William George Duffy, Jr — known as Wade Duffy — was born on September 22, 1881 in Chicora, Butler County, Pennsylvania, which was then named Millerstown. (For more on the town name change, see the post about his sister, Elizabeth Mary Duffy.) He was the fifth child and second surviving son of William George Duffy and Rebecca Smith Duffy. He was two years old when his mother died of typhoid fever, and about four when his father married Catherine Mahoney.
By 1900, when he was 19, Wade was an oil well worker, living with his parents near Sistersville, West Virginia. The only other sibling still at home was his much younger half-brother John D. (Jack) Duffy.
In 1904, Wade married Ella Dyer, who would later be known as Nellie. She was two years younger than Wade. They may have continued to live with his father’s family.
In 1909, Wade’s father died suddenly on a business trip to Pennsylvania. Whether or not they were already a part of the household, in the census of 1910, the year after his father’s death, Wade and Nellie were living in the family home. In addition to his stepmother, the household also included his sister Emma (Doll), recently separated from her husband, and her four children. At first glance, it appears the only wage earner was Wade, who was a laborer working odd jobs. But on a later page, the census-taker adds Jack, noting that the “family failed” to mention him. Jack was working as an oil pumper.
By 1916, Wade and Nellie had moved to Oil City, Pennsylvania. When he filled out his draft card in 1918, he was living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, working as an oil tool dresser for Carl K. Dresser. Nellie was living in Weston, West Virginia. By 1919, she had joined him in Tulsa; the city directory for that year lists him as a clerk for HC Jacobs. I have not found them in the 1920 US Census, perhaps because they were moving to New Mexico.
There were about 326,000 people living in the entire state of New Mexico in 1920, which had become a state in 1912. Wade and Nellie settled first in Albuquerque, where their only child, Betty Jo, was born in 1921.
A story in the December 3, 1925 issue of the Albuquerque Journal describes Wade as one of two New Mexico men who interested California investors in developing a well in Dalies.
https://www.newspapers.com/clippings/embed_clipping/?id=7127099&w=394&h=394Found on Newspapers.com
There are several stories in New Mexico newspapers about this endeavor.
The Duffys stayed in Albuquerque for a time. In the 1927 and 1928 city directories, Wade is listed as an “oil operator.” They lived at 901 N 5th St.
Before 1930, they had moved to Gallup, New Mexico, where Wade continued to work in the oil business but also took on several roles in local politics and offices. During the 1930s, he held the office of sheriff.
In this article, Sheriff Duffy seeks an escapee from the asylum who had been sent there after murdering another man:
https://www.newspapers.com/clippings/embed_clipping/?id=7127688&w=394&h=394Found on Newspapers.com
This article from the April 3, 1931 issue of the Gallup Independent tells of the safe return of Wade and Jack Garrett after taking prisoners to the state penitentiary:
https://www.newspapers.com/clippings/embed_clipping/?id=7043533&w=294&h=294Found on Newspapers.com
A 1932 article notes that he was the superintendent for the Williams Company, which had struck oil at its Hospah well, 80 miles north of Gallup.
So far, I’ve only been able to find Nellie in the 1940 census. This may be because Wade was traveling a lot then. Betty Jo was studying nursing in Denver at about that time. During World War II, he worked at the Fort Wingate Ordnance Depot, seven miles east of Gallup.
Wade also served as the chairman of the Republican County Committee for McKinley County. He was quoted in the Independent from time to time. “We must try to keep politics out of the schools,” was one comment he made when asked if his party was promoting anyone for school board. After spending time visiting his daughter’s family in 1953 in Washington state, he remarked, “If I were young, I wouldn’t spend a week [in Gallup]. I’d be up in the Northwest. Things are really booming.” This didn’t sit too well with the Gallup-boosting Independent.
Nellie took on the management of the Sweetbriar Shop in Gallup, part of a chain of clothing stores. The Gallup store opened in 1946. A 1951 article in the Independent noted that she was one of the first women to serve on a federal jury in New Mexico, a position which took her away from home to Albuquerque for five weeks.
https://www.newspapers.com/clippings/embed_clipping/?id=7127645&w=294&h=294Found on Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/clippings/embed_clipping/?id=7127612&w=294&h=294Found on Newspapers.com
Wade continued to work in the oil business in New Mexico throughout his life. According to the Independent, on January 10, 1957, he was shoveling snow at his home at 110 1/2 E Hill Street in Gallup when he suffered a heart attack. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife and daughter, four grandchildren, and his siblings James, Jack, and Doll.
Nellie lived until 1964. They are buried side-by-side in Sunset Memorial Park in Gallup.
Patrick Duffy (b 1812) + Elizabeth Dillon (b 1818)
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William George Duffy (1846) + Rebecca Smith (1856)
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William George (Wade) Duffy (1881)
Sources for this post include:
Census records of 1900, 1910, 1930 and 1940.
Click to access 18_p0151_p0158.pdf
Contents of this site, except where noted, are ©2016-2019 by Jan Burke. While I hope you find this site useful in your family history research, please do not copy material you find here onto your Ancestry trees, etc. without permission.
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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Duffy Family History 
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