Duncans in Lincoln Co. MO Duncan Family Register

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

Last revised June 26, 2002

LINCOLN CO. MO
Duncan Family Register
 

"The Duncan Family Register of Lewis Duncan and Harriet Kinnard, his wife, with Numerous Biographical Sketches" by R.S. Duncan, 1905, published for the Author by P.W. Stephens, Columbia, MO. (FHL film 2,055,309 item 3; also part from Mary Sutton, Joe Hammond, Fran Laaker, and Shirley Harper 1984)
      Page opposite title page: Sidney Duncan, Brighton, Tex., May 14, 1909.
      Inner page: Sacred to the Memory of Lewis Duncan, Harriet Duncan, and their Ancestors, This book is affectionately inscribed by the author, October 15, 1904.

      (Pg.5) INTRODUCTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL. Family records and family histories are exceedingly interesting and eminently valuable. ... The "Sketches" and family "Register" of Lewis and Harriet Duncan and their descendants, which follow, grew out of conversations had in connection with the first family reunion, held at the old homestead in Lincoln county, Missouri, in September, 1898. An elaborate history cannot here be undertaken, but an outline of the lives of the father and the mother of the large family, whose record will fill these pages, seems not only admissible, but highly necessary and creditable.

      The register proper will contain the full legal name of the descendants, by birth or by marriage, of Lewis Duncan and Harriet Duncan, his wife; the date and place of their births, date of their marriages (if married), and by whom married; also the date of the deaths of those who have died.

      ANCESTRAL HISTORY. Not until this register was inaugurated and fairly under way, could it have been said that the heirs of Lewis Duncan had anything but the most meager knowledge of their ancestry beyond James Duncan, his father. But by the providential aid and the very great kindness of Hon. Daniel A. Grimsley, of Culpeper, Virginia -- a man who observes passing events closely, and who has access to the records of his State -- valuable information of several generations has been secured, of which the western wing of the family was not in possession hitherto.

      Judge Grimsley says:
      "From an examination of the records here, I find, that from 1750 to 1790, there lived in Culpeper county, four large families by the name of Duncan; that of William, and of Charles, of James, and of Robert. Tradition in some branches of the family has it that they were Scotchmen and brothers; and I have no doubt this is correct. They were people of more than ordinary education. I notice that all deeds and wills made by them were signed by their own hands, both male and female, which was not at all common in those early days.

      "The children of William Duncan were John (who died unmarried before his father); Rawley, James, who married Senie Browning; William who married Rose Norman and died in 1788 {1802}; Joseph, who died in 1802; Ann, who married a Mr. Roberts, and Rice, who also died unmarried.

      "The children of Charles Duncan were Norman, who married Lucy Browning; William, Charles, Shadrach, Isaac, John, Milly, Henry, Elizabeth and Zachery. These all appear to have left Virginia early, and I have no trace of them.

      "James Duncan's children were Reuben, James, Willis, William, Francis, Mary, Ann, and Sarah. The wife of this James was named Barsheba. This family also left Virginia early.

      "The children of Robert Duncan, who died in 1793, were the following; Robert, who died in 1832; Charles, Samuel, Joseph, Gallop (who married Lucy Covington and died in 1813); Phillis, the wife of John Barbee; Ann, the wife of Thomas Pope; Mary, the wife of Joseph Henkly; Rosa, the wife of William Jett, and Lavinia, wife of William Lightfoot. There are none of this family now (1899) in Virginia.

      "Now, of the second generation, William Duncan (the son of the first William), who married Rose Norman, died about 1788 and left the following children: William -- whose wife was named Lucy -- died in 1832; Benjamin, Frederick, James and Elizabeth. This James Duncan died about 1814, and left the following children: Lewis, Marshall, James, Lucy, William, Hiram, and John. This Lewis Duncan, I presume, is your father. He was married in 1827 to Harriet Kinnaird by Rev. Wm. F. Broadus, a Baptist minister of great talents, learning and influence in the community." (M.S. Letter of Judge Grimsley.)

      Thus we traced the ancestors of Lewis Duncan back for three generations, and Judge Grimsley's "presumption" is shown to be true, for the Lewis Duncan, descendant of William Duncan of 1750, and the father of our family, was married to Harriet Kinnaird in 1827, by Wm. F. Broadus, as shown by our family Record, and as appears from Records at Culpeper, Virginia, examined by Mr. Grimsley.

      Another note of interest:
      "In an early day, two brothers named respectively John and George Duncan, emigrated from Scotland to the United States. John settled in the State of Virginia (then a Province), and George settled in Pennsylvania. From these two men it is believed that all, by this name in the United States, have descended." (History of Missouri Baptists, p. 576.)

      Duncan is a Scotch name, and William and John are family names in every generation. These facts are confirmatory of the accounts given of the ancestral members of the family.

