DAVIESS CO. KY
HISTORIES before 1923
 

1885 "KY, a History of the State" 2nd Edition (Volume), by Perrin, Battle & Kniffin (FHL book 976.9 D3wt; and from Evelyn Sigler 7/1982)
      Pg.5-6 (Pg.746), Hancock Co. JUDGE ROBERT E. DUNCAN, native of Daviess Co. KY, son of John G. and Sarah (Head) Duncan, both parents born in same county & state. Duncan family are of Scotch descent, and were among first pioneers of Nelson Co. His great-grandfather, John Duncan, emigrated from VA to that part of the State before the present century. The grandfather was Robert Duncan, a native of VA; he came to KY when a small boy and resided in Nelson Co. a number of years, subsequently moving to Daviess Co. where his death occurred about the year 1830. John G. Duncan was born in Nelson Co. in 1802; in early life he was a farmer, but in later years carried on an extensive merchandising business in Hawesville, and became one of leading citizens of the place; he died about the year 1878; his wife, the mother of subject, was a daughter of Henry Head, an early resident of Daviess Co.; she died about 1844 or 1845. John G. and Sarah Duncan reared family of five children, four of whom are living, viz, Mary J., Thomas K., R.E. and C.T. The subject [Robert E. Duncan] was born Jan. 22, 1846; he received his early education in common schools and in 1863 he entered Cecilian College, Hardin Co., for one year; spring 1864, then age 18, enlisted in 13th KY Cavalry of Confederate Army, served for 15 months, attached to Forrest's command & took part in several engagements in KY and TN campaigns; at close of war returned to Hancock Co. and commenced reading law with E.H. Brown ... in 1870 he was elected county clerk of Hancock Co., re-elected three times, for total of 12 years; Aug. 1882 elected county judge, filled until present time. He married in 1876 to Miss Adelia Hannan of Cincinnati, OH; one child Genovieve, born Aug. 22, 1878. Mason, Methodist Episcopal Church.
      Pg.11, Hancock Co. W.B. MILLER, Hancock Co., was born in Rockbridge Co. VA, March 15, 1815, to Joseph and Mary (Booker) Miller; the father born in VA in 1793, his father John Miller a native of Germany. The father [Joseph Miller] was a millwright by trade, a soldier in war of 1812; in 1822 to KY, settled Shelby Co. for 3 years, then Daviess Co. where joined Methodist Church & became preacher; in 1860 to Ohio Co. where died in 1874. The mother was also born Rockbridge Co. VA in 1792, died this state in spring 1855. Subject [W.B. Miller] is second in family of 9 ch, two now living, Joseph S. in Ohio Co. and William B. The later started at age 25 at farming in Daviess Co.; in winter 1854 to Hancock Co., settled at Lewisport, for 3 years, then bought a mill near Hawesville, 2 years and then sold; erected a mill in Hancock Co. opposite Tall City on the Ohio but remained only one year; in 1879 settled on present farm where he now owns about 108a. Mr. Miller married Jan. 11, 1841, to Miss Rosa E., dau. of Capt. Ben and Nancy (Graham) Duncan, natives of Nelson Co. Mrs. Miller was born in Daviess Co. KY, Nov. 5, 1824. To her have been born three children, two living: Nannie, wife of James Freeman, and Cynthia, wife of John A. Freeman. Mr. & Mrs. Miller members of Methodist Episcopal Church South; subject was assessor in Daviess Co. 3 years; in 1861 and 1862 was sheriff of Hancock Co., from 1876 to 1880 served as assessor.
      Pg.81-2, McLean Co. DR. CHRISTOPHER R. WILLIAMS, McLean Co., was born Nov. 21, 1840, in Daviess Co., the third of ten children of George S. and Lucy L. (Swope) Williams, natives of Nelson and Spencer Cos. KY respectively; he the son of Rolla Williams who married a Miss Duncan, and whose parents lived for a short time in the fort at Louisville; the latter (Lucy L. Swope) was a dau. of William Swope, who married a Miss Holtsclaw. ... (MAD: Rawleigh Williams mar. Rosy Duncan 9/7/1802 Nelson Co. KY, perhaps dau. of John Duncan and Mary Woods)
 

