Person:William Dugger (31)

About William Dugger

William Dugger was born 3 Mar 1750 (per a Revolutionary War pension application filed by his children in 1853). They also stated he was born in Wilkes Co., NC, which is probably wrong. I believe he was born in Brunswick or Lunenburg Co., VA instead which is where his parents were around that time.

William Dugger (1750) is probably a son of William Dugger Sr (1720) and his 1st wife Martha. I have no direct proof that those are his parents, but it seems most likely. William (1750) was associated with Benjamin Dugger (1747) and Julius Dugger (1760), who are both also thought to be children of William Dugger Sr.

William is often listed as a son of the mythical Julius Caesar Dugger, but that is wrong.

William Dugger Sr (1720) was in Lunenburg Co., VA in 1749, but in Brunswick Co., VA in 1750, so William (1750), if his son, was probably born in Brunswick County on their Beachlick Creek property. William (1750) undoubtedly went with his family to Granville Co., NC circa 1754 where they remained until ca 1762. At this time the family moved to Pittsylvania Co., VA (then still part of Lunenburg). They remained there until ca 1771 when they moved to Surry Co., NC in the vicinity of Elk Creek. This area became Wilkes County in 1777, (and Watauga County in 1848).

William Dugger (1750) was listed on the 1775 Surry Co., NC tax list with his brother Benjamin Dugger. They were listed together and charged for 2 polls (white males over 21). This is the first record I've found for William Dugger (1750).

For the Revolutionary War, William Dugger served in the North Carolina Line from Wilkes County, NC, where he resided at the time. Several years after his death (1839), his surviving children filed a Pension application (# R3109 in 1853) which contained his birth and death date and the names of all his surviving children. The pension application was rejected.

It was in Wilkes Co., NC most likely that William Dugger married his first wife who's name is unknown. They married ca 1782 or so, or possibly before that. No record of the marriage was found, nor any record of her name, though someone (a few years ago) said it was "Olivia Ushers." Robert T. Nave, a respected genealogist, and Dugger descendant, told me that this name was incorrect, mistakenly recorded in a Dugger history by a researcher a few years ago without documentation. As far as I know, no one has the name of William Dugger's first wife. In any event, they had 4 children together and she died before 1791. The Pension application by his children (in 1853) mentioned his 2nd and 3rd wife, but did not mention his 1st wife at all, nor any of the children by that marriage (I think they were all dead by then).

Around 1787 or so,William Dugger moved a few miles west over into Carter County, Tennessee (then still part of Washington County, and still part of North Carolina).

The 1790 census was lost for all of the area that would later become Tennessee.

On 9 Aug 1791 "William Duggard" obtained a marriage bond in Washington County to marry Nancy Millard. I don't know the exact date of their marriage, but it would probably be the same day, or a few days later.

In 1796 Carter County was formed from the section of Washington County where the Dugger's lived. Tennessee became a state that year also.

William Dugger was listed on the 1796 tax list for Carter Co, TN as "William Duggard" and listed with 1 taxable (a white male 21 and over) and for 250 acres of land.

William Dugger was also listed on the 1798 tax list for Carter Co, TN as "William Duggard" and listed with 1 taxable (a white male 21 and over) and this time for 275 acres of land.

The 1800 census was lost for all of Tennessee, so we have no record of William from this census.

William Dugger's wife Nancy Millard died on 12 Feb 1807 (per Revolutionary War Pension application) in Carter Co, TN. They had six children together.

