Matthew Duty (bef. 1740 - abt. 1782)

Born before 1740 in Virginia

Husband of Catherine Amy (Ballard) Duty — married 1764 in Warren, North Carolina

Descendants

Died about 4 Jun 1782 after about age 42 in Caswell, North Carolina, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Kathleen Morris [send private message]

Biography

He married Catherine Amy Ballard in 1764 in Warren, North Carolina. They had 12 children in 15 years.

He is found in Bute county in1771^[1] and 1773 North Carolina, compiled Census and census Substitute has him in Bute County.^[2] He also spent time in Warren and Granville Counties before buying land in Caswell County in 1781 and settling there for the last year of his life.

He died on June 4, 1782, in his hometown at the age of 38. North Carolina, Abstract of Wills; Sept. 1782 Dulty, Mathew; Wife (not named); William, Solomon, Richard, Mary, Ann, Sarah and Littleton.^[3]

Research Notes

From a Genealogy.com posting in 2001: I have seen many postings asking for the source of Thomas Duty and Ann Littleton as being the parents of William Duty d. 1815. Thought I might jump in here with my two cents worth. This theory was first composed by Cliff Duty. Cliff is retired from genealogy now and it is every Duty researcher's loss. When he was doing genealogy, he had a brilliant detective mind and it still serves him today. He knows more about the Dutys than anyone doing research on the family today. He is the greatest authority on Duty research than anyone probably since E.Z. Duty. He has helped hundreds of Dutys find their roots. He did all his research by hand without the aid of a computer and I have yet to see much on the Internet that he hadn't discovered by combing the courthouses, libraries, census records, etc.

His theory on the parents of old William Duty is related to the way people named their children long ago. There is a record dated about 1741 in Fairfax, Virginia where there is mention of a "poor widow Ann Duty" and sons Thomas, William, Richard, and Matthew. These four brothers are the patriarchs of the Southern Branch of Dutys. Of these brothers, Thomas stayed in Loudoun County while his other three brothers moved on to North Carolina. Some of Thomas' children moved into Eastern Kentucky.

All four brothers named sons Thomas. Of the North Carolina brothers, Matthew, William and Richard had daughters named Nancy/Ann. Only four sons are known of the brother Thomas. Perhaps he also had a daughter named Ann. Brothers Thomas and Matthew had sons named Littleton. It was popular in that day to use the wife's maiden name as a name for children. I believe that old William did the same with the name Russell.

• • • Warning - All four brothers had sons named Thomas and they are seriously conflated on other sites all over the internet***

Will

Will of Matthew Duty. Caswell Co., NC, WB A, pp. 215-216, written 4 Jun 1782, proved Sep Court 1782. Digital image at Ancestry.com - https://preview.tinyurl.com/y7e5votz

son William Duty
son Solomon Duty (under 21)
son Richard Duty (under 21)
grandson William Owen
my beloved wife
daughters Sarah Owen, Mary Duty, Ann Duty
my young children
son Thomas Duty (under 21)
each of my sons John Duty, Littleton Duty and Thomas Duty
sons William Duty, Solomon Duty, Richard Duty, John Duty, Littleton Duty, Thomas Duty
daughters Mary Duty and Ann Duty
Exrs: son William Duty, friend John Adams, Charles Littleton
Wit: Richardson Owen, James Hunt, Joseph Turner

Sources

1. ↑ North Carolina, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890
2. ↑ North Carolina, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890
3. ↑ North Carolina, Abstract of Wills, c. 1760-1800 : supplementing Grimes' Abstract of North Carolina wills, 1663-1760

• "The Call of Duty" by Clifton O. Duty. Buried Treasures, Vol 21 #3, July 1989, pg 45 publication of the Central Florida Genealogical Society, Inc. https://www.cfgs.org/wp-content/uploads/files/quarterly/bt198907_cfghs_quarterly_vol_21-3.pdf
• McKinney, Thelma D. Converging Paths, 1972, pg 37-39

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Duty-48 created through the import of Madelon's Info_2012-08-26.ged.ged on Aug 26, 2012 by Madelon David.