1885 "KY, a History of the State" 1st or 2nd Edition (Volume), by Perrin, Battle & Kniffin (FHL book 976.9 D3wt; and from Evelyn Sigler 9/1982)
      Pg.57-8 (pg.167-8), Ballard Co. R.C. WHITESIDE was born in Clinton Co. KY, Jan. 20, 1838, and is the first of eight children born to O.H.P. and Eliza (Campbell) Whiteside, natives of Kentucky and of German and Scotch descent respectively. (more on ancestors) ... He moved with his parents to Iowa in 1856; he returned to Ballard in 1857, settled in the neighborhood of Ogden's Landing and located where he now resides ... He was married in October, 1867, to Vitula Duncan, a native of Daviess Co. KY, and daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Muffit) Duncan, who were natives of Daviess and Breckinridge Cos. KY, respectively, of Scotch and German descent. To Mr. and Mrs. Whiteside were born five children: Samuel O., Flora B., Ella, Jesse C. (deceased), and Leslie. ...
      Pg.160, Hickman Co. S. ROBERTS, born in Daviess Co. KY, May 7, 1843, a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Duncan) Roberts. The father was born in VA and died in 1855, aged 75. Our subject was reared on his father's farm, and at age 21, ... telegraphing and railroading. In 1875 he moved to Arlington, for 8 years, in winter of 1883 he came to Columbus and purchased the Columbus City Mills which he has since operated. He owns one farm in Hickman Co. and two farms in Ballard Co., also a hotel and other property in Arlington ... Mr. Roberts was married in 1872 to Miss Julia Payne of Union Co. KY, two children. (MAD: she b. 1806; m. (1) 1828 Benjamin Muffit per Nancy Reba Roy)
 

"The history of Methodism in Kentucky" by A.H. Redford; pub. Nashville, Tenn.: Southern Methodist Pub. House, 1868-1870, 1553 pgs. (LH11281, HeritageQuest images 5/2007; FHL film 1,698,242 items 10-12)
      Pg.322: Vol.III, From the Kentucky Conference of 1825 to the Conference of 1826. The first Methodist class formed in Daveiss (MAD: as spelled) county was at Duncan's, afterward known as the Pup Creek Church. This class was formed in 1810, ...
 