James L. Dugger, a descendant of William via the first marriage, gave us an interesting story as told by Alexander F. Dugger (born 1884) about how William's three sons by his first wife ran away from home when they were still fairly young (15 and under). It was probably around 1805-1808 time-frame:

"... Three boys Julius, James and Mark Dugger had a stepmother and lived in tenn. A mischievous boy or boys in the community committed some sort of misdemeanor and laid it on to the eldest one or the Duggers boys a fifteen year old lad. His father a strict disciplinarian took his son to task. The boy denied the blame, Later the conversation at a woman`s meeting (probably a quilting) centered on the mis-deed and all blamed the Dugger boy. Again, the father called his fifteen year old son and quizzed him. The son denied guilt. The father told him that circumstances pointed to him and that he was going to whip him. The son said to his father, "If you whip me it will be the last time that you will ever whip me." The father whipped him. At the evening meal no boys showed up, when they failed to appear by late bed time, the father and his neighbors searched the forest throughout the night for the boys. In the early morning hours the father stood on a large log and called loudly to his boys without reply. The log was hollow and the boys were spending the night in it, yet they did not answer the fathers calls. The boys found their way through the forest to what is know Knox county, Kentucky and their father never located them until all were grown and married. I do not remember which boy was oldest, but James became my g gf . My gf James was born in Knox co. ky. in 1814. He had a brother William older than he. my g gf was thrown from a horse and killed before gf was born. In 1817 his mother moved to Greene co. Ind. were Dugger relatives had previously located. Records in Bloomfield the co seat of Greene co. show that a Julius and Mark Dugger filed on land in 1816. Thus two of the run-away boys and the widow the third one were located in Green co. in the early 1800`s where my gf grew up and married and where my father was born in 1844, My father`s name was Andrew Ferguson Dugger born in clay co. nb. in 1884. I am Alexander F. Dugger born in clay co. nb in 1884 ..."

On 8 Apr 1809, William Dugger obtained a marriage bond to marry Ann Pearce. She was actually Nancy Ann Brown, and a widow of a Mr. Pearce (or "Pierce"). They married in Carter Co, TN on 9 Apr 1809 (per Revolutionary War Pension application).

The 1810 census was lost for most of Tennessee, so we have no record of William from this census.

The 1820 census was lost for all of eastern Tennessee, so we have no record of William from this census.

William Dugger was listed on the 1830 census in Carter Co, TN. Due to all the lost census records, this is his only census entry to be found. He was listed next door to his son Thomas Dugger and just two houses from his nephew Samuel Burns (who married Cora Ann Dugger, daughter of Benjamin Dugger). Analysis:

• Carter Co., TN page 27 William Dugger 0012000000100-0012120010000
• 1 male 80-89 (1740/1750)=William Dugger (1750)
• 2 males 15-19 (1810/1815)=1-William C. Dugger (1812); 2-David D. Dugger (c1815) sons
• 1 male 10-14 (1815/1820)=Benjamin T. Dugger (c1817) son
• 1 female 60-69 (1760/1770)=Nancy Ann Brown Dugger (c1774) wife
• 2 females 30-39 (1790/1800)=1-Elizabeth Dugger (c1794); 2-Martha Dugger (1800) daughters
• 1 female 20-29 (1800/1810)=Rosamond Dugger (1806) daughter
• 2 females 15-19 (1810/1815)=1-Nancy Dugger (1810) daughter; 2-Unknown
• 1 female 10-14 (1815/1820)=Mary Ann Sabra Dugger (c1819) daughter

William Dugger made his Will in Carter Co, TN on 10 Apr 1839:

In the name of God. Amen. I, William Dugger Sr, in East Tennessee, Carter County, calling to mind that it is appointed for all men once to die, I do constitute and ordain this, my last will and testament, and desire that it may be received of all people as such. First, I give and bequeath my soul to God that gave it and my body to the grave to be buried at the discretion of my friends. And as for my worldly goods and possessions, I give in the following manner: First, I give and bequeath to my daughter Anna Wilson, five dollars; I give and bequeath to my son, Mark Dugger, five dollars; I give and bequeath to my son, James Dugger, five dollars; I give and bequeath to my son, Julius Dugger, five dollars; I give and bequeath to daughter, Elizabeth, and to my daughter Levina Vanhuss, and to my son, Thomas Dugger, and to my daughter Rhoda Pierce, and to my daughter, Martha, and to my daughter Rosamond Morton, an equal share of my tract of land lying in Carter County, East Tennessee, on Watauga, where Mathias Vanhuss and Anderson Pierce now live. I give and bequeath to my daughter Nancy and to my daughter, Sabre Morgan, an equal part in my tract of land where my son Thomas Dugger now lives, containing one hundred and fifty acres. I give and bequeath to my wife, Anna, possession of all the tract of land I now live on with all the farm and orchard and buildings, during her natural life, and at her death, William, David and Tarlton, my three sons, shall have an equal share of it and of the entry joining it. And as for all the flocks and herds and household furniture that remains at the death of my wife, shall be divided amongst my three sons, namely, William, David and Tarlton, and my two daughters, Nancy and Sabre, equally. And I do constitute and ordain my son, William Dugger, and my son Tarlton Dugger, the sole executors of this, my last will and testament, in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 10th day of April, 1839.

