William G Duffy was the youngest son of John Duffy and Susannah Holland Duffy.  HIs middle name was probably George, and he was probably named after his father’s brother, William George Duffy. He was born on June 12, 1883 in Lockport, New York.

From his teen years, William worked at an iron foundry as a roller or a rougher. He lived at home with his parents until their deaths. He then stayed on with his sister Mary and her sons at the family home. In about 1899, he moved to Muskegon, Michigan, where he lived with his brother James P. Duffy and James’s wife Nellie.Muskegon, like Lockport, had a number of foundries and steel mills in operation at the time.

James and Nellie divorced in 1901, and James and William moved to separate boarding houses. James remarried in 1903.

Around that time, William moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to work as a rougher at the Fort Wayne Iron and Steel Company. He remained in Fort Wayne the rest of his life. He never married. Census records show that he boarded with a series of families over the years.

William was diagnosed with cancer of the stomach in 1948. He died of it a year later, on April 29. 1949, at the age of 75.

He is buried in Catholic Cemetery in Fort Wayne, Indiana. You can see a photo of his gravesite here.

Patrick Duffy (b 1812) + Elizabeth Dillon (b 1818)
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John Duffy (b 1838) + Susanna Holland (b 1838)
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Willliam G Duffy (b 1873)

Images from Library of Congress:

Historic American Engineering Record, Creator. Wabash & Erie Canal, Lock No. 2, 8 miles east of Fort Wayne, adjacent to U.S. Route 24, New Haven, Allen County, IN. Documentation Compiled After, 1968. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/in0341. (Accessed June 12, 2016.)

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Information presented here is based on my interpretation of the sources I’ve found. As new sources are found or inaccuracies discovered, the site will be updated.

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