1883 "History of Daviess County, Kentucky : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, biographies of representative citizens, and an outline history of Kentucky" pub. by Inter-State Publishing Co. (from Lucille Mehrkam 10/1982 and other libraries; LH13583, HeritageQuest image 10/2007; FHL book 976.9864 H2d and film 1,421,700 item 5)
      Pgs. 102, 519, 566, 601, 633, 663, 678, 722, 762, 799, 833, 853, 600, 858: 1860's elections
      Pg.43: Representatives in Congress: Duncan, Garnett, 1847-49.
      Pg.69: Squire Benj. Duncan
      Pg.109: Benj. Duncan, bond 1815
      Pg.259: Duncan's Bank near Knottsville (coal bank)
      Pg.310: Marriages to 1820:
            1818, Willis Duncan to Frances Frazier, June 3.
            1818, William R. Duncan to Kitty Roberts, Aug. 2.
            1820, Benj. Duncan to Nancy Beauchamp, March 25.
      Pg.383: Duncan & Sons Store, 1883
      Pg.395: H.A. Duncan in various lodges, 1856 on
      Pg.51: The pioneers in the eastern portion of the county were Ben Duncan, on Pup Creek in 1801, a prominent man in his day, father of Major Ben Duncan, lately deceased, and father-in-law of Asa Smeathers, and James Griffin, two of our oldest and best citizens. Ben Duncan at an early day represented Ohio and other counties in the House of Representatives and Senate of Kentucky.
      Pgs.106-7: Senators: Benj. Duncan, 1817; Benj. Duncan (& Robert Stephens) 1823-27. Representatives: Benj. Duncan 1816; Benj. Duncan 1818-19.
      Pg.109: Organization of Court, 9 Oct. 1815, bond posted by George Handley, Joseph Allen, Benjamin Duncan, Anthony Thompson, Charles Y. Duncan and William R. Griffith on behalf of George Handley, appointed clerk of the Circuit Court of Davies Co.
      Pg.323: Day-book kept by David Morton, Yellow Banks, 1818; entries from Mar. 24 to April 14. Includes Charles Duncan, Wm. R. Duncan.
      Pg.526: Joseph F. Birkhead, son of Wesley and Nancy (Furman) Birkhead, was born in Daviess County, Ky., Dec. 18, 1833. ... Left an orphan at the age of six, Joseph went to live with relatives, remaining with them till fifteen. He then commenced to learn the blacksmith's trade with Dr. William Duncan, working for him three years at $50 a year. ....
      Pg.591: Knottsville Precinct: Early Settlement. The first settlers in this precinct were families by the name of Smeathers, Duncan, Bell, Adams and Husk. Metcalfs and Winklers came afterward. Valentine Husk came from Virginia. He first settled at Yellow Banks, in 1796; then lived on the Ohio River at the mouth of Pup Creek. In 1804 he moved with his family to a point on the Yelvington and Knottsville road, three and a half miles north of the former place, ... He was the first settler in this part of the country. Soon afterward Benjamin, George, Charles and Raleigh Duncan, came from Nelson Co. and settled here. ... (from Lucille Mehrkam)
      Pg.591-592: The first religious services were held by a Methodist preacher named Craig, about 1808, in the house of Benjamin Duncan. He organized a church in this house, and Benjamin Duncan and Valentine Husk were among the first members. ... The first burying ground was started about 1806, on the land of Charles Duncan, north of Pup Creek, on the Knottsville and Yelvington road, and the first person buried was Raleigh Duncan, a son of Charles Duncan. This was the first death in the precinct. (from Lucille Mehrkam)
      Pg.594: Bethlehem Methodist Episcopal Church, originated 1808 at house of Benjamin Duncan.
      Pg.617-18: Charles H. Higdon, born in this precinct Nov. 11, 1835, ... He was married in 1870 to Sarah A., daughter of John R. Duncan. ....
      Pg.623-24: William Muffett was born in Breckinridge Co. KY, Jan. 6, 1831, and is a son of Benjamin Muffett, who died when William was but five years old. Our subject's mother, Elizabeth B. Duncan, was born near Yelvington, this county, and had removed to Breckinridge County, but upon the death of her husband she returned with her family to this county. She afterward married Henry Roberts. ....
      Pg.686-687: Thomas K. King (deceased) was born in Gallatin Co. KY, Aug. 1, 1798, and was a son of Thomas and Betsy (Colton) King, natives of Virginia. He remained on the old home in Gallatin Co. KY until 17 or 18, and then lived on a farm with his brother-in-law until 1822 or '23, when he came with his two sisters -- Sarah King, who married Elijah Dodson, and Nancy King, who resides in Owensboro, in her eighty-eighth year. He remained here (Masonville Precinct) one year, then returned to Gallatin County and worked in a distillery until his marriage to Luella Cooper, near Bloomfield, Nelson County, Ky., Nov. 15, 1830. She was born in Shelby County, Nov. 12, 1805, and was a daughter of John and Molly (Duncan) Cooper, natives of Virginia. After his marriage he came to Daviess Co. KY ....
      Pg.708: James W. Ware was born in Shelby Co. KY, Oct. 25, 1822. His father was James Ware Sr., born in Culpeper Co. VA. He came with his parents to Mercer Co. KY, when a child. The family afterward moved to Shelby Co. KY where James married Joanna Garner, a native of Virginia. In October, 1833, the family came to Daviess Co. KY, and the father purchased ... He died in 1868; his wife in 1870. James W. was the third son and seventh child of ten children. He was but eleven years of age when he came with his parents to Daviess County. Sept. 1, 1852, he married Margaret A. Lanham, a native of Masonville Precinct, born April 5, 1834, and a daughter of John W. and Lutitia (Jackson) Lanham, old settlers of Daviess County. ... He and wife have had nine children, three sons and five daughters -- Martha A., born May 21, 1853, married Henry Duncan; ....
      Pg.774: C.R. Priest, born Jan. 6, 1832, is a son of John H. and Isabella (Grigsby) Priest, his father a native of North Carolina, born May 10, 1793, and his mother a native of Daviess County, born Dec. 12, 1800. In 1832 his parents moved to Henderson County, where his father died July 3, 1851. There was a family of eleven children, the following lived to maturity -- Joseph M., Marcus A., Frances (Mrs. David Boswell), Decius, Sallie (Mrs. C.B. Duncan), Cortez R., Fernando, Epamanondus and John. ....
      Pg.797: Upper Town Precinct. Early Settlement. This precinct adjoins the city of Owensboro, and some of the earliest settlements in the county were made within its limits. One of the first settlements was made by Valentine Husk, who, after living two or three years at Yellow Banks, moved to a point on the Ohio River at the mouth of Pup Creek. Mr. Husk had seven children, the third of whom was George Husk, born in October, 1800. In 1809 Mr. Husk moved to a point now included in Knottsville Precinct. Robert Duncan, father of Robert G. Duncan, was one of the early pioneers of this precinct. He came here from Nelson County in 1816, and first settled on the banks of Yellow Creek and lived there for some time; but finding that titles to the land were not good, he moved to the vicinity of Yelvington. ...
      Pg.820: James A. Morrison, farmer, was born in Oldham Co. KY, Dec. 30, 1841. His father, James R. Morrison, who was born in Danville, Ky., in 1802, and died in Carrollton, Ky., in 1872, while visiting his son, Dr. Goodlow Morrison, was ... His mother, Mildred (Duncan) Morrison, was born in Oldham Co. KY in 1806, and married at the age of twenty-three years. She has had six children, three now living -- Dr. A.M., of Goshen, Ky., born in 1838; James A., born in 1841, and Lucy E., born in 1844, now the wife of Charles Harrison, a druggist of Davenport, Iowa. ...
      Pg.850: Yelvington Precinct. Early Settlement. The first settler in this precinct was Valentine Husk, who came in 1796, and after living a short time at Yellow Banks settled at the mouth of Pup Creek. In 1804 he moved to Knottsville Precinct, where he died. James Smeathers and James Adams came very early; both subsequently settled in Knottsville, and died many years ago. Richard C. Jett, born in Virginia, settled on Blackford Creek in 1809. Hon. Benjamin Duncan was one of the pioneers. He was from Virginia, and died in the Kentucky Senate in 1824. Charles Duncan, James Bates, Charles Worthington, the Edwards family, Amos Shaw, Amos Riley, General John Davis and Harry Willis were early settlers. ...
      Pg.853: Yelvington Precinct. Asa Smeathers. This gentleman is one of the oldest in the county. He was born in Owensboro, Sept. 4, 1804. His father, James Smeathers, was a pioneer here, and lived just across the line in Knottsville, where he died many years ago. March 25, 1825, Mr. Smeathers married Mary E. Duncan, daughter of Hon. Benjamin Duncan, and they had nine children; five are living, namely: Harold, Archie, John T., Mary A. and James T. Benjamin died in 1881, aged forty-five years; Elizabeth (Mrs. Kinne) died in 1857, aged thirty-three years, leaving four children. When Mr. Smeathers was young, wolves, deer and bears were very abundant. He has seen as many as fifteen deer in a drove, and has killed a great many. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church about sixty years.
      Pg.860-861: Yelvington Precinct. WILLIAM B. DUNCAN (deceased), born in Daviess County, Ky., May 1, 1816, was a son of Robert Duncan, an early settler of this county. His education was received in the primitive log schoolhouse. He was reared a farmer, and always followed that occupation. Dec. 12, 1841, he married Celia Head. To them were born six children, five living -- Elizabeth, Henry J., Robert F., Jennie and John B. His wife died Aug. 29, 1856, and Nov. 11, 1857, he married Mrs. Anna Haygood, a widow lady with two children -- Kate and Georgia. Three children were born to them -- William N., Rosa Lee and Clinton C. Soon after his first marriage Mr. Duncan settled in this precinct on the farm where his children now live, and where he died June 1, 1882. His wife preceded him Dec. 10, 1867. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Bethlehem, and belonged to the Masonic fraternity. His son, John B., is a subscriber to "Daviess County History."
 

