William Dugger Sr (c1720-c1773) aka "Benjamin Dugger Sr" aka "Julius Caesar Dugger Sr"
martygrant.com: Home > Genealogy > Dugger > Records > Julius C. Dugger
The Problem - Who was Julius Caesar Dugger? Myth? Mixed up family tradition? Or just a hard to find person?
The Evidence - What proof is there of this man.
Conclusion - What can we determine based on all available evidence.
If not Julius, then who? Benjamin Sr or William Sr?
What about "Mary Kincaid", wife of Julius C. Dugger
Other opinions - What do other people have to say on this subject. (Let me know if you want to add some comments).
This is a very interesting (and confusing) topic. Here is the gist of the problem: My ancestor Mary Dugger (c1750/60) and her brothers Benjamin (c1747), William (1750), and Julius (1760) are children of either: William Dugger Sr, or Benjamin Dugger Sr, or Julius Caesar Dugger Sr. The problem is that all are claimed, but what are the facts?
Conventional wisdom and Family tradition all say the latter, that Julius C. Dugger is the one. There are so many books and articles in print and family records that claim it, so it has to be right, right? That is the argument you hear most often.
Julius C. Dugger, according to J. G. M. Ramsey (1797-1884) in his book Annals of Tennessee (1853) he claimed that Julius Dugger and Andrew Greer were in the Watauga River area by 1766, being the first (or some of the first) white settlers in that area. There has been plenty of evidence located on Andrew Greer, so that part seems to be indisputable. However, no original data has been found on Julius C. Dugger, none at all. Everything that has been written or said about him, has been based on this 1853 book and also on various family traditions.
Let us examine a few things, first of all. The only printed records we have of Julius C. Dugger (Sr) is a very brief mention in a book written in 1853, which claims he was in TN by 1766. (I'll call this source # 1 or "Ramsey").
The next thing we have are some stories told by Benjamin Carter Dugger (1813-1891) a Georgia State Congressman, who was a grandson of Julius Dugger (1760). He told some interesting stories. (I'll call this source # 2 or "Benjamin C. Dugger")
The next item we have is an article on the Dugger family included in: A History of Watauga County, North Carolina. with Sketches of Prominent Families by John Preston Arthur. Richmond: Everett Waddey Co. 1915. This article is quite interesting also. (I'll call this source # 3 or "Arthur")
The next thing is a small writeup in a book put together by the DAR: Tennessee Records - Tombstone Inscriptions and Manuscripts, in 1933. (I'll call this source # 4 or "Vaught")
The next thing we have are the memoirs of George F. Dugger (1896-?) a great grandson of William Dugger (1750), he collected some interesting family stories as well. I don't know when George wrote his memoirs, but considering when he was born, they were no doubt written no earlier than the 1930's, or even much more recent than that. (I'll call this source # 5 or "George F. Dugger")
So what do each of the above five sources say. First of all let me state that all of these were written long after Julius C. Dugger would have died, so none can be considered primary evidence, or even secondary evidence. For a brief review, let me explain what primary evidence is. Mainly it is anything written while a person is alive, and involves the person in a direct way. This includes items such as deeds, wills, marriage records, census records, baptisms, tax lists, birth certificates, court orders, Bible records and other such items. Secondary evidence is similar to primary evidence, only in that the person wasn't directly involved in making the record. This can include obituaries, tombstones, and anything that was prepared after the death of a person, or even while alive, if they weren't involved with it, such as a biography or newspaper article. Primary and secondary evidence is often (but not always) reliable. Each record must be carefully weighed and its value can be determined. Anything else is considered tertiary evidence. This includes family traditions, family histories, and similar items. These are usually based on opinions, memory, family stories handed down, and (hopefully) some form of primary and /or secondary evidence.
Okay, now lets examine the evidence. What primary evidence is there of Julius Caesar Dugger? The answer is: None. His name does not appear on a census, a tax list, a deed, a court minute or any other record that I have ever found, nor have any other researchers been able to turn up anything.
What secondary evidence has been found? The answer is again: None. No one has found an obituary, a newspaper article, a tombstone or any other record that may have been produced during his lifetime or shortly after his death.
