benjamin Summer, a distinguished teacher. Her children were:
1 Thomas
J. Summer, a civil engineer and super--- of the North Carolina Railroad
2 Benjamin
Summer, a merchant of Asherville
3 Mary,
wife of Tardry McBee Esq.
4 Georgia
wife of Col. William Hoke mother of
General Hoke prominate in this state.
6 Edward
7 Julia
and others not known.
Dr. Hunt and wife moved to Mississippi and
have other children there.
6 Nancy
{crossed out and daughter written in}, married a Collier, the first settler of
Ridgeway, Warren County, NC. They moved
to Louisiana where she has descendants.
7 Nancy,
wife of Edward Clanton
8 Rebecca,
married first Lewis Lanier, and
second, Capt John Washington of
Walnut Grove, Warren County, NC. By her
first husband she had:
1 Lewis
G. Lanier, who went to Mount Pleasant, Maury County where he has a large
number of descents
2 Mary,
married her cousin Benjamin Wortham
son of William and Tamar Wortham moved to Tennessee and
left numerous descendants.
3 Martha
who married Lewis Daniel of Person
County, NC and left numerous descendants.
A son of hers
1 William
Daniel, married a sister of Col. Edwards of Oxford and is now a tobacco
manufacturer of Henderson, NC. Most of her other children moved west.
By
her second husband Capt. John Washington,
Rebecca daughter of Green Duke Sr. had one daughter
1 Roweana,
she married her cousin Dr. James L.
Wortham, son of James Wortham
and grandson of William and Tamar Duke. She had eight children Viz
1 Sally
2 Rebecca
3 John
4 Robert,
who died unmarried
5 Mary, wife of Col. Torney George, who left one child.
6 Col. George Wortham
7 Susan,
wife of Dr. Jackson of Columbus County all living 1877
8 James
J Wortham of All Saints, SC (who died in 1876, leaving one)
The above sketch of the Duke family was
derived mainly from Lewis Christmas,
Esq. of Warren County, NC. Partly from
letters and papers in my possession. Also from my mother who had a ... for
matters of Genealogy and in some degree from other sources. It is believed to be correct as far as it
goes.
Signature
of George Wortham Walnut Grove,
Granville County, NC.
William
Duke Sr. was appointed one of the Commissioners to divide Bute County into
Warren sand Franklin. Col. William Christmas was appointed by Gen
Washington to survey the state of Tennessee.
He with the assistance of his grandson John C McLemore did the
work. He also laid out the city of
Raleigh and town of Warrenton, NC
Signed by Dr. S.
G. WARD.
Return to TOP