"1792 to 1892, the Illustrated Centennial Record of State of KY, containing complete list of Executive, Judicial and Legislative Departments of State ... since 1792" by Sam Carpenter Elliott, 1892 (FHL film 156,890 item 8) (see Daviess Co. KY)
      No Duncan
      Pg.8: Simon Kenton, pioneer of KY, b. April 13, 1755 in Fauquier Co. VA, father was native of Ireland, mother of Scotch descent, at age 16 he left home on account of difficulty with a neighbor, William Veatch, whom he thought he had killed; to KY, assumed name of Simon Butler which enabled him to escape. Later found he had not killed Veatch. Captured many times by Indians and escaped. Planted first corn raised in Mason Co. KY or north of the KY river. Died at his home in Logan Co. OH 4/29/1836. (MAD: copied because we keep seeing the Simon Kenton name in early KY & OH records)
 

"KY Blue Book" 1895 (FHL film 156,900 item 4) (see Daviess Co. KY)
      No history of Senators; was looking for Ben Duncan died in Senate 1824.
 

1887 "History of Hamilton, Knox and Shelby Cos. TN" by Goodspeed (FHL book 976.8 H2ha, Vol.3)
      Pg.986-7, Shelby Co.: Emmett Howard. As head manager of the Western Union Telegraph officers (sic) of Memphis stands Emmett Howard, the son of John and Julia (Duncan) Howard, natives of Davis Co. KY, where they reared a family of four children -- three sons and one daughter -- two of the sons being telegraphists. The father, a contractor and builder by profession, died in 1853, but the mother still lives in the grand old State of KY. Emmett Howard was born in KY and while growing up learned the useful art of telegraphy and soon took charge of an office. During the war he was on post duty at Meridian, MS. From 1866 to 1877 he had charge of the office at Humboldt, TN, and at the same time was also interested in the mercantile business; from there he went to Columbia, SC, and had charge of the Western Union office about 3 years. He then became contracting agent for the company with headquarters at Nashville and in 1881 was transferred to Memphis. In 1873 he married Annie E. Gilbert, of Logan Co. KY, who after a happy wedded life of 9 years (died).
 

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