      Judge Grimsley continues his account in these words:
      "All the Duncans of the olden time were farmers or planters, and, so far as my observation goes, it continues to be the leading employment of the family. And they are remarkably good farmers, too. I have never known one to be an indolent, thriftless man."

      "JAMES DUNCAN," says Mr. Grimsley, "was both a merchant and a farmer. I know well the house he is said to have built in 1802, both for a residence and a store. It was only about a mile from my father's home. It is standing at this time (1899), and the figures, 1802, are cut in the rock of the chimney.

      "Our marriage records are very meagre. Before the Revolution the records were kept by the Parish clerk, and afterwards, for a number of years, the marriages celebrated by the Episcopal clergy were recorded in the Parish Register, and these have been lost; so, previous to about 1800, very few marriages are recorded in the clerk's office." (Grimsley's M.S.)

      In the face of these difficulties he finds this record, however:
      "JAMES DUNCAN AND DORCAS BUTLER WERE MARRIED ON THE 27TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1797."

      LEWIS DUNCAN was the son of James Duncan and Dorcas Butler, of Virginia. JAMES DUNCAN was born not far from the beginning of the American Revolution. (He was a native of Fauquier county, Virginia, and a son of William Duncan and Rose Norman his wife, the former of whom died about 1788.) He died in the prime of life, about 1814. DORCAS BUTLER, of English parentage, was a daughter of Spenser Butler, of Culpeper county, Virginia. From the death of her husband in 1814, she lived in widowhood until her death, which occurred about the year 1850, at the home of her son, Lewis Duncan, in Lincoln county, Missouri. She was then an old woman -- from 75 to 80 years -- the only one of my grandparents I had ever seen, and I remember her well, and also the event of her death in our home, where she had lived for some years, but the exact date of said event I remember not. My other three grandparents all died in Virginia.

      The children of James Duncan and Dorcas his wife, were the following:
      Marshall Duncan,
      William Duncan,
      John H. Duncan,
      Lewis Duncan,
      Hiram Duncan,
      James Duncan,
      Lucy Duncan,

            BIOGRAPHICAL
      LEWIS DUNCAN had royal blood in his veins, being a descendant, without a doubt, of Prince Duncan who figured in Scotch history more than two hundred years ago. As seen above, he was the middle child of seven children, all of whom were Virginians. He grew to manhood in his native State, having spent his early life on the plantation and in the store room.

      "Virginia did not have, in the olden days, a system of public school education, but a much better and more thorough system than at present. It was not so generally diffused, but it was of a much higher and better order than that which we have at the present time (1899). The Rev. Wm. F. Broadus," continues Mr. Grimsley, in his letter to the writer, "for several years of his early life, conducted what would now be called, a High School, in the immediate vicinity of the home of Lewis Duncan, your father; and I doubt not that he was his first and only teacher." This school was the Mount Salem Academy, where Lewis Duncan was educated under Wm. F. Broadus, as Principal. This Academy was not far from the home of my grandfather -- James Duncan -- the father of Lewis. Wm. G. Crigler, the present clerk of Gourd Vine Baptist Church, Virginia, confirms the facts stated in this paragraph.

      LEWIS DUNCAN was born in Culpeper (now Rappahannock) county, Virginia, March 1, 1806, and there grew up to manhood; and there he married Harriet Kinnaird, September 11, 1827. For one or more years he taught school in Virginia. His public avowal of faith in Christ was made in the spring of 1828, and he became a member of Gourd Vine Baptist Church, planted in 1791, and still existent. (Semple's Hist. Va. Bap., 174.) Missouri invited immigration. It was then a new state, and he became favorably impressed with this rich and promising western country. Thereupon, on the 16th day of October, of that year (1828), with his young wife and baby Frank, he left the "Old Dominion" to seek a new home in Missouri. The trip was made in an old-fashioned carry-all, which brought the family, and covered wagon with the household, driven by negro Dick, who afterwards became a Baptist preacher. This wonderful trip of a thousand miles, over the few unmade -- or poorly made -- roads of that early day, lasted about two months, including a short rest in Kentucky in the home of his brother-in-law -- William (Uncle Billy) Smith -- not far from Bowling Green.

      He arrived in Missouri about the middle of December, 1828, and settled in Lincoln county. The first ten years of his Missouri life were spent by him on the farm and in the school room as teacher, in the region round about Troy, the county seat. In 1838, at the call of the Sulphur Lick Baptist Church, he was ordained to the gospel ministry, by Elds. William Davis, Robert Gilmore, and Ephraim Davis.

