Volume
8, Number 1 January 2000************
MAD: The following are parts of some of the many references to a William Duncan
whose descendants are said to have settled in the United States in the 1700's.
Many of them are contradictory.
Reverend William Duncan, outed at the Revolution, died in Scotland in 1692 age about 65, wife Janet Macarthur, had a son William Duncan.
Letters given by John F. Regan (an attorney) to Lois Laird ca 12/1996 who
sent them to Dorothy Franks 1/10/97 (copy from Dorothy Franks 1/15/97)
Letter 1
December 1996 from Helen A. McArthur, Service Support Librarian; Dumfries &
Galloway Council, Serving South West Scotland, Community Resources, Alstair R.
Johnston BA ALA FSA [Scot], Libraries and Infomation Manager, Ewert Library,
Catherine Street, Dumfries DG1 1JB.
Mr. John F. Regan, Decatur,
IL, USA. Dear Mr. Regan
I reply to you letter dated 23 November
1996.
It might be useful to give an outline of the
ecclesiastical situation in Scotland during the seventeenth century. In the
sixteenth century, the time of John Knox, Scotland had established a
Presbyterian church, with every parish semi-autonomous, but attached to a local
Presbytery which sent members to a general assembly in Edinburgh once a year.
When King Charles II was restored to the monarchy in 1660 he forcibly imposed an
Episcopalian system on the country, with bishops and archbishops over the local
ministers. This was very deeply resented and the people of the country got
together and signed two Covenants - the National Covenant and the Solemn League
and Covenant, in which they set down their beliefs and vowed to adhere to them.
They became known as the Covenanters, and the King, who believed that he ruled
by divine right, classed them as traitors and instituted an intense persecution
to force them to conform.
The epitaph which you quote is that of one
such Covenanter, William Welch. His tombstone is in St. Michael's churchyard in
Dumfries. He was actually executed in Edinburgh, but his head and right hand
were sent home to be nailed up over the gate of the old bridge, as an example to
others. Beside him in the churchyard is the tombstone of another Covenanter,
called Kirko, who was actually shot on the sands of Dumfries, (beside the River
Nith) in 1685.
To return to William Duncan, I can
find no record of him ever having been appointed minister of any church in
Perth. The ministers of the Church of Scotland have been thoroughly researched
and their details are included in the Fasti Ecclesiastae, which is mentioned in
the letter which you enclose. In fact details of only one William Duncan
who was licensed as a minister in the Church of Scotland in the whole period
were found, but his dates are surprisingly close to the ones which you give, and
I suspect that he may be the same man, despite the very different details.
Please see enclosed photocopy.
Although the details of appointments to
parishes in the Fasti are very accurate personal details are often incomplete
and things like second marriages and the birth of children may not have been
discovered. The parish of New Kilpatrick, to which this William Duncan
was appointed, is in Dumbartonshire, about forty miles from Perth, but, as you
have established that he was a native of that city, he would probably have made
extensive visits to his relatives there, as was the custom at that period. John
Hardie, who was minister of Perth, died in 1687 and the next minister was not
appointed until 1691. This was not uncommon, but it leaves a gap in which a
visiting minister would almost certainly have been invited to preach, at least
until 1688.
In 1688 the ecclesiastical picture changed
again. William of Orange overthrew James II and became King. He restored the
Presbyterian system in 1689 and ministers who held genuine, rather than enforced
Episcopalian views were 'outed', that is, deprived of their parishes and
forbidden to preach. This seems to have been what happened to William Duncan,
and it makes it clear that he had absolutely no Covenanting sympathies. It would
also offer a good explanation of why his family left Scotland. They would have
been generally ostracised and probably had strong objections to being forced to
give up their particular religious practices, so they sought the freedom of the
New World.
We are returning your dollar bill. The total
inclusive charge is £3 sterling, payment of which would be appreciated at your
earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely, /s/ Helen McArthur. H.A.
McArthur, Service Support Librarian.
Enclosure: (typed text, printed inscription
in all caps, photograph, all on one page) Covenanter's (William Welch's)
Tombstone. Location - St. Michael's Churchyard, Dumfries. Description -
Sandstone Table stone. Inscription (on table top). HERE LYES WILLIAM / WELSH,
PENTLAND / MARTYR, FOR HIS / ADHERING TO THE / WORD OF GOD AND / APPEARING FOR /
CHRISTS KINGLY / GOVERNMENT IN HIS / HOUSE AND THE CO / VENANTED WORK / OF
REFORMATION / AGAINST PERJURY / AND PRELACIE EXE / CUTE JANR 2 / 1667 REV 12 11.
/// STAY, PASSENGER, AND READ, / HERE INTERR'D DOTH LY / A WITNESS GAINST POOR /
SCOTLANDS PERJURY, / WHOSE HEAD ONCE FIX'D UP / ON THE BRIDGE PORT STOOD /
PROCLAIMING VENGEANCE / FOR HIS GUILTLES BLOOD.
Letter
18 December 1996 from J--- A.C. Duncan, Local Studies Librarian (MAD: cannot
read first name), Perth & Kinross Council, Leisure & Cultural
Services Department, Library & Archives Division, A K Bell Library, 2-8 York
Place, Perth PH2 8EP. Tel: (01738) 444949. Fax: (01738) 477010. Contact: Mr.
Duncan. Our Ref: JD/JK.
Mr. John F. Regan, Decatur,
IL, USA. Dear Mr. Regan,
Thank you for your letter of 22nd November
and for the payment of $2.00. Unfortunately, after an hour's research, we have
been unable to make any progress with your enquiry. As Fiona Scharlau suggested,
we have checked the "Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae" but could find no
mention of a William Duncan ever having been a minister of St. John's in
Perth. In fact we checked every volume for the whole of Scotland and came up
with only one possibly relevant entry (photocopy enclosed). Although he had no
obvious connection with this part of Scotland he certainly died in 1692 and had
a son William. The major drawbacks are firstly that there is no mention
of him being executed and secondly, having been "outed at the
Revolution", he was clearly an Episcopalian. This is at odds with the William
Duncan who was martyred in 1692 for his adherence to Presbyterianism,
although, having said this, Presbyterianism was the legal form of worship in the
Church of Scotland at this time, which suggests that the date of 1692 is wrong.
We have also searched G.T.S. Farquhar's
extensive "Episcopal history of Perth, 1689-1894" which again makes no
mention of any William Duncan.
I would suggest that you try writing to my
counterpart at the Ewert Library, Catherine Street, Dumfries, DG1 1JB, who may
have information on local martyrs.
I am sorry that we ourselves cannot be of
much help. The charge for one hour of staff research time, less your initial
payment, comes to £11.00. Would you please make cheques etc. payable to Perth
and Kinross Libraries.
Yours sincerely, /s/ Jeeing? A.C. Duncan.
Local Studies Librarian.
Enclosure: Book page 356, entitled: New
Kilpatrick [Presb. of Dunbarton]. 1666: WILLIAM DUNCAN, M.A. (King's
College, Aberdeen, 1648); assistant at Auchindoir 21st Oct. 1652; adm. prior to
18th Oct. 1653 to Kildrummy; adm. before 18th July 1666; outed at the
Revolution; died in 1692, aged about 65. He marr. Janet Macarthur, and had issue
- William; probably also Alexander, min. of Kilburnie. -
["Reg. Old Dec.", iii.; Rule's "Sec. Vindication";
"Argyll Sas.", ii., 254.]
************
"Genealogical Record of the Duncan Family" (copy from Dr. Lenox D.
Baker 12/1980)
GENEALOGICAL RECORD OF THE DUNCAN
FAMILY of Virginia and Kentucky
by John C. Underwood. ...
Generation
A -- House of (1)
Rev. William Duncan of Scotland.
William (1) Duncan, born 1630
1/7, in Perthshire, Scotland, was the progenitor of the Duncan family that
settled in the colony of Virginia, Am., in 1690-4. He was a minister of the
Gospel and lost his life by refusing to take the Jacobite oath, during the reign
of Charles II. He married in 1657, in Scotland,
Sarah Haldane, born in Perthshire, Scotland,
(of the Glen Eagles Haldanes), and by her had five children, four sons and one
daughter, to wit:
Issue of Rev. William (1) & Sarah (Haldane)
Duncan.
