San Francisco County
Biographies
HON. M. C. DUFFICY
HON. M. C. DUFFICY,
Justice of the Peace at San Rafael,
was elected to office in November, 1890, and succeeded himself, inasmuch as he
had held the office by appointment prior to election, after Judge Davis had
resigned.
Mr. Dufficy was born near the town of Strokestown, county
Roscommon, west of Ireland,
December 29, 1839. His parents, Francis and Alicia (Lane) Dufficy, emigrated to America
in 1846, locating at New Orleans, Louisiana,
where the father died in 1848. Our
subject attended school six years or until 1852, when the mother and family
came to California via Panama, taking passage on the Atlantic side in the
steamer Falcon, November 7, 1852, and the steamer Northerner on the Pacific,
arriving in San Francisco in December, 1852.
Mr. Dufficy, the fourth of a family of seven
children, remained in the city of San Francisco
until 1854, when he located in Marysville and remained there until 1876 engaged
in mercantile pursuits,--merchandising and dealing in real estate, etc. For a period of eight years he conducted the
Western Hotel and St. Nicholas Hotel of that place. He was also the proprietor of the Brooklyn
Hotel of San Francisco for two years. In
1883 he took charge of and conducted the Central Hotel at San
Rafael until 1886, when he returned to his farm property
in Yuba county, where he engaged in farming until
1888. Returning to San
Rafael to make this his home, he purchased residence
property and has since been engaged with his present official duties.
Judge Dufficy was joined in marriage, at Marysville, February 2,
1863, with Miss Edwinia O’Brien, a native of Dubuque,
Iowa, and daughter of Dr. James O’Brien, formerly County Physician of Butte
county, California, who crossed the plains to California in 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Dufficy
have nine children, namely: Mary, Edwinia, George,
Josephine, Veronica, Charles M., Alicia, Elizabeth and Rafael. During the years between 1857 and 1863, while
at Marysville, Judge Dufficy made the study of law a
specialty, in the office of Judges L. J. Ashford and F. L. Hatch. Although not a practitioner, his knowledge of
law has been of much value to him since.
He was a Notary Public of Marysville, as he is also of this city.
He is a staunch
Democrat in politics, still active in political matters, and may
always be found allied with the better and more progressive element of his
party. He is a gentleman of culture and
has the respect and good will of a large circle of friends.
Transcribed
by Cathi Skyles.
Source: "The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 2,
page 314, Lewis Publishing Co, 1892.
© 2005 Cathi Skyles.
California Biography Project
San Francisco County
California Statewide
Golden Nugget Library