Person:Charles Duncan (22)

Information on Charles Duncan

Letter written by grandson of Charles Duncan, posted on Rootsweb:

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 to assist in the defense of Richmond, which was threatened by Lord Cornwallis and Gen. Arnold. This was the last military service in which they were engaged during the Revolutionary war. Many of the old Scotch families that settled in Northern Virginia were loyalists, many of them enlisted in the British army and were sent to New York; but all the descendents of William Duncan were true to the cause of freedom during the struggle for American Independence. The old Scotch settlers in Northern Virginia were members of the Presbyterian church and were well trained by their ministers, before the Revolution commenced, to hate English tyranny, and "taxation without representation."
     Your great-grand-father and mine were members of the old Timber Ridge church in Rockbridge county. Rawley Duncan and his wife and my grand-father were buried in the old church lot of Timber Ridge. Rawley Duncan died in 1793. My grand-father and grand-mother died the same day, July 9th, 1813. I am the only surviving son of Charles Duncan, who was born in Culpepper county, Va., May 9, 1796. He removed to North Carolina in 1839. He married Susan Bledsoe, of Spottsylvania county.
     My mother died in 1856. She was a member of the Presbyterian church, was a devoted Christian. She lived for God and Heaven, possessed largely the Spirit of her Master, loved everybody, and was loved by all. She was an amiable woman, kind hearted to the poor in every station of life. She was prompted in all she said and did by love. Hers was a religion known by all with whom she was associated, who felt its power by her pious walk and Christ-like example. She met death without the least fear, and bore her sufferings with more than human patience.
     My father died of cholera in Havana, in July, 1852. He was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church for twenty years before his death. An unostentatious man, he was emphatically an upright one, and a zealous and consistent Christian. As a citizen, neighbor and friend he was among the liberal, the useful, and the trusted. Calm and unruffled in temperment, he met life without repining or contention. Sound in judgment and unswerving in principle, he gained respect without seeking it; too modest to covet promotion, he filled with credit the high duties that were laid upon him, in the Church, as in spheres strictly secular or educational, he was confided in because he deserved to be. He didn't reserve for the service of his Maker the dregs of a life devoted to the God of this world. No; in the vigor of his manhood, when the honors of the world held forth their flattering allurements, he "chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." Many times when he was laid upon a bed of sickness from which we could not hope he would rise, have I seen him full of joy, and longing to depart and be with Christ.
     As before stated, my father died of cholera in Havana on the 7th of July, 1852. His remains were brought home and deposited in the cemetery at Edenton, by the side of my mother.
     I will inform you, in conclusion, that I was born Nov. 10, 1823, to (sic) Fairfax county, Va.; was married in (sic) Amelia Tibbetts in January, 1849. I have six sons and two daughters. My daughters are married and reside in Texas. Three of my sons are also married and reside in Alabama. My youngest son lives with me.
     As I have written a long and tedious letter, I trust you will not throw it aside, and be kind enough to write me a long letter. My wife and myself have read your interesting notice of your grand-father in the "Sunny South" with great pleasure and profit. Let me often hear from you.
     Your friend and kinsman,
           Charles C. Duncan.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900. (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.Original data - This unique collection of records was extracted from a variety of sources including family group sheets and electronic databases. Originally, the information was deriv)
   Source number: 830.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: BB1.

   Name: Charles DuncanBirth Date: 1742Birth Place: VA

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Ancestry.com. OneWorldTree. (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc.).
3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Edmund West, comp. Family Data Collection - Births. (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001.).

   Name: Charles DuncanBirth Date: 8 October 1742Birth Place: Culpepper, VA, USA

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Edmund West, comp. Family Data Collection - Individual Records. (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000.)
   Birth year: 1742; Birth city: Culpepper County; Birth state: VA.

   Name: Charles DuncanBirth Date: 8 October 1742Birth Place: Culpepper County, VADeath Date: March 1789Death Place: Marian County, KY