That only leaves tertiary evidence, in the form of the 5 sources mentioned before. The earliest of which was written in 1853. Now for some simple math. If Julius C. was the father of Mary, Benjamin, Julius, etc, when was he born, and when did he die? Benjamin is the oldest of the group, born ca 1747 or earlier. If Julius was his dad, then he was born at least ca 1726 or before, just as an educated guess. This means that in 1766 he would have been roughly 40 years old. Even if he lived to 100 (as some tradition states) he would have died ca 1826. Someone that long lived should have left some record of his existence. A serious drawback to our search is that the US Census records for TN for 1790, 1800, 1810 and 1820 are lost, so we can't see if there was an older Julius Dugger listed. The 1830 census shows Julius (Jr) (1760) listed, though certainly Julius (Sr) would have been dead by then.
Now let us first talk about Source # 1, the 1853 mention of Julius Dugger. In 1853, "Annals of Tennessee" was published. The Author was J. G. M. Ramsey (1797-1884). I've been told that Mr. Ramsey and Lyman Draper (famous for his "Draper Collection") shared much research regarding folks in East TN. We don't know where Ramsey got his information about Julius C. Dugger, if it was from Draper or from elsewhere. Unfortunately, the book does not state the source for his statement about Julius C. Dugger being in TN by 1766. We can assume (perhaps) that Ramsey interviewed some of the Duggers in east TN, who told him of their ancestor who was in TN so early. The majority of the Duggers in East TN in the 1850's would have been children and grandchildren of Julius Dugger (1760-1838). So perhaps his name came up and was applied in error to the supposed pioneer of 1766. That is one possibility at least.
Source # 2 - Benjamin Carter Dugger's comments and stories - coming soon
In Source # 3, "A History of Watauga County, North Carolina" by John Preston Arthur, 1915, he mentions the Duggers in two separate articles. (Click here for a transcript). He mentioned three brothers:
"... who came from Scotland and "stopped awhile near Petersburg, VA, named Benjamin, Daniel and Julius. Ben stopped at Yadkin Elk, Daniel went to Kentucky and Julius settled near Fish Springs on the Watauga River, Tennessee." (page 222)
The Benjamin he is referring to (based on the rest of the article and the next one) is clearly Benjamin born ca 1747, also called "Benjamin Jr" by some researchers. That means his brother Julius has to be the one born 1760, also called "Julius Jr" by some researchers. Arthur makes no claims as to who the father of these three are, so this doesn't help (or hurt) the Julius C. Dugger theory. The next article (page 303) basically repeats the above, but gives much more data on Benjamin's children.
Source # 4 comes from Elizabeth Carriger Vaught (Mrs. W. M. Vaught) of Elizabethton, TN. She sent information to be published in "Tennessee Records Tombstone Inscriptions and Manuscripts" 1933 (published by DAR). Her article (pages 292 through 296) is quite interesting, and of great value. The first thing she gives is this:
"Children, as known, of Julius Dugger, Sr, and wife: William born 1750, Julius, Jr, born 1760, Mary, married first, Lawson Goodwin, second Jacob Smith. Julius Dugger Sr had two brothers. Ben settled at Brushy Fork, NC. Five descendants of his descendants are buried in Brushy Fork Burying Ground. David settled in KY."
The above contains several errors. First of all she claims that Julius Dugger Sr (aka Julius C. Dugger) was a brother of Ben Dugger of Brushy Fork, but that isn't correct. Ben was a brother of Julius Jr, Mary and William. Also Mary Dugger didn't marry Lawson Goodwin, that was her son. She married Drury Goodwin. Also, no record of David of KY has been found. I wonder if this is the same person Arthur (Source # 3) refers to as Daniel Dugger who went to KY. A handwritten "David" and "Daniel" are often hard to distinguish.
Next, Mrs. Vaught gave the children of Julius Dugger Jr and Mary Hall. Later in the article, she lists Julius Sr's children again, and this time states he had two brothers (David and Ben) and a sister Mary. She didn't say who Mary married, so I'm not sure who this is, or if she was confusing Mary (m 1-Goodwin; 2-Smith). She also mentioned that tradition stated that Julius Sr and wife returned to Virginia in their old age to visit relatives, and died there.
