Matthew McClintock Duffie (1833–1906)

Matthew McClintock (M. M.) Duffie served as president of the Arkansas Senate and was U.S. Consul General to Winnipeg in Western Canada. He served as an officer for the Confederacy during the Civil War and was a leading member of the Arkansas Bar Association.

M. M. Duffie was born on March 11, 1833, to Reuben Lawson Duffie and Annie McClintock Duffie of Fairfield County, South Carolina. He was one of eleven children. His father farmed and taught school, and his great-grandfather served in the Revolutionary War’s “Hornet’s Nest” Militia of North Carolina. During his childhood and through his later life, Duffie was enamored with his flute practice and studies, a passion for classical music he passed on to his children and grandchildren.

Duffie spent three years at North Carolina’s Davidson College. In 1856, he graduated from Erskine College, where he was the salutatory orator. Later that same year, Duffie moved to Arkansas, settling in Princeton (Dallas County). His younger brother Alexander McKie (A. M.) Duffie joined him.

He read law under Freeman W. Compton and was admitted to the Arkansas Bar in 1858. He founded the M. M. Duffie law firm in Malvern (Hot Spring County), the county seat. (The law office was eventually located in the Hot Spring County Courthouse after the courthouse was constructed in 1888.) During his career, he was active in the community’s civic, political, and spiritual life, being a Blue Lodge and Chapter Mason and an elder in the Presbyterian Church.

The Duffie law firm was later joined by brother A. M. Duffie and by M. M. Duffie’s son, William Reuben (W. R.) Duffie. A. M. Duffie would go on to become a chancery judge, as would W. R. Duffie. In 1858, M. M. Duffie was elected a state representative, representing Dallas County in the Arkansas General Assembly.

Duffie served for the Confederacy during the Civil War, beginning as a lieutenant in 1861. He was promoted to captain in 1862 and was later offered the position of major, which he respectfully declined, saying, “I prefer to remain with the boys.” After serving in several key battles, including Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Perryville, and Chickamauga, Duffie was named major and assigned to a command post duty in South Carolina, where he remained for the rest of the war. On May 10, 1865, he surrendered both his infantry and artillery company, including millions of dollars in stockpiles, to the victorious Union army.

Duffie married Hannah Cooksey in 1866. He had given her his mother’s ring before he and his company, a part of the Sixth Arkansas Infantry (“The Dallas Rifles”), left Princeton. The pair had seven children. One son, Benjamin (“Benaja”) Duffie, would become a successful importer/exporter in South America. By the mid-twentieth century, another son, Samuel McClintock Duffie, had become a leader in Texas’s citrus and grapefruit industry.

In 1868, M. M. Duffie demonstrated his renewed political interest at a Dallas County gathering, where he was one of four speakers who addressed the issues of the day. They were affiliated with the Redeemer Democratic movement that helped overthrow the Arkansas Republican government.

In 1870, he represented Dallas County at the Second Congressional District Democratic Convention. In 1871, he served on the central committee for the same district. By 1872, he was urged by members of that district to run for the U.S. House of Representatives; he did not secure the nomination.

In 1873, Duffie again held a seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives. He won the Sixteenth Senate District in 1876. The Arkansas Gazette stated in March 1877 that he was “one of the most influential workers and efficient members of the Senate.”

Duffie was elected president of the Arkansas Senate in 1879 for a one-year term. He does not appear to have run again in 1880 for this seat, but in that same year, he was mentioned as a possible future gubernatorial candidate. In May 1882, the Dallas County Democratic Convention instructed its delegates to vote for Duffie for governor, but he did not receive the Democratic Party’s nomination.

As a result of his incorporating two railroad companies, he was active in local transportation investments. In 1880, he was elected a director of the Malvern Princeton and Southeastern Railway Company. In 1883, he was elected vice president of the Ultima Thule, Arkadelphia and Mississippi Railroad Company.

In 1884, he was a presidential elector for Grover Cleveland, who carried the Arkansas electoral vote and went on to win the presidency. After Cleveland’s 1893 return to the White House, Duffie was appointed U.S. Consul General to Winnipeg in Western Canada. He held this position for four years. His papers of appointment were signed by President Cleveland and by Queen Victoria. His wife and their youngest children accompanied him to Winnipeg. While there, W. R. Duffie attended Manitoba College.

During his diplomatic service, a letter to an old friend is quoted verbatim in the Arkansas Gazette. In it, he relates that Black children in Canada are called Yankees and states, “I’m used to it.” He later relates enthusiasm for hosting all U.S. visitors—both Southern and Northern—while in Winnipeg.

During the last year of his life, although not in good health, he was elected to the board of First National Bank of Malvern.

Duffie died at his Malvern home on September 12, 1906. He is buried in Malvern’s Oak Ridge Cemetery, where the early twentieth-century Duffie obelisk features the names and dates for M. M. Duffie, his wife, and his brother.

For additional information:
“Another New Railroad.” Southern Standard, December 18, 1880, p. 2.

“Consul Duffie.” Arkansas Gazette, March 6, 1894, p. 2.

“Dallas County, Arkansas, Duffie, Col. M. M.” http://www.argenweb.net/dallas/resources_records/online_records/biographies/goodspeed_biographies/duffie_col_m_m.html (accessed September 16, 2026).

“Duffie Family Reunion.” Arkansas Democrat, July 7, 1900, p. 6.

“The Election for Members of the Legislature.” (Fayetteville, Arkansas) Weekly Democrat, November 15, 1873, p. 2.

“Fortieth Anniversary of Marriage of Col. and Mrs. M. M. Duffie Observed in Malvern.” Arkansas Gazette, February 9, 1906, pp. 1, 2.

“From Dorsey County.” Batesville Guard, February 12, 1880, p. 3.

“Governor.” Arkansas Gazette, June 17, 1882, p. 2.

“Grant County Heard From.” Arkansas Gazette, August 17, 1872, p. 1.

“Hon. M. M. Duffie.” Daily Arkansas Gazette, September 22, 1897, p. 4.

“Honorable M. M. Duffie.” Arkansas Gazette, March 29, 1877, p. 4.

“News From All Over Arkansas: Hon. M. M. Duffie Died This Morning at His Home in Malvern.” Arkansas Democrat, September 12, 1906, p. 1.

“Public Speaking.” Arkansas Gazette, February 20, 1868, p. 3.

“Representatives’ Elect.” (Van Buren) Arkansas Intelligencer, August 13, 1858, p. 2.

“Second Congressional Dist. Convention.” Arkansas Gazette, July 25, 1871, p. 3.

“Second Congressional District Democratic Convention.” Arkansas Gazette, July 2, 1870, p. 3.

“Soldiers Good and True.” Arkansas Gazette, March 5, 1893, p. 10.

Southern Standard, January 7, 1898, p. 2.

Southern Standard, May 6, 1882, p. 2.

“The Twenty-First District.” Arkansas Gazette, October 11, 1873, p. 1.

“The Ultima Thule, Arkadelphia, and Miss.” Southern Standard, June 30, 1883, p. 3.

Nell Weaver Lyford
St. Louis, Missouri