Dr. John J. Dickey Diary, Fleming County, Ky. Recorded in the 1870's and beyond. Reprinted in Kentucky Explorer, Volume 10, No 1 May, 1995. pp. 80-81. By permission. Leslie County A Talk With Matilda Duff Lewis of Leslie County - May, 1898 Matilda Duff Lewis - Hyden, Ky., May 1898. My father was Rev. Daniel Duff, born in Guilford County, N.C. in 1776. His father was Shadrick Duff. He was killed in the Revolutionary War. His wife was Deborah Dickson, did not survive him. Shadrick Duff's father was born in Ireland. He was Scotch-Irish. The Dicksons were Irish also. My father spoke (used) broken English. My father used to call Mrs Sparks his old Irish aunt. My father had a sister, Eliabeth, who married Mr. McLean. They settled in Green County, Tenn. and reared a large family. I saw two of the sons at my father's once. My mother was Nancy Ann Ellison. My parents were married in Guilford County. Her father was Welsh. Soon after my father and mother married they came to Lee County, Va. There were Duffs living there. Robin Duff of that county was a very wealthy man. They were related to my father. While they lived in Lee County several children were born to them. Their oldest child was Henry, he was born in 1798. John was born in 1801. In 1818 my parents removed to Perry County, Kentucky, and settled on the North Fork of the Kentucky River about two miles above the mouth of Grapevine Creek. He was a Baptist Minister. Attending a meeting of some kind in Harlan County, he met with Rev. Jesse Bolling who lived on the North Fork and becoming attached to him, made a visit to his home. This led to his removal to Kentucky and Perry County. My father's children were: Henry, John, Shadrick and Martha who married William Bowman and moved to Iowa. They reared a family. Deborah, who married William Bolling and reared a large family on Middle Fork about Perry and Breathitt line. Mary married Shepherd and moved to Missouri; Colson who married Elizabeth Gilbert of Virginia. These Gilberts moved to Sandy Country, where Thomas Gilbert, the father died. Drusilla married William Gilbert, brother of Elizabeth. They moved to Illinois about the close of the war. They lived in Carter county up to that time. Alexander married Miss Holly or Holyfield. He is a carpenter and lived in Breathitt. Margaret who married John Hays of Breathitt and moved to Wolfe County where she died. She was living at last account. She raised a large family. I am the next and youngest. I was born in 1825. I married John Lewis in 1859. Our children: Drusilla Lewis, wife of Theo Lewis, and Henry Lewis with whom I live and one who died are my children. These are all. My father died in 1855 in Carter County, my mother in Perry County in 1849. My father then went to his daughters in Carter County where he married a Mrs. Ellen Roe. He only lived a short time after this. I went to school to David Fee. He was a smart man, a good teacher and highly respected. He taught near my home. When my father moved to Kentucky he came horseback. They came down Red Bird and up Cutshin. There were no wagon roads. They stayed all night at John Gilberts. I knew old William Strong, he too, was a Baptist preacher. He married Jane Callahan, the daughter of Edward Callahan, of Red Bird. Several of her brothers lived on the North Fork and it was they who were engaged in the "Cattle War." John Amis, the leader of the other side, was a brother-in-law of John Gilbert, they having married sisters ... Bollings. The names of Callahans were William and Isaac, nicknamed "Pike" and it seems to me there was a third. Old Samuel Davidson married a Callahan, sister to Mrs. Strong, and he was in the war. Rev. William Strong was a Baptist preacher. He had children as follows; Edward, Isaac, Alexander and William. William married a Deaton, sister of the old legislator. Edward married a Spencer; his children were: Capt. William Strong, Mrs. Alfred Marcum, Mrs. John Little and Mrs. Henry Duff, also Robert Strong who died young leaving a few children; also Judge Alex Strong of Lee County, Kentucky. William had children as follows; Judge Edward Strong of Lost Creek known as "Red Ned;" Mrs. William Cope (Tom Cope's father) and Mrs. Wiley Cope, of Big Branch. Isaac had a son, William. Alexander married Miss Wilson, had several children, one the wife of George Baker of Clay County, also Daniel Strong of Laurel County. John Spencer was an early settler of Grapevine. I think he came from Virginia. He had a large family. I think William Spencer of Breathitt who married Miss Brittain was a relative of his. Joseph Spencer was one of his sons. John Spencer who married John Duff's daughter was a son of Joseph Spencer. My brother, John Duff married Mary, the daughter of General Elijah Combs. He had children as follows: Sarah Jane Davidson, Henry Duff who married Mahala Strong, daughter of Edward and sister of Capt. Bill Strong; Elijah married Mary Eversole, daughter of old Billy Eversole lives in Owsley, father of Miss Mary Duff; Shadrick Duff married Mary Combs, granddaughters of Gen. Combs. They raised a family; Louisa, wife of John Spencer; Nancy, wife of Major John Eversole, mother of Joseph and Harry, George, John and Claude Eversole; Orleana, wife of Adam Campbell, they reared a family; Mary wife of Anderson Eversole who moved to Kansas, a brother of Abner and Capt. Billy Eversole. John Duff, my brother, was the first surveyor in Perry County. He was county judge of Perry in his old days. He had an arm amputated when he was in the 70's. He died in 1892, age 91. He left a fine estate at the mouth of Grapevine. His wife survives him. Old Miss Effie Moore, raised one child, Allen Moore. She was a good woman, raised her child well, never had any other. Allen married Margaret Lewis, sister of my husband. They had a large family of children; Daniel James, William, who was killed in Jackson, some left the country; Drusilla married James White, parents of Miss Mary White. They were two of the old Davidsons, Samuel who married Callahan above given and who moved to Missouri; and Robert who lived in Breathitt. Shadrick Duff, my brother was killed by the explosion of a keg of gun powder in a store room in Hazard when a young man. He snuffed a candle and threw the snuff into a keg of power, accidentally. He and my brother James were in partnership in the goods business. We lived in Hazard at the time. John was in the south with a drove of horses at that time and did not hear the calamity till he reached home. His wife told him of it, before he got off his horse, whereupon he went to the grave and stuck his riding switch in the fresh dirt. It grew to be a tree and stands there today. Duff Lewis Dickson Sparks McLean Ellison Bolling Bowman Shepherd Gilbert Holly Holyfield Hays Roe Fee Gilbert Strong Callahan Amis Bollings Davidson Deaton Spencer Marcum Little Cope Wilson Baker Spencer Brittain Combs Davidson Eversole Spencer Campbell Moore White = Guilford-NC Ireland Green-TN Lee-VA Hazard-Perry-KY Harlan-KY IA Breathitt-KY MO IL Carter-KY Wolfe-KY Lee-KY Clay-KY Owsley-KY Laurel-KY KS Jackson-KY http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/leslie/lewis.md.txt