Jacob Düfford (Teaford)
An article by Nellie Wood
In 1780 Jacob Düfford bought his first farm in Augusta County at the foot of Sugar Loaf Mountain, a small round hill on property now part of Silverbrook Farms. With his wife Christenah and six children he came from Shenandoah County, where he had resided since 1774 on land in the Fairfax Grant.
Düfford had arrived in Philadelphia on the ship Hero on 27 October 1764, but his origin has eluded researchers. That he spoke and read and wrote German is established by his signatures in Philadelphia and in October 1792 in Virginia. He joined 193 residents in petitioning the Virginia General Assembly, citing their unacquaintance with the English "language" to publish laws in German so that "they may more cheerfully comply" because they have "always contributed their part of the support of government."
Virginia State claims show that he, along with other "Augusta Germans," did his part by furnishing flour for the Revolutionary army in 1780.
Neither Christenah's maiden name nor the date of their marriage has been established, but the ages of the children suggest the marriage took place sometime after immigration:
Margarate, born about 1765-6, married Paulus Koch (Paul Cook) prior to 1865, ten children: Jacob, born 1768, lived for a time in Bourbon County, KY, where he married in 1800 and then divorced a widow, Christina Kennedy, returning in 1809 to live in Augusta until his death in 1840; Elizabeth, born in 1769-71, died 1847, married Henry Hawpe in 1790, six children: Johannes (John) , born 1772, married Catherine Runkle, d/o Ludwig Runkle, in 1793, moving with his family in 1800 to Fairfax County, Ohio, where he died about 1807, leaving a family of seven children (six of whom were born in Augusta), who became pioneer settlers of Darke County, Ohio; Johan Henrich (Henry), born 1774, died 1841, married first Elizabeth Shoultz, three children, and second Margaret Keller, nine children; and George Teaford, born 1776, d. 1820, married 1801 Mary Spotts, d/o Jacob Spotts (Spatz), eleven children.
Only the youngest son George signed the name as Teaford, the others using the German spelling of their names. The records of St. John's Lutheran Church, Middlebrook, show the name spelled seventeen different ways. Records of the family are also found at St. Pete's Union Church, Churchville.
The immigrant Jacob died intestate in 1801, owning three farms. The papers settling the estate in Augusta County Courthouse offer a wealth of genealogical and historical information.
Christenah lived with youngest son George until her death in 1805. Unusual for a woman in those days, she had a will, which she signed with an X. Also unusual was her ownership of four women slaves. During his lifetime Jacob had usually owned one male slave, more customary amoung the Virginia Germans, yet at the time of his death owned three.
Descendants of Jacob Düfford from four lines gather every five years in Rockbridge County with 300-350 attending. Reunions were held in 1982, 1987, 1992, and 1997.
Submitted by: Nellie Teaford Wood, Russle, KY
Sources: Augusta DB WB, MR and family records; Virginia State Library; Klaus West The Virginia Germans; Peggy Shomo Joyner; Katherine Bushman
