The Story of the Absalom L. Duggan Family

My great, great grandfather, Absalom L. Duggan (1812 – 1862) and his wife, Susannah Sanders (1814 – 1875), and their family came to Marion Co. AL from East Tenn. in 1850. They were accompanied by the families of Clemmons and Caroline Sanders; Rachel Peoples; and John M. and Clarissa Cantrell. They lived in the Pikesville area of Marion Co. These families were strongly pro-Union, and the Duggan, Sanders, and Peoples families were forced to flee as refugees to Illinois. In the fall of 1862, Absalom Duggan and Clemmons Sanders had to flee to avoid being killed, and they ultimately died of disease in December 1862 in southern Illinois. Absalom Duggan’s eldest son, Richard S. Duggan (1836 – 1863), served in Co. C of the First Ala. Cav., as did William L. Peoples and Francis M. Peoples, sons of Rachel Peoples. Richard Duggan died in 1863 while in the First Ala. Cav. In the spring of 1863, Susannah Sanders Duggan and her family were given 20 days to leave the South or be killed. In April of that year, accompanied by the families of Clemmons Sanders and Rachel Peoples, they fled to Marion Co. Illinois where they along with many other refugees (mostly widows and children) were destitute.

Story courtesy of Richard Dugan.