Biographies
Heinrich Dufe
Heinrich
Dufe was probably born in about 1760 in the small town of Nievern in
the present day German sates of Rhineland-Palatinate. However, at the time
of his birth, the area was part of the Duchy of Nassau, a small state of the
Holy Roman Empire, that joined the Confederation of the Rhine under the
protection of Napoleon in 1806.
It has traditionally been thought by the Duffy descendants in Texas that Henrich’s son, Peter, was born in Ireland and moved to Germany in the early 1800s before moving to Texas. However, research done in the Catholic parish church in Nievern, where Peter’s birth is recorded, clearly shows that the family was from Germany. Standardization of spelling, particularly the spelling of names, didn’t come about until the early to middle 1800s. In the old church records, the name is spelled both Duffi and Dufe. I believe it was probably pronounced “Du-Fay” and that it was Anglicized after the family left Germany.
We know very little about Heinrich other than his entry in the church records as Peter’s father and his marriage to Maria Christina Hehn.
Child of Heinrich Dufe and Maria Hehn:
1. Peter Joseph Dufe was born 18 Mar 1784 in Nievern, Nassau, Germany and died 26 Jul 1846 in Matagorda Bay, Matagorda, Texas. He is the subject of the next generation.
Beckenbach
Simons
Duffy
Peake
Bradley
Shelby
Vogg
Coachman