She didn't include any documentation on Julius Sr (or Julius Jr for that matter) but did include transcripts of two Wills, that of William Dugger (1750-1839) and William Dugger (1784-1875) son of Julius Jr. Both quite valuable and interesting, but not helpful with our current subject.
So basically, Mrs. Vaught's data continues the Julius C. Dugger tradition, though she refers to him as "Julius Dugger, Sr" and later as "(Julius C. according to Ramsey.)".
Source # 5 - George F. Dugger's comments and stories - coming soon
What can we conclude from the above data? Well, there are a few possibilities. Here they are in no particular order:
Of the above, I prefer # 2 (and perhaps # 3). I think William Dugger Sr (c1720-1773) is our ancestor. He was the person the tradition spoke of, but they either just simply got his name mixed up with his son Julius (1760) or else he had a nickname of "Julius Caesar" for some reason.
If Julius C. Dugger was a nickname, or a mistaken identity, then who is the person the stories are referring to? There are two candidates: William Dugger Sr (c1720) and Benjamin Dugger Sr (c1724), both of Surry and Brunswick Co, VA.
William Dugger was born ca 1720 or earlier (based on his first public record in 1741 when he witnessed a deed, assuming he was 21 then). William Dugger was listed in Brunswick Co, VA records beginning in 1741 and listed in various records there dated 1741, 1744, 1747, 1750, and 1752. In October 1752 William Dugger was in Granville Co, NC. He was listed there in various records dated 1752, 1754, 1755, 1756 and 1758. In some of these records he is shown to be a neighbor of Julius Nichols (perhaps a namesake for Julius Dugger born 1760!). William Dugger began appearing in Pittsylvania Co, VA records in 1762 and was listed there in records dated 1762, 1765, 1767 and 1768. In 1768 he deeded some livestock to Benjamin Dugger (the record doesn't say so, but I believe this is Benjamin born ca 1747, and this is circumstantial proof that William is his father). By 1771 William Dugger was in Surry Co, NC, and listed there again in 1772. That is the last record we have found for him. Based on other records, it is clear he was in the section of (then) Surry Co, NC which is now on the border of Watauga County and Wilkes County, near the Caldwell County corner as well. There is a Dugger Creek there, a Dugger Mountain, a Little Dugger Mountain. This is the area that Arthur referred to as "Yadkin Elk". William Dugger was on the 1772 tax list, but not the 1774 tax list. A widow Mary Dugger was listed on that list, so a natural assumption is that she was his wife. This Mary later went to Carter Co, TN near Julius (1760) and William (1750). Her last record was dated 1787 in Washington Co, NC (now TN). At that time Carter Co, TN didn't exist, and was part of Washington County, and the entire area was still part of NC.
The above shows (to me at least) that William Dugger and his wife Mary are the prime candidate for parents of Julius, Benjamin, William, Mary, etc. No solid proof, but strong circumstantial evidence. William Dugger (1750) was born (according to his children) on 4 Mar 1750 in Wilkes Co, NC. The area where William (Sr) and Mary were in Surry Co, NC became Wilkes County in 1777 when that county was formed. The 1775 tax list (Surry Co, NC) shows Benjamin Dugger (c1747) and William Dugger in the same household. This seemingly proves they are brothers. Julius Dugger (1760) also owned land in the same area as proven by several Wilkes County records in the 1780's. This shows that all of these folks were in the same neighborhood at the same time.
Now, obviously, I think William Dugger Sr is our man, but what about Benjamin Dugger Sr? He was born ca 1724 (based on his first public record dated 1745, assuming he was at least 21 then). He was listed in Surry Co, VA in 1745, witnessing a deed. By 1749 he was in Lunenburg Co, VA. On a tax list he was listed with 9 tithables that year. He would count as 1 tithable, but who were the other 8? They would have to be white males age 21 or up (or possibly age 16 and up) or else slaves. In 1755 he was listed in both Brunswick and Lunenburg Co, VA records. In 1755 he purchased land from John Dugger Sr (his brother) in Brunswick Co, VA. In January 1756 John Dugger obtained an attachment against Benjamin Dugger's estate, stating Benjamin had "absconded", which means he left the county owing money or with a pending judgment against him.