1. William (2), born 1659 10/1,
Perthshire, who married and had issue:
2. Charles, born 1662 9/6:
3. Henry, born 1664 1/14:
4. Thomas, born 1665 1/28:
5. Mary, born 1667 2/1:
All born in Perthshire, Scotland, and fled
to America.
Note: I now think that Charles Duncan, born
1662 8/16 must have been the father of (1) William, (3) William (the first of
Culpeper), for he, William (3) named his oldest son and first child Charles and
his fourth son William, evidantly after himself (according to practice then as
to eldest), but I have not the record of this Charles' Family and he may be the
one Judge Grimsley had in mind again. Rev. James Duncan names his first son
Charles, which bolsters my thought that both his father, William (3) and he also
wanted to perpetuate the name of the first Charles.
Generation
B -- House of (2)
William Duncan of Scotland
William (2) Duncan, born 1659
10/1 in Perthshire, Scotland, married 1689 a "Highland Lassie", but
the name of his wife is not known; yet it is of record that he had by her at
least five children, certainly three sons and probably two daughters -- possibly
others. These brothers and sisters immigrated to America and settled 1722 1/23,
on the "Northern Neck" of the colony of Virginia, the special location
being the later formed County of "Culpeper".
Issue of William (2) Duncan, known to have
settled in Virginia.
1. William (3), born 1690 4/19, in
Scotland, who married Ruth Rawley of Culpeper, Virginia, and had issue. See his
"House";
2. Robert, born 1692-6, in Scotland,
who married Ann Gallop, and had issue. See his "House";
3. Charles, born 1692-6, in Scotland,
who married ---- and had issue, of whom but little is known, as the family moved
out of Virginia. One statement is that it went to Pennsylvania, and another is
that it removed to South Carolina, and the probability is that the first is
true;
4&5. Two daughters, about whom nothing
is known further than the allegation that they came to America with their said
brothers; and it is not certainly known who of the two younger brothers was the
elder.
(The foregoing is taken in substance from a
Kentucky printed biography of the Duncan family, and is corroborated by record
history of the family obtained from Jos. Dillard Duncan, Esq., of Warren Co.,
Kentucky, and Hon. Henry T. Duncan, of Lexington, Ky.)
THE
VIRGINIA BRANCH OF THE DUNCAN FAMILY
Generation
C -- House of (3)
William Duncan of Culpeper, Virginia
(Bible and Culpeper County Records)
I. William (3) Duncan, born
1690 4/19 in Scotland, died 1781 in Culpeper County, Va., aged 91 years. He
married 1719/20 2/11, in Culpeper County.
Ruth Rawley, daughter of Matthew Rawley born
in England of Welsh parentage, and by her had seven or eight children, six or
seven sons and one daughter, viz:
Issue of William (3) and Ruth (Rawley)
Duncan
....
************
"Duncan Family Record" by Judge Underwood; additions to Generations
F and later by Mrs. Vick, from "KY Bible and Family Records" KY DAR,
pg. 59-66 (FHC film 854,843 item 4; SLC 6/5/85)
Genealogical Record of the Duncan
Family of VA & KY.
Arms: A black boar's head on Metal Shield.
Motto: tein Le Droit. Interp. -- Defend the
Right.
Generation
A. -- House of Rev. William Duncan of Scotland
William Duncan, b. 1630 1/7, in Perthshire Scotland was the progenitor of
the Duncan Family that settled in the Colony of VA, Am. in 1690. He was a
minister of the Gospel and lost his life by refusing to take the Jacobite Oath,
during the reign of Charles II. He m. in 1657 in Scotland, Sarah Haldane, who
was born in Scotland. Their issue:
1. William b. 1659, 10/1, who m. and
had issue.
2. Charles, b. 1662 9/6
3. Henry b. 1664 1/4
4. Thomas b. 1665 1/28
5. Mary b. 1667 2/1
Generation
B. -- House of William Duncan of Scotland
William Duncan b. 1659 10/1 in Scotland, m. 1699 a "Highland
Lassie", but the name of his wife is not known: yet it is of record that he
had by her at least five children -- possibly others. These brothers and sisters
immigrated to America and settled in 1722 1/23 on the "Northern Neck"
of the Colony of Virginia, the special location being the later formed county of
Culpeper.
William Duncan, known to have settled
in VA had issue:
1. William b. 1690 4/19 m. Ruth
Rawley & had issue.
2. Robert b. 1692-6, m. Ann and had
issue
3. Charles b. 1692-6, m. and had
issue of whom little is know, as the family moved out of Va. One statement is
that it went to Pennsylvania.
4. Two daughters about who nothing is known
further than the allegation that they came to America with their said brothers.
It is not certainly known who of the two younger brothers was the elder.
(The foregoing is taken from a Ky. printed
biography of the Duncan family, and is corroborated by record, history of
family, obtained from Jos. Dillard Esq., of Warren Co. Ky and Hon. Henry T.
Duncan, Lexington, Ky.)
Generation
C. -- House of William Duncan of Culpeper Co. VA
(Bible and Culpeper Co. Records)
William Duncan, b. 1690 4/19 in Scotland, d. 1781 in Culpeper Co. VA age
91 years. He married 1720 2/11 in Culpeper Co., ruth Rawley, dau of Matthew
Rawley, born in England of Welsh parentage. Their issue:
1. Charles b. 1720 m. Ann ----
2. James b. 1722 1/11 m. Mary (Peggy)
and had issue.
3. Rawley, b. 1723, m. Mary ----.
4. William b. ---- m. Rosanna Norman
and had issue:
1. William
m. 1789 Lucy Bywaters
2. James
m. 1797 Dorcas Butler
3. Frederick
m 1797 Sarah Stallard
4. Benjamin
m. 1793 Elizabeth Browning
5. John, died unmarried
6. Joseph, m. Mary, dau of Francis
Browning & had issue.
7. Annie m. ---- Roberts
8. Rice, d. in Russell Co. VA.
(the
first seven children are mentioned in their father's will, dated 2/24/1781 and
probated 1781 10/15 with James and Joseph as executors; the other
"Rice" was the middle name of John who died unmarried, as there was a
prominent Rice Family in the same county.)
Rawley Duncan, the third child, was a
soldier of the early Indian and Revolutionary Wars. He was severely wounded in
battle with Indians at Point Pleasant in 1774; was with Col. George Washington
at Braddock's defeat in 1770; and afterwards in all the attacks made by the
Colonial troops against the invasions of VA. by Benedict Arnold in 1781.
************
"The Duncan Family" by Mrs. J. Wells Vick, pg.6-12 (pg.1-5 on
Browning), from "KY Misc. Records" KY DAR Vol. 2?; pg. 203-209
(854,847 item 6; SLC 6/5/85)
The Duncans of VA are descended from
Rev. Wm. Duncan I of Perthshire Scotland and who was born in 1630. He
married in 1657 to Sarah Holdane of the Gleneagles family of that name in
Perthshire. He was beheaded during the "killing time of Scotland"
(1685-1689)., because he refused to take the Jacobite Oath. Issue:
William
Duncan II b. 1659
Charles
Duncan I b. 1660
Henry
Duncan b. 1662
Thomas
Duncan b. 1664
Mary
Duncan born 1666
After
the death of their father all of them came to America and settled in the
Northern neck of VA.
Charles I, second son of Rev. Wm.
& Sarah Haldane Duncan, married ---- had children:
William
Duncan III, b. 1690 m. Ruth Raleigh.
Charles
Duncan II
two
daughters.