Now in my right senses, William Dugger

Test: James Morgan, Wyatt Griffith.

I have written the above will and feel sure that the man that made it was at that time in his right senses. James Morgan

This Will proves this entire family quite nicely. William Dugger died on 18 Jun 1839 in Carter Co, TN (per Revolutionary War pension application).

For the 1840 census, his widow and unmarried children were apparently residing with his son Benjamin Tarlton Dugger in Carter Co, TN, as his household contains a lot of extra people and he had just gotten married that same year.

William Dugger's widow Nancy Ann was listed as head of household on the 1850 census in Carter Co, TN. She had several of her unmarried daughters residing with her. Her sons William C. Dugger and Benjamin T. Dugger were in the next two households. The young children in Ann's household were her grandchildren by Mary Ann Sabra Dugger, who was not married.

Nancy Ann Brown Pearce Dugger died on 6 Jun 1850, which was just a few days after the census (1 Jun 1850). Her death date was reported in the Revolutionary War Pension application that William's children filed in 1853.

William Dugger's Will of 1839 proves all 15 of his children. The 1850 census adds more proof, and the Revolutionary War Pension application gives even more. It was application # R3109 9 Jun 1853. William Dugger, NC Line. William C. Dugger was the applicant. Here is the pertinent part of the application. My copy is from a typed transcript that someone else made, but I don't know who made it.

File No. R 3109

State of Tennessee )

County of Carter )

Be it known that on this ninth day of June A.D., one thousand eight hundred and fifty- three, before me a Justice of the Peace in and for the county and state aforesaid, duly authorized by law to administer oaths, personally appeared William C. Dugger, a resident of said county and state aforesaid, who being duly sworn declairs that he is one of the children and that he is the Executor of the Estate of his deceased father William Dugger who was a Revolutionary Soldier who served at least 12 months in Wilkes County, NC during the War of the Revolution as the accompanying certificate found among his papers when he died will show and which were in his possession at the time of his death. That his deceased father William Dugger was born 3-04-1750 in Wilkes County, North Carolina and that he died in Carter County, Tennessee on 6-18-1839, that the said William Dugger was twice married- his first wife's name was Nancy Millard and she died on or about 2-12-1807, leaving the following children who are now living: Elizabeth, age 59; Lavina V. age 57; Martha, age 53, Thomas, age 55, Roda, age 51; and Ransom M. (sic), age 47. That after the death of his first wife the said William Dugger on 4-04-1809 married Nancy Ann Brown Peirce, they were married by Julius Dugger, a Justice of the Peace, and she resided with her husband in Carter County, Tennessee to the day of his death in 1888 (sic). That his second wife died in the county of Carter, state of Tennessee on 7-06-1850, leaving the following children to- wit: Nancy, age 43; David, age 39; Benjamin T., age 37; Mary S., age 35. That he- the said Executor of the Estate of his deceased father makes this application to the Commissioners of Pensions for the amount of pension under the Act of June 1832, to which his father was entitled at the time of his death. And he declares that he has and does appoint William Hunt of Washington City, D.C. as his attorney to apply for and receive from the Commissioners of Pensions the Certificate of Pension granted.

W.D. Dugger (seal)

This document did not mention his 1st marriage, nor the four children by that marriage (who were all dead, I believe), nor did it give the married names of any of the daughters.

1.   The original version of this text was written by Marty Grant and published on his website. It was moved here by the author.