My Genealogy Hound

Col. M. M. Duffie, attorney, Princeton, Ark. Col. M. M. Duffie, a distinguished member of the legal profession, was born in South Carolina, and is the son of Reuben L. and Annie (McClintock) Duffie, natives, respectively, of North and South Carolina. The father was born in 1799 and died in 1874. His wife died in 1848. Both parents were church members, he of the Methodist Episcopal and she of the Presbyterian denomination. He followed agricultural pursuits as a livelihood, and also taught school for many years. In politics he was Democratic. His father, Samuel Duffie, was a native of the Emerald Isle, and after emigrating to the United States settled in Mecklenburg County, N. C. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War on the American side, and was a member of what was termed by the British, “The Hornet’s Nest” in North Carolina. Of the eleven children born to his parents, seven of whom are living, Col. M. M. Duffie is second in order of birth. He attended the Concord High School, Fairfield District, S. C, then spent three years at Davidson College, North Carolina, and in 1856 graduated at Erskine College, South Carolina, as salutatory orator. In October, 1856, he came to Arkansas and taught school two years. In August, 1858, he was admitted to the bar, and in 1860 was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court, and has practiced his profession ever since. May 29, 1861, he cast his lot with the Confederacy, and was made lieutenant of the Dallas Rifles, or Company C, of the Sixth Arkansas Infantry. His company was composed of ninety-nine men, of whom only one was married. Our subject served as lieutenant until January, 1862, when he was elected captain of his company. He was offered by his commander, Gen. T. C. Hindman, the position of major and quartermaster, but wrote on the commission when sent to him from Richmond, Va., “Respectfully declined; I prefer to remain with the boys.” He was in many of the most important battles, among which were Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Perrysville and Chickamauga, was wounded four times, and at the last named battle was permanently disabled, and although promoted to the position of major was not in active service from that time. After the battle of Chickamauga he was assigned to post duty at Unionville, S. C., which he held until the last post in the State had surrendered. May 10, 1865, he surrendered one company of infantry and one battery of artillery, and gave up millions of dollars worth of Confederate stores which had been sent to Upper South Carolina for safety. In September of that year he again returned to Arkansas and resumed the practice of his profession. Previous to the war, in 1858, he represented Dallas County in the State Legislature, and in 1874 in the extraordinary session. In 1877 he was elected to the State Senate, and in 1879 he was elected president of the Arkansas Senate without being a candidate, and to his credit it can be said that not one of his decisions was appealed. February 7, 1866, he was married to Miss Hannah Cooksey, a native of Arkansas, born in 1848, and the daughter of Benajah H. Cooksey. The following children were born to this union: Benajah C. (attorney at Little Rock, Ark.), Annie Sidney (graduate of Millersburg, Ky.), Samuel M. (merchant of Princeton, Ark.), John J. (attending Arkadelphia Baptist College), Hannah and William Reuben (at home). One child, Robert Cameron, died when one year old. Col. Duffie, Mrs. Duffie and three children are members of the Presbyterian Church, and he is ruling elder in the same. He is a Blue Lodge and Chapter Mason, and in politics is Democratic. In 1884 Col. Duffie was nominated as presidential elector on the Democratic ticket, was elected by a large majority, voted for Grover Cleveland, and carried the vote of his State to Washington City. By the casualties of war he lost all his property of every kind, but is now in easy circumstances.