William Duncan III, born 1690, son of
Charles Duncan, married Ruth Raleigh, Feb. 11, 1723. Lived in Orange Co. Va.
which was later Culpeper Co. (formed 1748). Will is dated Feb. 24, 1781,
probated Oct. 15, 1788. Issue:
Raleigh
Duncan, b. Nov. 23, 1723
William
Duncan IV b. Apr. 29, 1726 m. Rosanna Norman
John
b. Aug. 23, 1730 m. Ann ----
Joseph
b. Dec. 12, 1732 m. Mary Browning
Mary
b. """ (Joseph's twin)
Rice
never married
Charles
m. Sarah Browning
Nancy
James
I b. July 18, 1746, m. Asevith (sic) Browning
Ann
b. ---- m. ---- Roberts.
************
Typed outline, with handwritten note: from Mrs. J. Wells Vick, Russell, KY; from Henry R. and Mary Deaderick Duncan Collection, McClung
Historical Collection, Lawson McGhee Library, Knoxville TN; (copies from Mary
Sutton 7/17/84)
Duncan
Rev. William Duncan of Perthshire,
Scotland married in 1657 to Sarah Haldrane; he was beheaded during the
"Killing Time in Scotland 1688-1689", as did many who refused to sign
the Jacobite Oath. His children after their father's death came to America. The
children were:
1- William Duncan II born Oct. 1,
1659
2- Charles Duncan Ist b. Sept. 6,
1662
3- Henry Duncan b. Jan. 11, 1664
4- Thomas Duncan b. Jan. 28, 1665
5- Mary Duncan b. Feb. 1, 1667.
Charles Duncan I, 2nd son of Rev. Wm.
Duncan married and had five children:
a- William
Duncan b. 1690 mar. Ruth Raleigh Feb. 11, 1722 in Culpeper Co. Va.
b- Robert
Duncan- no other information
c- Charles
Duncan II
d- a
daughter
e- a
daughter
William and Ruth Duncan lived in Orange
Co. Va. which later became Culpepper. This Wm.'s line had been
established as furnished supplies in the Rev. War to the Colonial Army. I
prepared a DAR paper for a lady who joined our DAR Chapt. through the line of
this Wm. Duncan (1690-1788). He left a will in Culpepper co-probated Oct.
13, 1788, the children were ....
************
"Thomas Duncan and His Six Sons" by Kate D. Smith (from John A.
Duncan 8/22/84; SLC 9/84)
Pg. 148-151: Extracts from Letters of Gen.
John C. Underwood, President, Confederate Memorial Association.
"Covington,
Ky., August 2, 1903.
I wrote you several days ago and sent the
letter through my nephew Colonel William T. Underwood of your city. Since then
I've gotten possession of the old Bible tallying up to William Duncan,
first of Culpeper, also the alleged early Duncan pedigree:
I. Rev. William Duncan, b. 1630 in
Perthshire, Scotland; m. 1657-1658, Susan Haldane of Glasgow, Scotland.
II. William Duncan, b. 1659-1660; m.
1681, Margaret McMurdo. Children.
III. Henry Duncan, b. 1683. Charles
Duncan, b. 1684. Thomas, b. 1686. Margaret, b. 1688. Townsend
and Mary (twins), b. 1690. William Duncan, b. 1692.
IV. William Duncan, b. 1692; m. Ruth
Rawley, daughter of Mathew Rawley of Wales, in Culpeper Co., Va. William
Duncan came to and settled in the Colony of Virginia, 1722-3, etc." ...
"Lotos
Club, N.Y., 10/7/1903.
Yours of 5th inst. just received. I have
discovered the somewhat puzzling date, but by very careful and analytical study
I have solved much of it. Yes, there is a deed in the Clerk's office of Orange
County, Va. -- the first one in the record book, under date 1741 conveying
property to William Duncan afterward of Culpeper, but there is much
earlier authentic record than that, for Green's 'Culpeper County,' makes mention
of William Duncan and his two sisters and brothers, arriving in Culpeper
Territory, Jan. 27, 1722-3, besides Gresham gives all and much more in his
statements and asserts that the Duncans immigrated to America in 1690-4. Am
certain that the grand-children including two girls never came to Virginia in a
body in 1723 and am absolutely certain that had they arrived at that time they
would not have found their way so far inland from the Chesapeake Bay so quickly.
Other Duncan families of the same general
locality indicate there were grand-children of the Rev. William Duncan
who settled in Virginia, sired by others of his sons than the oldest son William.
There were good reasons why the sons of Rev. William Duncan should
emigrate from Scotland in a body -- viz.: to be rid of possible persecution,
etc.
By putting together what Gresham, Dr.
Slaughter, 'Green Family Records' and tradition and Culpeper County records, I
am sure it was the four sons of Rev. William Duncan who immigrated to
America about 1690-4 according to Gresham and common sense. That they settled
variously in the Northern Neck of Virginia and that the children of William
-- the eldest son of Rev. William Duncan and one of the emigrants moved
from some other portion of the Northern Neck to Culpeper territory in 1722-3 as
recorded and that William Duncan, the younger of said grand-children
there married a fortnight after arriving in 1722-3 Ruth Rawley, daughter of
Mathew Rawley a well-to-do Welshman already settled in said section. William
E. Duncan -- uncle of my wife -- visited Virginia just after the Civil War
and he gave me much information about the family and said that Charles Duncan
(brother of William of Culpeper) located in South Carolina. That Thomas
(your ancestor) and another brother located in Pennsylvania, all of which I have
since verified."
"The
Lotos Club, N.Y., Feb. 13, 1906.
I will send all the papers as soon as I can
get to them. After my wife died I packed all my genealogical papers and they are
stored away -- yours among them. I have long since secured the authentic
ancestry of my wife. THOMAS DUNCAN was one of the brothers who came from
England with William of Culpeper et. al. and my researches caused me to
write you that he removed to Pennsylvania. This is a fact whether your Thomas
or not, and it is presumable he was.
The Duncans landed at Brockheaven -- the
earliest port of the Potomac River (now Alexandria), thence went to Culpeper on
the Northern Neck of Virginia, where William married and permanently
settled and two of the brothers removed to other States, Thomas to
Pennsylvania and Charles to South Carolina, I think.
John C.
Underwood."
"Years ago I corresponded with Samuel
Duncan of Kentucky who wrote he owned a Bible containing names, dates, etc.,
of the Duncans who came to Virginia in 1722. A Thomas Duncan was of this
colony and many Duncan descendants claim he went from Virginia to Pennsylvania
and was Thomas Duncan who died in Cumberland County in 1776. My research
has revealed no proof of this nor have I seen proof from any source. Thomas
and William Duncan were in Maryland in 1700 and William, Thomas
and John Duncan are found in early Maryland."
(See letter of Dr. George G. Smith. -- K.D.S.)
************
"SC Family & Bible Records; Genealogical Records, 1963" by
Richard Winn Chapter SC DAR; compiled by Nellie Chappell Maybin; Chapter
genealogist Miss Lola Wilson, 1109 Ella St., Anderson, S.C.; typed pg. 2-14 (FHC
film 855,222 item 1; SLC 6/6/85 & 10/90)
Origin
of the Duncan Family of Scotland and America
It has been asserted that the Duncans of
Scotland descended from the ancestral "house" of King Duncan
(called the "Meek"), who upon the death of his grandfather without
male issue succeeded to the throne, and reigned 1034-1040. He was the son of
"Bathoc", oldest daughter of King Malcolm II, by Crynin, a lay or
secular abbot of Dunceld and thane of the Isles and western parts of Scotland --
a wild and rugged country. Macbeth was the son of King Malcolm's second and
youngest daughter "Dowoda", by Sinel, thane of Glamis and Mormser of
Moray; and his wife was "Gruoch", daughter of Boete, son of King
Kenneth II, grandsire of Malcolm II -- so the Macbeths claimed greater lineage
and better title to the throne. ....
