Person:William Dugger (23)

Special thanks to Gene Blair and John Heaton and others for data shared on this family.

William H. Dugger was born 29 Jun 1814 (per tombstone) in Ashe Co, NC (now Watauga Co, NC).

William is probably a son of David Dugger (1777) and Margaret Ernest. I've never seen any direct proof that David is his father, but it seems very likely based on circumstantial evidence, and family tradition seems to support it. In "A History of Watauga County, North Carolina" by John Preston Arthur. 1915, on page 303 he wrote about the Dugger family, including this about David being William's father.

William H. Dugger married Eunice Munday on 2 May 1835. I don't know where I got this marriage date from. It was not recorded in the Ashe County marriage bonds. Eunice's maiden name was listed as "Munday" by Arthur in 1915. However, there were no families of this surname in Ashe County (at least not in the census records for 1800 through 1840). This may mean that William married Eunice in another county. In the 1830 census, there were "Monday" families in Surry, Burke and Lincoln Counties. The same was true in 1840. So it would seem that either William went to one of those counties and married Eunice there, or perhaps her family moved to Ashe temporarily, and then moved away (between census years). By 1850, there were a couple of Monday families in Watauga Co, NC, all perhaps related to Eunice. There was R. J. Monday (c1822) and there was Robert Monday (c1830). Both of these are close in age to Eunice, who was born 13 Oct 1818 (per her tombstone). They could be her brothers, or at least somehow related to her.

William Dugger was listed on the 1840 census in Ashe County. He was listed between Joseph Shull and William Mast.

• Ashe Co., NC page 35 William Dugger 3001000000000-0000100000000
• Analysis:
• 1 male 15-19 (1820/1825)=William H. Dugger (1814)
• 3 males 0-4 (1835/1840)=1-Henry C. Dugger (1836); 2-Benjamin F. Dugger (1837); 3-David C. Dugger (1838) sons
• 1 female 20-29 (1810/1820)=Eunice Munday Dugger (1818) wife

In 1849, Watauga County was created and included the part of Ashe County where the Duggers resided.

William Dugger and family were listed on the 1850 census in Watauga County, NC next door to his father David Dugger.

I have not followed up on William and family beyond the 1850 census. I do have his death date and his wife's, from their tombstones at the Howell Cemetery. I also have many of the birth and death dates for their children from the same cemetery. Other dates came from Gene Blair and other researchers.

Eunice Munday Dugger died on 18 Jan 1894. William H. Dugger died 30 May 1899. They are both buried at the Howell Cemetery in Watauga Co, NC. Eunice's stone is marked "Unicie wife of W. H. Dugger 1818-1894". William is listed as "W. H. Dugger" with full birth and death date.

William H. Dugger (1814-1899)