William Duvall (1723 - abt. 1810)

Born May 1723 in Maryland

Ancestors

Husband of Priscilla (Pruitt) Duvall — married 20 Oct 1745 in All Saints Parish, Frederick County, Maryland

Descendants

Died about 1810 at about age 86 in Maryland, USA

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Biography

William Duvall was born on May 29, 1723, in Queen Anne's Parish, Prince George's, Maryland.^[1] He was the son of Benjamin Duvall and Sophia Griffith.^[2]

On October 20, 1745, William married Priscilla Pruitt in All Saints Church, Frederick, Maryland.^[3][4][5] They had five children - Samuel, William Jr., Prewitt, Sophia, and Mareen.^[2]

During the French and Indian Wars, he served as a private in the militia company of Capt. Tobias Belt, his name (and that of his brother Mareen) appearing upon a 1748 muster roll.^[6][7]

At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, he was fully 53 years of age, but being experienced in soldiering, he served as Captain of the Frederick County Militia. It has also been said that he was the commander of the barracks at Frederick Towne. At one time during the War it was ordered that Captain William Duvall be appointed collector of the fines in Linganore Hundred in place of Abraham Haaff. (MD. Hist. Magazine, vol. 12, p. 19) ^[2]

His land transactions in Frederick County were numerous. The first seems to be 1762, when as William Duvall of Benjamin he purchased from Henry Gordon, of Frederick Co., the tract know as "Gordon's Chance". On February 14, 1769, he bought of Charles Hammond Jr., son and heir of Philip Hammond, late of Anne Arundel County, three tracts, one being "Benjamin's First Choice'", lying on Bennett's Creek, which had been granted to Benjamin Ryan, but since October 1754 had been in the "use" of Philip Hammond. Other tracts held by him were "Duvall's Forrest", "Good Friday", "May's Fall", and "Battis Fonts."

Despite being a large land owner, he was not a slave owner according to the 1790 census. In his household in that year were himself and another male over 16, one male under 16, and two females.^[8]

According to family records cited in Newman, his wife died in 1798, but he survived until 1810.^[2] No definitive sources are available.

Sources

1. ↑ Many Ancestry trees list his birth in France, but there is no evidence for this claim.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Newman, Harry Wright (1952). Mareen Duvall of Middle Plantation. Washington, DC. 1952. Page 475-6. Link
3. ↑ Maryland, Marriages, 1666-1970. Source for marriage date/place. FamilySearch, accessed 11 January 2015, William Duvall and Precilla Pruitt, 20 Oct 1745; citing All Saints Parish, Frederick, Maryland, reference ; FHL microfilm 14,081. [https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F4NB-686 Link}
4. ↑ Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Ancestry Record 7836 #366178
5. ↑ Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Ancestry Record 7836 #366177
6. ↑ Roster of Tobias Belt's Militia Company Link
7. ↑ Ancestry.com. Colonial Soldiers of the South, 1732-1774 [database on-line]. Link
8. ↑ Ancestry.com. 1790 United States Federal Census. Year: 1790; Census Place: Frederick, Maryland; Series: M637; Roll: 3; Page: 185; Image: 477; Family History Library Film: 0568143. Image

• A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature 1635-1789 by Edward C. Papenfuse, et. al. Vol. 426, page 292