Mr. William E. Duncan of Warren Co.,
KY, the uncle of my wife, visited his relations in the counties of Culpeper and
Fauquier, VA, after the close of the Civil war between the States (between
1866-70); and upon his return to KY, gave me much information relative to the
Duncan family, which I afterwards verified and completed by extensive
researches. Speaking about the Duncan coat of arms he said that he knew very
little about such things, but stated that from what he learned he thought it was
a boar's head (black) and a new moon with an eagle's head above them. I took
down the notes and at the time thought he was fooling me, but he said not; and I
afterwards discovered that he was practically correct, and have frequently
laughed at his heraldic description -- very quaint but perfectly true. I have
already become quite a genealogist for my family and taking up the Duncan house,
from my extensive investigations and researches, ...
(next-to-last generation:) To
Martha Jane Coleman and John F. Sibley were born seven children: Thomas Golden
Sibley, Katherine Bibb Sibley, Jane Sibley, Mary Alpha Sibley b. Sept. 17, 1874,
Oscar Sibley, Lenoud Sibley, Belle Sibley.
************
"Genealogy of James Franklin Duncan of Atlanta, Georgia"
author not given (copy of title & pages 1-11 from Mary Louise Craven
7/17/86; to her from Jim Duncan, Christ Methodist Church, Memphis; typed by
Evelyn Sigler 10/5/86)
Origin
of the Duncan Family of Scotland and America
It has been asserted that the Duncans of
Scotland descended from the ancestral "house" of King Duncan (called
the "Meek"), who upon the death of his grandfather without male issue
succeeded to the throne, and reigned 1034-1040. He was son of "Bethoo",
oldest dau. of King Malcolm II., by Crynin, a lay secular abbot of Dunkeld and
thane of the Isles and western parts of Scotland -- a wild and rugged country.
Macbeth was the son of King Malcolm's second and youngest dau. "Dowoda",
by Sinel, thane of Glamis and Mormaer of Moray; and his wife was
"Grouch" dau. of "Boete", son of King Kenneth II., grandsire
of Malcolm II., - So the Macbeths claimed greater lineage and better title to
the throne.
....
The Escutcheon of Rev. William Duncan,
of Glasgow, Scotland; among the first of the Scottish "Dominies" to be
called "Reverend", the religious ministerial title first used in
England in 1657, is --
The works of "Burke" and "Fairbain"
record:-
Scotland. Duncan (Mairdrum)-- Arms: a black
boar's head erased; Crest: The same as the arms; Motto: "tien le droit"
(interp. "Defend the right")
And the crest of the Haldane family of
Perthshire is: "An eagle's head erased or."
And the metals of the shields on which the
marshallings are made are traditionally silver and gold (ar. and or.).
Mr. William E. Duncan of Warren
Co. Kentucky, the uncle of my wife, visited his relations in the Cos. of
Culpeper and Fauquier, Virginia, after the close of the Civil War between the
States (betw. 1866-70); and upon his return to Kentucky, gave me much
information relative to the Duncan family, which I afterward verified and
completed by extensive researches.
....
Beginning with the family history to prove
the result, said William Duncan was born 1630 1/7 in Perthshire, the son
of well-to-do parents; and was educated for the ministry, which is reasonable
proof that he was a younger son, for during those times the parental estates
almost invariable reverted by entailment or otherwise to the elder son as the
legitimate heir to the property of the "house"; and the younger male
children of a prosperous marriage alliance were generally looked out for by
securing a "Living" under the Church, or by obtaining commissions for
them in either the army or navy of the realm. So William was evidently not the
heir, for at that era, had he been, it is probably he would not have readily
taken to the ecclesiastical gown; and that he was the second son is more than
circumstantially proven by the discovery of his arms bearing the crescent for
difference -- the heraldic designation of a second son. After these
emblazonments were ascertained, the reviewing of his coat of arms was plain
sailing. His crest, as ascertained by Mr. Duncan when he visited Fauquier Co.
Va., a golden eagle's head, was found to be the crest of the Haldane family of
Perthshire and the Rev. William's wife was a descendant of the Gleneagle's
"house" of Haldanes of that 'shire. It is consequently plain to see
that this eminent properly marshalled his own coat-of-arms, but with a
commendable liberality, selected the crest of his wife's "house" in
designing the escutcheon for themselves and their children.
....
Generation
A. -- Scotland
Rev. William (1) Duncan
(spelled in Scotland Duncanne), b. 1630 1/7 in Perthshire and d. 1692/3 1/2 near
Glasgow; m. 1657 8/29 in Glasgow, Susan or Sarah Haldane (pronounced as if spelt
Halden). b. ab. 1635, of the Gleneagles general family in Perthshire by that
name, and by her had five children -- all of whom were grown when their father
died. ....
Generation
B. -- Scotland and Virginia, Colony of America
The eldest son and child of Rev. Wm. and
Susan (Haldane) Duncan, was: -
William (2) Duncan, b. 1659
10/1 in Scotland and d. ab. 1720 in Virginia; m. Margaret McMurdo of Dumfries,
Scotland, and they had issue of seven children.
This family, parents and children,
immigrated to America, ab 1690-4 and first located at or near "Bellhaven"
(now Alexandria), in Virginia, where it is supposed their father died; and the
children something (sic) later settled for a time in the section of the colony
then known as its "Northern Neck" and of which Culpeper Co. when
formed was a part.
Generation
C. -- Virginia
The fifth son and seventh child and said to
have been the youngest of the children of William (2) and Margaret (McMurdo)
Duncan, was:-
William (3) Duncan, b. 1692
4/19 in Virginia (possibly in Scotland), and d. 1781 in Culpeper Co. VA., m.
1722 2/11, Ruth Rawley of Culpeper, dau. of Matthew Rawley of Welsh descent -
who immigrated to America, and they had issue of nine children all born in
Culpeper Co. Va. This William (3) Duncan was the first of his name in Culpeper,
where he arrived 1722/3 1/23 and married 19 days thereafter. This William
purchased land in Orange Co., in 1736 and in Culpeper Co., 1749; and ultimately
became a wealthy and influential citizen of Culpeper. And the escutcheon of
William (3) Duncan in Virginia was the same as his Grandfather's in Scotland;
and "his descendants, the old Scottish families that settled on the
"Northern Neck" of VA., were true to the cause of American freedom
during the great struggle for independence" (Gresham); and later, their
descendants, during the Civil War of the "Sixties", battling for
sectional rights and in defense of their families and homes.
....
Generation
H. -- Virginia
The third child of Robert Russell Duncan and
Lucy (Browning) Duncan was:-
James Franklin Duncan, b. 1875 10/12
and m. 1905 11/2, May Boney of Louisiana, and they had 2 sons and 1 dau., James
Franklin Duncan, Junior, Robert V. and Laura C. Duncan.
....
Much of the earlier part of the pedigree has
been take from MS. entries in the old Bible of William (3) Duncan
(1st of Culpeper), which he gave to his son James, is still in existence
in possession of his heirs in Kentucky, and was loaned me from which to make
genealogical extracts; and other family history was obtained from the records of
the various branches of the family, from Court records in Culpeper Co., Va.,
from various published compilations; and very materially from the Ms. writings
to me, by Judge Daniel A. Grimsley of Culpeper, Va. I have a complete genealogy
of the earlier members of the Duncan family of Scotland and America, especially
of the Culpeper Duncans and the Kentucky descendants of Wm. (3) Duncan,
with names and dates all attested; and if I ever publish my genealogical
researches, such analytical work will contain marginal references giving
authorities for my statements.
....
The foregoing synoptical history is donated
to the descendants last named in the pedigree, with the expressed and agreed
understanding that neither the whole nor any part thereof, under any
circumstances or for any consideration, is to be published or to be allowed to
be copied, without the writer's consent; until after he shall have published the
Duncan genealogy or after death shall have ended his earthly career.
************
"Duncan Family" by Donald Linville Duncan, Pismo Beach, CA, 1982
(loaned by Laura Jones 7/16/83)
Part 1, pg.23: Letter to Mrs. Edwin M.
Taylor, Piedmont, CA, 9/15/67, from Church of Scotland,
General Assembly, regarding Mrs. Taylor's inquiry about Rev. William Duncan.
