An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, by Rev. H.K. Hines, D.D., The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, IL., 1893, pages 469-470 THOMAS JEFFERSON DUFFIELD, a prominent agriculturist of Klickitat county, Washington, was born in Nicholas county, West Virginia, December 26, 1824, a son of John L. and Ann (Bails) Duffield. His father was the son of a pioneer settler of Kentucky, and was born on the present site of Lexington. The family is of English extraction. The mother was born in Greenbrier county, West Virginia, her father having emigrated to this continent from England when a boy. Her mother was of Dutch descent. Our subject was a lad of thirteen when the family removed to McHenry county, Illinois. They located within three miles of Woodstock, and there he grew to manhood. He worked a portion of the time in his father's blacksmith shop, but his chief occupation was agriculture. He had charge of the farm from his sixteenth year. The gold discovery in California in 1849 created an excitement that was felt to the farthest parts of the world, and the young men of the United States were especially affected by the wonderful stories that spread from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast. On March 28, 1850, in company with David Taylor, Charles Walkup, Isaac B. Duffield and C.M. Duffield, Thomas J. Duffield started for the Golden State, making journey overland. The party took the route to Salt Lake City, and entered California by the Carson route. From Salt Lake they traveled on foot; the third of August they ate dinner at Red Lake, six miles east of the summit of the Sierra Nevadas, and that night camped eighteen miles west of the summit. While in the mountains Mr. Duffield paid out his last dollar for a pound of rice. The party now numbered seven, as they had been joined by two other McHenry county boys, Milt Davey and a young man named Crittenden. They stopped at Hangtown, and there our subject engaged in mining. He remained in this vicinity until the first of May, 1851; during the summer following he cut hay in the Vaca valley, Solano county; but when the season ended he had no money, and to add to his despair he was ill. He managed to reach Stockton, and then took a trip to the southern mines; his stage fare from this point to Mokelumme Hill was $21. Thence he walked to Jackson, and proceeded to Volcano, where he remained until 1853. At this time he returned to Solano county and settled ten miles out on the plain between Vacaville and Putah creek. This was his home for a period of seventeen years, at the end of which time he came to Oregon, locating in Linn county. There he resided eight years, and during the time paid out in rent $10,500, coming out the loser in the end, as he lost 750 acres of wheat by rust during the last three years there. In October, 1879, he came to Klickitat county, Washington, and bought 160 acres of land, on which he now resides, three miles from Goldendale. In addition to this he owns twenty acres in Thurston county. Mr. Duffield was married in Solano county, California, October 26, 1856, to Miss Sarah Jane Neff, a native of Rush county, Indiana, and a daughter of Orange Hyde and Rachel Marrett (Ryan) Neff. The father was a native of Vermont, and the mother was a Kentuckian by birth. When Sarah Jane Neff was a child of two years her parents removed to Will county, Illinois, and four years later they went to Chicago, where her lather followed his trade of carpentry until his death. She was thirteen years old when the family came to California and located in Solano county. There she grew to maturity and was married. Her mother removed to Klickitat county, Washington, and there passed the remainder of her days. Mr. and Mrs. Duffield have a family of ten children: Rachel Ann, wife of Scott Warwich; Robert D., a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church; Frank M., a resident of Idaho; Fannie Ellen, wife of S.P. Brown; Mary L., the wife of Joseph B. Miller; Thomas L., a blacksmith; George, a farmer; Elizabeth Alice, wife of Demater Adams; Daniel Dudley and James Everett. The parents are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and worship with the congregation at Goldendale. Mr. Duffield has been Class-leader for many years; he first served in this capacity in Illinois when a young man, and has filled the same position in California, in Oregon, and since coming to Washington. Politically, in early times he was identified with the old-line Whigs; upon the organization of the Republican party he gave that body his allegiance, and has since supported it with zealous ardor. Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in October 2003 by Jeffrey L. Elmer * * * * Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the individual featured in the biographies.