Duncans in Poinsett Co. AR

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Duncan research files of
Mary Ann (Duncan) Dobson
the Genealogy Bug

Last revised July 11, 2013

POINSETT CO. AR
Formed 1838 from Greene, St. Francis
Cross formed 1826 from Crittenden, Poinsett, St. Francis
Craighead formed 1859 from Mississippi, Greene, Poinsett
 

CENSUS RECORDS

1840-1860 Poinsett Co. AR Census
      No Duncan indexed
 

LAND RECORDS

Poinsett Co. AR Deed Indexes (copied by CVD in SLC 5/1/2013)
      Index to deeds and ca. 1854-1889, mortgages by grantor ca. 1897-1899 (FHL Film 1,024,556 Item 1) - no Duncan
      Abstract of deeds and ca. 1873-1889 mortgages, by grantee (FHL Film 1,024,559 Item 3) - no Duncan
 

HISTORIES before 1923

1889 "Biographical and historical memoirs of northeast Arkansas : comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties named herein, and numerous biographical sketches of the prominent citizens of such counties" Greene, Clay, Fulton, Craighead, Randolph, Mississippi, Poinsett, Independence, Sharp, Lawrence, Jackson and Izard Counties; by Goodspeed (FHL book 976.7 H2ba and film 928,094 item 1; and from Evelyn Sigler 9/1983)
      Pg.607, Poinsett Co.: M.D. Simmons & Co., druggists of Harrisburg, AR ... Store opened Feb. 1882; senior member of firm, Mr. Simmons, born Marshall Co. MS in 1859, the eldest in family of 3 children born to John & Victoria E. (Douglas) Simmons, the former a native of TN and the latter of MS. John Simmons removed to Cross Co. AR in 1860 & located near Vanndale, and in 1871 located in Wittsburg, AR, wher the mother died in 1872. The father ... now makes his home in Vanndale. M.D. Simmons received his early education in schools of Wittsburg ... Methodist Episcopal Church South ... married in Clarksville, TN, on 18 June 1884 to Miss Hardin Duncan, a native of that state, had two children: Bessie May and Louise Kendrick. Mrs. Simmons is a dau. of John and Mary Elizabeth (Johnson) Duncan, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of TN. John Duncan removed to TN at an early day, and settled in Nashville [Davidson Co.] in 1844, where he followed occupation of painting. He is still living and resides with Mrs. Simmons, but the mother died in Little Rock, AR, in 1884, where they were residing at the time.
       Pg.611-2: T.A. Stone, b. 1846 Poinsett Co. AR, son of Robert H. & Emily (Shaver) Stone ... m. 1868 Miss Mary Frances Goodwin, native of AL, dau. of Peterson & Mary (Burt) Goodwin ... children ... Minnie Lura. (no ref. to Duncan)

1911 "Historical review of Arkansas, its commerce, industry and modern affairs" 3 vols., by Fay Hempstead, pub. by Lewis Pub. (FHL book 976.7 D32sa; CA State Library, Sutro Branch, book F411 H485; and from Evelyn Sigler 1991)
      Vol.3 pg.1321-2: WILLIAM H. DUNCAN ... citizen of Harrisburg ... head of the firm of W.H. Duncan & Co ... one of foremost merchants of this part of Poinsett Co. A son of John Duncan, he was born July 4, 1868, in TN, near Clarksville [Montgomery Co.], of Scotch Ancestry. His grandfather, William Duncan, was born and bred in Scotland, there learned the trade of carpet making. He subsequently moved to Sheffield, England, and there spent the closing years of his life. He reared five children, as follows: Robert, who died in Nashville, [Davidson Co.] TN; William passed away in Sheffield, England; James, deceased, was for many years connected with the White Line of steamships plying between Liverpool and New York; John, the father of William H.; and Sarah, who married W.F. Allison, and lived in Quincy, Massachusetts.
            John Duncan was born in 1818, near Glasgow, Scotland. In 1838, as a sailor lad, he came to the United States on a sailing vessel, being four months without seeing land. The vessel drifted down to the West Indies, and near Santiago, Cuba, was picked up by another vessel and directed to New Orleans, where its passengers were finally landed. Leaving the other passengers in that city, or many of them, John Duncan took a boat for Nashville [Davidson Co.], arriving there at about the same time as did the Quapaw Indians, who were being transferred to their new home in the West. He continued northward to St. Louis, but soon returned to TN and visited Nashville, then a town of four hundred inhabitants, but finally located at Clarksville, TN. In 1880 he moved with his family to Little Rock AR ... spent his last days in Harrisburg, AR, passing away in 1902. He married Mary E. Johnson, who was born in TN, a dau of Len Johnson, a Virginian by birth and the descendant of a prominent Colonial family of the U.S. She died at Little Rock, AR in 1884, leaving two children, namely: Jennie, wife of M.D. Simmons, a leading druggist of Harrisburg; and William H., with whom this sketch is chiefly concerned.
            Accompanying his parents on their journey from Clarksville, TN, to Little Rock, AR, William H. Duncan, then a lad of 12 years; to Harrisburg, AR, in 1884; after his marriage Mr. Duncan entered into business with his father-in-law & for 12 years was member of mercantile firm of T.A. Stone & Co.; subsequently founded business W.H. Duncan & Co. On Nov. 15, 1893, Mr. Duncan married Minnie Stone, a dau. of T.A. Stone, one of the early pioneers of Poinsett Co. Five children have blessed the union of Mr. & Mrs. Duncan, namely: Lorens, Lura, Lucy, Thomas and Robert. William H. Duncan's father was a courier during the Civil War for the Confederacy. William H. is an uncompromising Democrat ... a Mason ... Methodist Episcopal church, South.
 

END

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