Extracted from the Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae "containing all the
information we have concerning Mr. Duncan." [Contributed by Ethel E. Pratt
Brown]:
WILLIAM
DUNCAN, M.A., (King's College, Aberdeen, 1648); assistant at Auchindoir 21st
October 1652; admitted prior to 18th October 1653 to Kildrummy; admitted before
18th July 1666; outed at the Revolution; died in 1692, aged about 65. He married
Janet Macarthur, and had issue - William; probably also Alexander,
minister of Kilbirnie. -- (Reg. Old Dec., iii.; Rule's Sec. Vindication; Argyll
Sas., ii., 254.)
Pg.24-26: ... One of the Duncans of Warren
County, Kentucky, visited relations in Culpeper and Fauquier Counties, Virginia,
after the close of the Civil War and speaking of the Duncan Coat-of-arms, said
from what he learned, he believed it to be a Black boar's head and a new moon,
with an eagle's head above them. ... [From Mrs. Maude Humphries and Willard H.
Duncan; sources also notes of Samuel S. Sargent and "Genealogical Record of
the Duncan Family of Virginia and Kentucky" by John C. Underwood.] (more
on original coat of arms and Haldane family.)
Pg.27-29: Rev. William Duncan married
in Glasgow, Scotland, and at that time he was murdered on the sands of
Dumfrieshire for refusing to take the Jacobite Oath ... {January 2, 1692} ... James
Duncan was born in Culpeper County, Virginia in 1764. He was the son of Rawley
Duncan and Sallie McLane. At the age of seventeen he ran away from home ...
[From Willard H. Duncan; sources: "notes of Dr. James Armistead Duncan,
1872; letter from Samuel McAfee Duncan, Nov. 12, 1891; letter from George Alsop
Duncan, M.D., Sept. 10, 1874, to Samuel M. Duncan of Nicholasville, KY; all
collected and compiled by Samuel S. Sargent] (MAD: see Rev. Wm. Bible from
June Rickets for info on James Duncan, their son.)
... The children of Rev. William Duncan
and Sarah Haldane Duncan were: William Duncan II, Charles Duncan, Thomas
Duncan, and daughter, Mary Duncan.
William Duncan III, born 19 April,
1692, was the grandson of Rev. William Duncan. He was a very young child
on arrival in the colonies in 1694. He was the son of William Duncan II
and Margaret McMurdo, who immigrated to Northern Neck, Virginia. The Duncans
landed at Brock Haven; they settled first near Bellehaven, (Now Alexandria),
Virginia.
William Duncan III moved to Culpeper
County, Virginia, 23 January, 1722. On February 11, of the same year he took to
wife Ruth Rawley (Raleigh), daughter of Matthew Rawley, who was born in England
of Welsh parentage. Rawley Duncan, their eldest son, was with General
Washington at Braddock's defeat in 1755; also at Point Pleasant in 1774, where
he was severely wounded, and was in all attacks made by the Colonial Troops
against the invasion of Virginia by the traitor Arnold in 1781. ...
Pg.31-35: ... William Duncan III, Son
of William II and Margaret McMurdo Duncan, born 19 April, 1692 in Perth,
Perthshire, Scotland (Or maybe in Northern Ireland, some say born on board ship
on way to British Colonies in America), married 11 February, 1722, Ruth Rawley,
born 1702, of Welsh Parentage. ...
John Pekin Duncan, Son of William
Duncan III and his wife, Ruth Rawley Duncan, born 23 August, 1736, in
Culpeper County, Virginia, married Rachel Warren, born ca 1740, a
daughter of Ephriam Warren and Esther Parker of Massachusetts. John P. Duncan
was the FIRST in a direct line of our Duncan Family to be born in America.
************
Xerox copy of letter 23 Feb. 1983 from Mrs. Ethel E. Brown, Bull Shoals, AR, to Verna Hamilton, La Crescenta, CA
(from Verna to Virginia Duncan of Lewisburg, KY; from Virginia 11/28/83)
Mrs. Brown's lineage: Rev. William
Duncan (etc.); William Duncan II and Margaret McMurdo (etc.); William
Duncan III and Ruth Rawley (etc.; info from her cousin Willard Duncan of
Florida); John Pekin Duncan and wife Rachel Warren ... Note: Rachel's
parents were Ephriam Warren and Esther Parker.
Mrs. Brown then said she believed Verna
Hamilton's ancestor (apparently a brother of John Pekin Duncan) was Charles
Duncan, b. 8 Oct. 1742, who married Sarah Browning.
Mrs. Brown also told Verna Hamilton "It
isn't necessary for you to try and find Clyde Hunter's book on my Duncans. One
of my cousins has published "Our Duncan Family" and THINKS he has
found our Dolly H. I don't know what proof he has, but it sounds very
sensible."
(MAD Note: Laura Jones of Ormand Beach,
FL, has been writing or talking to a cousin of Donald Linville Duncan, the
author of "Our Duncan Family.")
************
Family Record of William Duncan, a Scotch immigrant who settled in the
Colony of Virginia in 1722. (typed pages; from ? Nancy Duncan Young to John A.
Duncan 6/2/84; from John A. Duncan 8/22 & 11/6/84; copies to Evelyn Sigler,
Bobbie McDowell, Charles Gordon, Patti Carver)
Culpepper County, Virginia; June 10th, 1872.
Mr. Samuel M. Duncan, Esq., Nicholasville,
Kentucky
My Dear Sir,
I have read your letter of May the 25th with
great interest and pleasure. I employed last week Captain Thomas Chew to copy
the Colonial Records preserved of William Duncan who settled in Virginia in
1722. He was the grand-son of Reverend William Duncan, who was born in
Penthshire, Scotland, January the 9th., 1630, and fell a martyr during the
religious troubles that afflicted the Church of Scotland in that age. The
following ephitah is yet preserved among his Virginia descendents.
"Here lieth Reverend William Duncan,
who for his adhering to the word of God and appearing for Christ's Kingly
government in his house, and the covenanted deformation. Against Perjury and
Prelacy ejected January the 2nd., 1665. Stay hapengen read here intrived doth
by. A witness against born Scotland's perjury. Whose head once fixed upon the
bridge Post Stood proclaiming vengeance for his guilty blood." (sic)
William Duncan who was born in
Dumfrieshire, December the 6th., 1690 and the founder of the family in Virginia,
married Ruth Rawley, daughter of Mathew Rawley, in 1726. Mathew Rawley was a
native of Wales and was a member of the Church of England. Settled in Virginia
in 1720. From the records which all Scotch Presbyterians have preserved in their
churches. I copy the following record of William Duncan.
Margaret
Maldone, born in 1727.
Mehitable,
born in 1729.
Ruth
Elizabeth, born in 1732.
Mary
Ann, born in 1734.
Rawley,
born in 1736.
William,
who was my Grandfather was born December the 6th. 1739 and died on the 10th. of
June 1824.
Charles,
born October 8th., 1742.
James,
who married Sina Browning of Augusta County, Virginia, and settled at an early
day in Kentucky.
Rawley Duncan, whom you say was your
Great Grandfather, was married to Sallie McLane, daughter of James McLane of
Stafford County, Virginia. He was the father of six children; Margaret,
Elizabeth, Susan, Edward, Charles, and James, who was the youngest
son of Rawley Duncan, my Grand Uncle. Rawley Duncan and my
Grandfather served in the regiment ....
....
I have furnished you a long list of the
descendents of Charles Duncan, your Great Grandfather and also the
descendents of James S. my Grandfather. I am indebted to Dr. George
Armistead Duncan who is the writer of the letter to me from Culpepper County,
Virginia, in 1872.
Very truly, S.H. Duncan, November 12, 1891
************
Handwritten in 6 pages in back of book: "Gen. & Hist. Notes on
Culpepper Co. VA" by Raleigh Traverse Green (compiled & published by),
published 1900, original by Dr. Phillip Slaughter, "History of St. Mark's
Parish" in Owensboro KY Library (Xerox copy from June Ricketts 7/23/83)
June suggests that the numbers after the names (Gen. C) may be page numbers.