The 1756 record is the last I've found of Benjamin Dugger Sr. There is a grave marker in the Howell Cemetery in Watauga Co, NC (where much of Benjamin Dugger Jr's family is buried) which shows a Benjamin Dugger "died 1795". Now Benjamin Dugger (c1747) died in 1815 as shown by various records, so if this is his grave, it was mis-marked whenever first placed. It does seem to be and old marker according to Gene Blair and John Heaton. A newer marker has been placed with the same information. I don't know if old Benjamin Sr (c1724) wound up in that area and died in 1795. He could have, or it could be the grave of Benjamin (c1747) with the death date mis-marked. Since there is no birth date or age at death given, we can't be sure. Otherwise, the 1756 record is the last we have on Benjamin Dugger Sr. That is the main reason I don't consider him our guy. Where was he after 1756? He could have been off exploring the "west" (i.e. Tennessee, Kentucky, etc) for several years, then returned to NC in time to died in 1795 and be buried there? This is certainly a possibility. He wasn't listed on the 1790 census in NC (though Benjamin (c1747) was). Unfortunately, the 1790 census was lost for VA, TN and KY, so if he was in that area, we've missed him.
So, Benjamin Dugger Sr is a possible choice for father of Benjamin (c1747), William (1750), Mary (1750/60), Julius (1760), but he would be my second choice, after William Dugger Sr.
The Julius C. Dugger mystery is further complicated by his alleged wife "Mary Kincaid" sister of Andrew Greer's wife Ruth Kincaid. Where did this come from? None of the early sources I quoted above mention them as siblings. Robert Nave (see below, under Other Opinions) claims that it was speculation on the part of Mrs. Vaught (source # 4 above), and after her death, her sister (Lula Carriger) published her notes and listed it as "fact" and that is the beginning of it. Most people just accept it without question once it is print (a bad habit!). William Dugger Sr died ca 1772, and in 1773 a widow Mary Dugger was listed on the tax list, so a natural assumption is that she was his widow (which I agree with), but there is nothing to prove or even suggest that she was a Kincaid. See Mr. Nave's comments below, as he explained it better than I could.
Robert T. Nave
In her book "The Dugger Family" by Frances Dugger Rowan, she published a short commentary by Robert T. Nave, a noted Dugger researcher. Here is what he said:
"Family tradition claims that Julius C. Dugger was the ancestor of all the Duggers who settled in what is now Carter and Johnson County, Tennessee. He is cited in Ramsey's Annals of Tennessee along with Andrew Greer, who were supposedly the very first settlers in Tennessee in 1766. Tennessee historian, the late Judge Samuel C. Williams, contended that they were actually traders, not settlers at that time, and this appears to be correct. Greer did become a settler later and Dugger may have also.
The late Mrs. Elizabeth Carriger Vaught, a Dugger family historian, speculated that Greer and Dugger were brothers-in-law, having married sisters named Kincaid. Her sister, the late Miss Lula Carriger, published this as fact in her Dugger booklet after her sister's death. Greer did marry a Kincaid, but they were both from the Valley of Virginia while Dugger was from south-side Virginia and western North Carolina. The likelihood of them marrying sisters seems very remote. Both men were married with families, long before 1766 and there is nothing to indicate they were ever partners.
Many years of research has failed to produce any documentary evidence to prove that there was a Julius C. Dugger, an Indian trader on the frontier in 1766. His name does not appear in any record found in Virginia, North Carolina or Tennessee, yet Greer can be documented in all three states.
One William Dugger, born 1720/30, has surfaced as a good prospect to be the frontier trader, who was misnamed as Julius C. Dugger and his age and locations fit. He has also been identified and documented in Virginia and North Carolina. It seems likely that family tradition just got names mixed as they recorded the early Dugger settler."
He also wrote other things about William also. I've corresponded with Robert T. Nave, and he still holds to these views, and I agree with him completely. He is, in my opinion, one of the premier Dugger researchers around today.