      Early in 1839, John Jenkins, his brother-in-law, and family; John Duncan, his brother; and Dorcas Duncan, his mother; all removed to the State of Arkansas, where lived his brothers, William and James Duncan. He, himself, had purposed making the same removal; and with them; but was hindered that season by not finding sale for his farm. Meantime, the Arkansas country proved to be very unhealthy, and the wife of John Jenkins -- my aunt -- died there. Thereupon Lewis Duncan, my father, having then sold his home near Troy, reversed his purpose to remove to Arkansas, and bought lands and built a new home (now -- 1904 -- the "old home"), far up in the county, some four miles south of the town of Louisville. The country was then sparsely settled. From where Millwood now is to the new home, there was not a single settlement in all that beautiful prairie. His removal to this place was in January, 1840, and here he continued to live, and here he died. His death occurred, without the visible presence of any disease whatever; on the Lord's Day, December 15, 1872, and he now sleeps in the cemetery on the hill at the "old home," between his wife and his mother.

      Of his brothers, Marshall Duncan was the oldest, whose children were William, Jane, Robert, James, Mildred, John Sanford, Ann, and Hiram. Marshall Duncan married and died in Virginia; and his widow and family moved to Platte county, Missouri, not long after the addition of the "Platte Purchase" to the original state in 1836.

      William Duncan -- second brother of Lewis -- was a doctor. In an early day he removed to Arkansas, and thence, subsequently, to Texas, where he raised a family. Of them we know no more.

      John H. Duncan, the third brother, never married. He was a Baptist preacher, but I think was never ordained. He spent much of his life teaching school; and, when he died, he left some incomplete manuscripts of books which he had purposed publishing. He was a good scholar, and a fine writer. The date of his birth was 1803, and of his death, 1851. He died in the home of his brother Lewis.

      Hiram Duncan, fifth son of James Duncan, Sr., and next younger than Lewis, married Mrs. Jane Handcock late in life, and died many years ago without issue.

      James Duncan, the youngest brother, married in early life, settled in Arkansas, raised to maturity one child -- a daughter -- and died, as also his wife -- many years ago. The daughter was the only bodily heir. She married, became the mother of one child, and both died; and, by the laws of Arkansas, left to the husband and father a "life interest" in the large landed estate inherited from the father, James Duncan. This note may be of some interest to the heirs of Marshall, William, and Lewis Duncan, the only surviving heirs of James.

      Lucy Duncan, only sister of Lewis, married John Jenkins, of Virginia, and became the mother of three children -- Catharine, Sidney Elizabeth, and James William. The first died when a child, the second died in January, 1903; and the last named was killed by highwaymen in California, when only a young man.

      AS A CHRISTIAN. Lewis Duncan's Christian life ... (pg.13-16)
      A copy from THE OLD FAMILY RECORD.
            Lewis Duncan, born March 1, 1806, in Culpeper county, Virginia, died Sunday, December 15, 1872.
            Harriet Kinnaird, born October 12, 1806, in Culpeper county, Virginia, died February 24, 1852.
            Married, September 11, 1827 by Eld. Wm. F. Broadus; a Baptist.

      ANCESTRAL HISTORY (of the Kinnaird family ...; MAD's extract) ... But there was another David Kinnaird, a son of William; "who acquired lands in 1796 from William Duncan and wife. These lands, if not the same on which Mrs. Sally Royston lived, were in that immediate vicinity." (Judge Grimsley's Letter.) This Mrs. Royston was a sister of Harriet Kinnaird, the mother of our family. .... (pgs.20-22 are sketch of Harriet Kinnaird Duncan as wife and mother)

      PREFACE. ... (pg.23-24) ...
      FAMILY REGISTER OF LEWIS DUNCAN AND HARRIET DUNCAN AND THEIR DESCENDANTS.
            Lewis Duncan, born March 1, 1806, in Culpeper county, Virginia.
            Harriet Kinnaird, born October 12, 1806, in Culpeper county, Virginia.
            They were married September 11, 1827 by Wm. F. Broadus; a Baptist preacher.
            Their children -- names and births.
      1. Francis Henry Duncan, born June 25, 1828, in Culpeper county, Virginia.
      2. Mildred Ann Duncan, born April 3, 1830, in Lincoln county, Missouri.
      3. Robert Samuel Duncan, born April 27, 1832, in Lincoln county, Missouri.
      4. Sarah Catharine Duncan, born March 17, 1834, in Lincoln county, Missouri.
      5. William Edward Duncan, born April 14, 1836, in Lincoln county, Missouri.
      6. David James Duncan, born June 2, 1838, in Lincoln county, Missouri.
      7. Joseph Lewis Duncan, born April 29, 1840, in Lincoln county, Missouri.
      8. Benjamin Marshall Duncan, born June 5, 1842, in Lincoln county, Missouri.
      9. Mary Ellen Duncan, born August 5, 1844, in Lincoln county, Missouri.
      10. George Washington Duncan, born March 25, 1847, in Lincoln county, Missouri.
      11. Richard Montgomery Duncan, born October 24, 1849, in Lincoln county, Missouri.
 

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