Gen A - From Bible of Rev. Wm. Duncan
- pub. 1565
Rev. William
Duncan - b Jue 7- 1613 - d (MAD: blank), Born Perthshire Scotland, Married
in Glascow - Scotland Aug. 29 - 1636, Sasan Haldene, dau. Richard Haldane &
Mary Kennett
Gen B - issue Rev. Wm & Susan
Haldane Duncan
1 William
II - born - Oct. 1 - 1639
2 Charles,
Sept 6 - 1642
3 Henry,
Jan 11 - 1644
4 Thomas
}twins, Jan 28 - 1645
5 Susan
}
Gen C - Wm Duncan II - son of Rev. Wm
& Susan Haldane Duncan - at age of 24 yrs - married Margaret McMurdo of
Dumfrieshire 21 Jun 1662. issue
1 Henry,
born July 26 - 1665 (85 p.1)
2 Charles,
Aug 6 - 1667 (87)
3 Thomas,
June 11 - 1669 (89)
4 Townsen
} Dec - 1671 (91)
5 Mary
} twins
6 Wm
III, Apr 19 - 1674 (94)
7 Elizabeth
Duncan
8 Barbara
9 Susan
The
above grand-children of Rev Wm Duncan I. arrived in Culpepper Co Va 1722
Jan. 23.
-------
Wm Duncan III b - Apr - 1674 -
youngest g-son, married 11 - Feb - 1722 - Ruth Rawley, only child of Mathew
Rawley of Wales, settled in Va - 1719.
Gen D - issue - born in Colony of Va
1* Rawley,
born - Nov - 23 - 1723
2 Wm
IV, Apr - 29 - 1726
3 John,
Aug 23 - 1735
4 Nancy
} twins
5 Joseph},
Dec - 11 - 1732
6 Rice,
Feb - 15 - 1734
7 Mary
Jane, May 3 - 1736
8+ James,
July - 18 - 1746
+ This James
settled in Ky - 1789 was a member of Constitutional Convention 1799
* Rawley
Duncan died Augusta Co Va - 1793, m. Sarah McLane - who see [?] d 1789 - [MAD:
unclear]
Gen E - Record of James Duncan -
youngest son of Rawley & Sarah McLean Duncan ....
************
"Southwest Virginian" June, 1982, chart of Rhonda S. Roberson, Norton, VA
(from Evelyn Sigler, 9/20/82)
1. Rev. William Duncan, b. Jan. 17,
1630, Perthshire, Scotland; d. 1692 Glasgow; m. Susan Mary Haldane, b. 1635
Perthshire, Scotland.
2. William Duncan, b. Jan. 19, 1659,
Scotland; d. 1720 VA (ES: This differs from other records); m. Margaret Murde
(sic), b. Dumfries, Scotland.
3. William Duncan, b. Jan. 19, 1692
VA; d. 1781 Culpeper Co., VA; m. Ruth Rawley, b. ca 1694 Culpeper Co., VA.
4. Rawley Duncan, b. Nov. 23, 1723;
m. Sally McClain.
5. Jaelia Duncan, b. 1751; d. 1816
Scott Co., VA; m. Samuel Stallard, b. 1745, d. 1815 Scott Co.
************
Lineage of Bob J. Duncan (b. 1/15/1926 below), Nicholasville, KY, to John A. Duncan 6/6/84 (from John A. Duncan 8/22/84)
DUNCAN FAMILY - Nicholasville,
Jessamine Co. KY Branch
William Duncan, born January 9, 1630
in Pentshire (sic), Scotland. Married Susan Haldane August 29, 1657. Died in
1665.
William Duncan, born December 8, 16--
in Dunfrieshire (sic), Scotland. Settled in VA in 1720. Married Ruth Rawley in
1726. (JAD: 4-17-1672 per Kerr "History of KY" Vol.IV pg.376.)
Rawley Duncan, born in 1736, married
to Sally McLane on December 8, 1756. Served in the regiment which Washington
commanded when General Braddock was defeated. Died in 1793.
************
"Genealogy & History, Washington, D.C." December, 1940 (Copy
from printed volumes, no pages or dates; from Elizabeth Smith, Albany, OH, 6/15/83 to Patti Carver; from Patti 7/20/83; have copy
pages; also SLC 9/83)
2297 ---- 2084 & 1980 - MII (Ill.):
Duncan, Rawley, Haldane, McLane, Armstead, McAfee, Browning, Crockett, Ritchie;
Scot., Wales, Va., W.Va., N.Y., Ky., Ind.; F&I, Lord Dunmore's & Rev.
Wars.
I am of this line thru James Duncan
(Rev. soldier), son of Rawley Duncan & Sarah ("Sallie")
McLane, dau. of James McLane of Stafford Co., Va., & I too, have a copy of
the data collected by John C. Underwood. Possibly Mary referred to by MH as w.
of Rawley is correct but her name is given as Sallie or Sarah in all the records
I have. In one record Rawley is given as the oldest child of William(3)
and Ruth (Rawley) Duncan & in another as 5th child & oldest son. I quote
in part from letter of June 10, 1872 from James Armstead Duncan, M.D., Culpeper
C.H., Va., to my gt.gt.uncle, Samuel McAfee Duncan, Nicholasville, Ky.:
"I have read your letter of May 25th
with great interest and pleasure. I employed last week Capt. Thos. Chew to copy
the Colonial Records preserved of William Duncan who settled in Va. in
1722. He was the grandson of Rev. Wm. Duncan ... Wm. Duncan III
was born in Dumphrieshire, Scotland. Married Ruth Rawley, dau. of Matthew Rawley
a native of Wales and was a member of the Church of England. Settled in Va.
1720. From the record which all Scotch Presbyterians have preserved in their
Churches, I copy the following record of Wm. Duncan: Margaret Haldane
b. 1727 Ruth Elizabeth b. 1732 (?) Mehitable b. 1729 Mary Ann
b. 1734 Rawley Duncan b. 1736 (other record says b. 11-23-1732) William
b. Dec. 6, 1739 d. 10th June 1824 was my grandfather. James Duncan married Sena
Browning of Augusta Co. & settled in Ky.
....
************
"Jessamine (KY) Journal" Friday, November 2, 1888, front page (from
Lexington, KY, library; copy of column from John A. Duncan 10/23/84)
GENEALOGICAL -- One of the Old Jessamine
Families
The Duncans -- Ancient and Modern -- Here
and Elsewhere.
To the Editors of the Jessamine Journal:
More than a month since I received the
following interesting letter from an unknown kinsman, Charles C. Duncan, of
North Carolina, who it appears is a great-nephew of Rawley Duncan, my
great-grand-father. As the letter contains many interesting facts which have
never been known to any of the living descendants of Rawley Duncan, scattered
over the Southern and Western states, I don't think it out of place to request
you to give it a place in your paper.
My grand-father, James Duncan, and
his brother, Charles Duncan, settled in the present limits of Jessamine
county early in the fall of 1788. Charles Duncan was born in Culpepper county,
Va., in 1762. He was the father of the late William Duncan, Esq., and the
grand-father of Robert and Benjamin Duncan. Charles Duncan died in
Washington county, Ind., about the year 1831. My grand-father was also born in
Culpeper county, in 1764, and was killed near the mouth of Paint Lick in Madison
county, Ky., Nov. 7, 1792, in the twenty-eighth year of his age, leaving a widow
and three small children. In 1781 he ran away from home and in company with
Nathaniel Harris enlisted in the rebel army under Gen. Greene; was at the battle
of Guilford, C.H., and at the siege of Yorktown. Nathaniel Harris afterwards
became one of the most distinguished Methodist preachers of the olden times in
Kentucky. He was for more than sixty-five years a preacher in the Methodist
church in Kentucky, and died in Versailles in 1849, being eighty-four years of
age.
I never knew before that my grandfather had
two sisters, and a brother named Edward, and that my great-grand-father was in
Braddock's defeat in 1755, and enlisted in the American army during the
Revolution to resist the invasion of Virginia by Lord Cornwallis and Gen.
Arnold. Such facts have never been known to any of their descendants in
Kentucky.
