Robert Duffy (b. 1839), son of James Duffy. Robert was the first Duffy to be born in Canada, in Bolton, Ontario. When the town of Bolton was newly established, then consisting of only about four cabins, the Duffy Farm was the first Methodist place of worship in the area.
Robert is listed in the 1851 Census. In the next Census of 1861, he is listed as working on the Shaw family farm, fellow Wesleyan Methodists who also originated from Sligo. Thereafter Robert disappears from the records.
It is believed Robert joined the Union Army to fight in the American Civil War. The Union Army visited Canada on recruitment drives. Many Canadians joined for adventure and because the pay was good. As a Wesleyan Methodist Robert would not have been in an Irish Brigade.
Robert’s cousin Thomas Duffy also went to fight in the American Civil War – the N.Y. 150th Infantry Regiment – in Troy, New York, close to the Canadian border. Robert himself is assumed to have been killed in the American Civil War.