John N. Duff
A prosperous and enterprising farmer and stock-raiser of Denison township, Crawford county, Iowa, John N. Duff was born in Kane county, Illinois, December 17, 1860, a son of John and Sarah (Grey) Duff.
The father was a native of Scotland, born in the Highlands, and came to the United States in 1840, locating in Kane county, Illinois, where he resided until his death in 1892. As a youth he was a sheep herder and followed the vocation of farming all his life. He was an intellectual man, very fond of reading and was well posted on all the current topics of the day. In politics he was a republican but notwithstanding this fact was a great admirer of President Cleveland. His wife was born in New York state and died in Kane county, Illinois. The final resting place of both parents is in Buena Vista cemetery.
To them six children were born, as follows: Anna Eliza, the wife of W. C. Pollock, a resident of Denison township; Robert, who died when eight years old; Ellen, who lives with her brothers and sisters; Harriet, the wife of John H. Hall, of Shelby county, Iowa; John N., the subject of this sketch; and Lillie Jane, the wife of Lewis Lenze, of Kane county, Illinois.
John N. Duff obtained his education in the public schools of Kane county, where he remained with his parents until eighteen years of age, coming at that time to Crawford county and locating on a quarter section of land in Paradise township, which had been previously purchased by his father. Here he lived for six years, after which he rented land for five years in the same township, and then bought eighty acres in Washington township, continuing his residence there for fourteen years, In 1907 he removed to Denison township, where he has since lived, and is now the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of well improved land, on which he raises stock in connection with farming.
Mr. Duff was married December 13, 1886, to Miss Frances Elizabeth Blackman, who was born in Kane county, Illinois, a daughter of Jerome and Celia (Harper) Blackman. Her father is deceased and Mrs. Blackman makes her home in Denison.
To Mr. and Mrs. Duff have been born three children: Rosa Ella, who died in 1909, at the age of eighteen; John N., Jr., thirteen years old; and William Edward, deceased.
In his political views Mr. Duff adheres to the republican party. While not affiliated with any special church, both Mr. and Mrs. Duff conduct their lives on sound religious principles.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.