S.M.D.
------
The Letter.
Sedge (?) Moor Farm, Near Edenton, N.C.
Sept. 18, 1888.
Sam'l. M. Dancan, Nicholasville, Ky.
Dear Sir: -- In the "Sunny South"
of Sept. 15th, I have seen and read a very interesting sketch you have recently
written concerning the finding of the remains of James Duncan, your
grand-father, who was murdered by a party of Indians in the early settlement of
Kentucky, near the mouth of Paint Lick creek, in Madison county, Ky., Nov. 7,
1792, in the 28th year of his age, leaving a widow with three small children. In
your very interesting notice of your grand-father you state that he was the
youngest child of Rawley Duncan, of Culpeper county, Va., that he and his
brother Charles Duncan removed from Virginia to Kentucky in the summer of
1788. I am happy to inform you that Rawley Duncan, your
great-grand-father, was the oldest brother of my grand-father, Charles
Duncan, who was born in Culpeper county, Va., on the 7th of December, 1742.
My uncle Rawley was also born in the same county in 1736; was married to
Sallie McLane, daughter of James McLane, of Stafford county, in 1759. My
grand-father married Susan Bourn, of Orange county, in 1769; had ten children,
six sons and four daughters, to wit: Thomas, John, George, Benjamin, Robert,
Charles, Susanah, Elizabeth, Louiza and Nancy Ann. Your
great-grand-father, Rawley Duncan, according to the "old Colonial
church record," was the father of six children, Margaret, Elizabeth,
Edward, Charles and James, who was your grand-father, the youngest
son of my great-uncle.
My grand-father had a brother James,
who was born in 1746, married Sina Browning, of Augusta county, Va., and settled
at an early day in Kentucky. Margaret married James Strother, of Fauquier
county, and died without issue in 1807. Elizabeth married William
Garnett. She had one son who died in Philadelphia in 1801, attending the Medical
lectures of the distinguished Dr. Rush. William Duncan, the founder of
the family in the colony of Virginia, was born in Dumfrieshire, Scotland, Dec.
28th, 1690. He was the grand-son of the Rev. William Duncan who lost his
life for refusing to take the "Jacobite Oath" during the reign of
Charles II. His grand-son William, settled in Virginia in 1724, and was
married to Ruth Rawley, daughter of Mathew Rawley, in 1726. Mathew Rawley was a
native of Wales, and was a member of the Church of England and settled in
Virginia in 1720. From the record which all Scotch Presbyterians have preserved
in their churches, I copy the following record of William Duncan, the
founder of the family in Virginia:
Margaret Haldane, born 1727; Mehitable,
born 1729; Ruth Elizabeth, born 1732; Mary Ann, born 1734; Rawley
Duncan, born 1736; William Jr., born 1739; Charles, born 1742;
James, born 1746; Townsend, born 1752.
Rawley Duncan and my grand-father
served in the regiment which Washington commanded in the Brittish army when Gen.
Braddock was defeated and killed in 1755. My grand-father was severely wounded
in the battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. When Gen. Arnold, the traitor, invaded
Virginia in 1781, my great-uncle and grand-father volunteered ...
************
Portion of letter from Carolyn A. (Mrs. M.K.) Ruch, Pasadena, CA, 3/10/1964, to "Dear Cousin" in Nicholasville, KY
(from Robert J. Duncan, Nicholasville, KY, to John A. Duncan 9/21/84; from John
A. Duncan 10/23/84)
You may not remember that you wrote to my
mother, Julia Brown Asplund in 1955, sending her a copy of the letter from Dr. George
Armistead Duncan. I answered the letter for her at that time, ... Since then
I have been corresponding with a number of people who are working on the
tremendous jigsaw puzzle of the innumerable Virginia Duncans. Just to remind you
of my identity and relationship, my mother was Julia (Brown) Asplund, daughter
of James Duncan Brown, son of Julia (Duncan) Brown, daughter of James
B. Duncan (JAD: wife Ann Ramey) of Winchester, Ky., who was the
third son of Charles Duncan and Margaret Burnside of Jessamine Co. and
brother to your ancestor, William Duncan. I have James B. Duncan's
family Bible.
Last fall was the first chance I had ever
had to get to Nicholasville. I was able to spend one whole day in the
courthouse, copying all the records I could find on Duncans. I also went to the
Duncan family cemetery (which I didn't know existed) and found my
great-great-grandmother's tombstone. I met Robert Duncan and his son who live up
there, but found they had (or didn't know they had) any additional information.
I also walked through the Nicholasville cemetery looking for Duncan stones.
Now, the problem is, basically, to try to
verify the material in Dr. George Armistead Duncan's letter.
Unfortunately there are important contradictions -- things which have been
proved wrong. Nobody that I know of has ever been able to locate ANYTHING on a Rawley
Duncan who died in 1793 and was buried at Old Timber Ridge Church. (I
searched that cemetery on my trip and there are NO Duncan stones.) The county
clerk of Rockbridge Co., VA. states that the name Duncan does not appear
in the records from 1778 through 1848. Dr. Duncan says that Rawley was
the son of William of Culpeper and gives the names of four other children
of William for which there is record proof, but apparently wrong dates. I
have never found or heard of any Rawley or Raleigh Duncan of that
generation except the son of William the Elder of Culpeper. My next
effort was to see if Rawley the son of William the Elder for whom
there is a good deal of record proof could be connected with Charles and James
of Jessamine Co. Rawley died in Washington Co., Va. in 1786.
Russell Co. was formed from Washington Co. in that same year and included the
part of the county in which Rawley's land was located.
The copy of the letter which George
Armistead Duncan wrote to Samuel M. Duncan says, "Rawley Duncan,
whom you say was your great-grandfather ...". My first step was to find out
whether Samuel M. was able to get reasonably first hand information about his
great-grandfather and whether he was really related to Charles Duncan of Jessamine
Co. Please don't blame me for bringing up some of these questions which you take
for granted because I had no way of knowing the answers. I am well-satisfied
that Samuel could get this information. The fact that Alexander C. Duncan,
Samuel's father is buried in William Duncan's family graveyard is
sufficient reason to accept the fact that he was a close relative and almost
certainly a first cousin, son of William's father's brother, James.
As they were approximately the same age and oldest children in their respective
families, Samuel certainly had access to all the information that they had. The
last record I found for Charles Duncan in Jessamine Co. was 1812. At this
time William was about 24 years old and there is every reason to believe
that Charles would have told him the name of HIS grandfather. He probably
also told William that he, Charles, was born in Culpeper Co., Va.
as Samuel Duncan says. William certainly lived long enough to communicate
all this to his young cousin, Samuel. (I know that this groundwork seems
interminable, but I want to show enough evidence to get other genealogists to
look for record proof.)
......
************
"Descendants of William Duncan the Elder of Culpeper Co. VA" by
Nancy Reba Roy (d. 1977), 1959, (Los Angeles Public Library book R929.2 D911-3),
pgs.1-4+.
There are many early Duncan wills in
Virginia but as yet none has proved as belonging to an ancestor of Wm.
the Elder. The descendants of one William Duncan have their own family
history from HENRY DUNCAN, 2d son of Wm. Duncan (one of three
martyred brothers) executed during the reign of King Charles II, in 1665.
"He had four sons, William, Henry, George and Charles, who
emigrated to America in 1678, and settled in Westmoreland Co. Va."
According to Judge John C. Underwood, who m.
a desc. of Charles Duncan and Elizabeth Dillard, WILLIAM DUNCAN
was a desc. of Rev. Wm. Duncan, b. in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1630, who
was "outed" by the rabble of the Revolution in 1688, whose wife was
Sarah Haldane. Scottish records give this minister's wife as Janet McArthur.
"He married Janet McArthur and had issue: William, and probably also
Alexander, minister of Kilbournie." (Fast1 Ecclesiae Scotieanae,
1871, edition) William, the son of Wm. and Janet did not become a
minister, so we have no records for him. Charles Duncan who m. Elizabeth
Dillard is NOT a proven descendant of William Duncan, the Elder, of
Culpeper.
Traditions of the Jessamine Co. Ky. Duncans,
from records of Dr. George A. Duncan and Samuel McAfee Duncan, give their
ancestor (William Duncan) as being born on January 7, 1613 (later changed
to 1630), as marrying Sarah Haldane in 1636 (later changed to 1656) and as being
killed on the Sands of Dumfrieshire in 1665 for refusing to take the Jacobite
oath. He was apparently a Covenanter. This family appears to descend from a Raleigh
Duncan who m. Sally McLane, and who died in Rockbridge Co. Va. in 1793, and
was bur. in the Old Timber Ridge Cem. A search of Rockbridge History reveals no Raleigh
Duncan.
Judge Daniel Grimsley of Culpeper Co. Va. in
his letter to Robert L. Duncan of Lincoln Co. Mo. states that the ancestor of
the Duncans of Culpeper was JOHN DUNCAN of Scotland, who had a brother George
who went to Pennsylvania.
Traditionally William Duncan came to
Culpeper Co. Va. (then Orange Co.) in January, 1722, where he married Ruth, dau.
of Matthew Rawley or Raleigh, Feb. 11, 1722. The birthdate of William
varies as to year but is given as April 19. He appears to have been one of those
who came from Dumfries.
************
"The Duncan Family" by Gustave Anjou (SLC book 929.273 D912a, film
928,019)
The object of this Preface is to confirm as
well as to confute traditions. In the body of this History, the reader will find
documentary evidence for a clearly connected line.
In a printed pamphlet, purporting to be the
"Biographical and Family History Sketch of Alexander Edward Duncan",
by B.F. Johnson, Inc., Washington, D.C., supplemented by various alleged
Pedigrees, compiled by the successors of this apocryphical firm, L. Wilson &
Company, also of Washington, D.C., at 602-604 Eleventh Street, N.W., but there
totally unknown, it is stated "Moses Duncan, the known great great
grandfather of the above-mentioned A.E.Duncan, was son of John Duncan,
and his wife Wilkey Duncan, of Warrenton, Faquier County, Virginia," which
is quite true.
(MAD: this genealogy gives William
Duncan of Culpeper Co. VA erroneously as the William, son of John and
Elizabeth Money, son of the immigrant Peter Duncan of Westmoreland Co. VA)
************
"Henry-Coleman Duncan Family" (Los Angeles Public Library booklet
R929.2 D911-5; LA 2/3/82; Stamped date on title page: Sep 4 1964)
THE
HENRY - COLEMAN DUNCAN FAMILY - DESCENDANTS OF PETER DUNCAN OF WESTMORELAND
COUNTY, VIRGINIA - not Descendants of Wm. the Martyr that we can prove. By Nancy
R. Roy, La Mesa Calif.
DUNCAN
Genealogy of Henry Duncan the son of
Sanford Duncan and Nancy Hammond, beginning with William Duncan of
Scotland (one of the three martyred brothers) who was born in 1630, and was
executed during the reign of King Charles II, in the year 1665.
He had four sons, William, Henry, George
and Charles, who emigrated to America in 1678, and settled in
Westmoreland County, Va. From these four sons a large family originated which
has spread throughout the entire United States.
.......
Having now written all the information that
can possibly be obtained of the more ancient of the Duncan family, and some
little of those with whom they were immediately connected, the writer will bring
this sketch to a close, without any other comment than to say that those
interested must take it as it is. Some may regret that their ancestors were not
more distinguished. Others may rejoice to know that they were so respectable.
Written by H.S. Duncan and Nelson and James Duncan from a history written by Sanford
Duncan of Louisville, Kentucky in the year 1852. 1871 - by H.S. Duncan
and the information given him by his mother and brothers. ... December 25, 1871.
H. S. Duncan.
(additional paragraph signed by) J. Fale
Duncan Denver, Colo. Sept. 12, 1928.
************
"Duncan KY Families" by Mary Green Baird, 1868-1956 (extracted
pages from genealogy, from Nancy Duncan Young, Leitchfield,
KY, to John A. Duncan 3/18/82; from John A. Duncan 8/22/84)
DUNCAN
Genealogy of Henry Duncan, III, and
Mildred Boyle, beginning with William Duncan of Scotland (one of three martyred
brothers) who was born in 1630, and executed during the reign of King Charles
II, in the year 1665.
He had four sons, William, Henry, George
and Charles, who emigrated to America in 1678, and settled in
Westmoreland County, Virginia. From these four sons a large family originated
which was spread throughout the entire United States.
.....
(from Appendix) William Duncan, the
Martyr (of Perthshire, Scotland) was one of three brothers executed in 1665
during the reign of Charles II for refusing to take the oath. William, the
martyr, was born Jan. 7, 1630; married Sarah Holden. Sons: William born October
1, 1659; Charles born Sept. 6, 1662; Henry Duncan (our ancestor) born Jan. 11,
1664; Thomas born Jan. 28, 1665, William Duncan, grandson of the above, b. April
19, 1690, came to Culpepper County, Virginia Jan. 22, 1722. His son Rawleigh was
at Braddock's defeat. (Kentucky Biographies, p.201 and 202).
The American branch of the Duncan family of
which the writer will speak, is known as the "Westmoreland Branch",
having emigrated from Scotland near the close of the 17th century and settled in
Virginia, in the county of Westmoreland, near the forefathers of the great
Washington.
************
"The Duncans of Perthshire and Their Descendants in the US" by Lew
Wallace Duncan, Kansas City, MO; no date, filmed 1971 (FHC
film 824,053-2; SLC 9/12/86, see Putnam Co. IN for James B. Duncan); copy sent
5/19/1983 by Mrs. Betty Ralph, Louisville, KY,
with comments:
"This was surely done by someone of the
Henry Duncan line that married Polly Combs. My line is that of their son James
B. Duncan that married Annie Proctor, their daughter Maranda Caroline Duncan
that married Andrew Jackson Stephens, and their son Ray Dillon Stephens who
married Hazel Arthur (Ray and Hazel being my parents). ... The attached
manuscript said that Henry and Polly were buried at Nebo Cemetery. This past
summer I made a trip to Missouri and visited the Cemetery but could not find
their grave. There were many very old tombstones and in pretty good condition,
so, if they are buried there they did not have a tombstone erected. ... James
and Annie (Proctor) Duncan ... the areas in Indiana where they settled, the
counties being Putnam, Boone, and Hendricks."
Additional comments by Mrs. Ralph at top of
genealogy: "Conflicting data prior to Henry Duncan. See book "Wm.
Duncan the Elder" by Nancy Roy."
Mrs. Ralph's earlier comments were that the
date and author of this genealogy were unknown to her.
DUNCAN-
A little more than one hundred years after
the landing of the Pilgrims from the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock and one hundred
twelve years after "the starving time" at Jamestown an English ship
brought to America some Scotch colonists to join the "F.F.V's" of
Virginia. Among the passengers on this ship were five members of the Duncan
family, three brothers and two sisters, of which quintette William Duncan
was one. They were from Perthshire, Scotland and they reached the place where
their future home was to be in January 1722.
William Duncan was born in Perthshire
April 19, 1690, and was a son of Wm. Duncan, Sr., born October 1, 1659.
This William was the only son of Rev. Wm. Duncan, whose birth-time
was January 7, 1630. It is said of Rev. Duncan that he possessed that stern
devotion to duty characteristic of the Scotch divine and that he died a martyr
at the hands of the Jacobites when he refused to take the oath of allegiance
prescribed by that organization during the reign of Charles the Second. He
married in 1657, Sarah Haldane and was the progenitor of the forebears of the
Duncan quintette which settled in Culpepper County, Virginia, in 1722.
************
See also Culpeper Co. VA information posted by Robert Stallard (message by
Patrick Hays 9/25/1999) on GenForum bulletin board referred to this site):
http://www.popnet.ch/robert.stallard/dunc1.htm.
Please note that this Web address was updated on 03/20/02.
END