Memorials › William “Billy” Duncan Sr.

William “Billy” Duncan Sr.

1808 – ?

Birth1808
Death?
CemeteryKyker Cemetery
Cocke County , Tennessee , USA
Added byGene Bryant on 22 Oct 2016
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/171697725

Bio

William Duncan was born around 1808, in Virginia. The Duncan family resettled in Washington County, Tenn. William's parents were John Duncan (1790-1863) and Sarah Hunt (1790-1891). William's death date is unknown. He was listed in the 1870 census as age 61. In 1827, William married Elizabeth Jane Bayless in Washington County. Her parents were Daniel Bayless and Mary Ireland. Daniel Bayless maintained his residence in Washington County, but he purchased a large tract of land at the base of English Mountain in the Bogard Community of Cocke County, Tenn. Three of his daughters and their husbands, all from Washington County, settled on this Bogard land. In addition to Elizabeth (married to William Duncan), the two other Bayless daughters were Zilla (married to James Acton) and Priscilla/Prissilla (married to J. J. Kyker). William and Elizabeth raised a large family, 10-12 children, in Cocke County. Some died young, and most of their adult children left Cocke County. In 1850 (census data), William and Elizabeth were living in the Bogard Community of Cocke County with these children: Daniel (22), John (18), Mary (16), Albert (12), Jane (10), James (8), Robert (6), William (2). Elizabeth was born shortly after this census count. Their oldest son, Daniel Bayless Duncan, served in the Union army during the Civil War. He returned to Cocke County for a couple of years, then moved to Collin, County, Texas. He is buried in Indian Territory, Okla. His son William, born in Cocke County, was appointed U.S. marshall by President Theodore Roosevelt. (See William Duncan's obituary, lower on this page.) Two other sons, James and William Jr., also moved to Collin County, Texas. James "Jim" was a son-in-law of Aaron Bryant, who had earlier settled in Collin County, a few miles west of McKinney. A book on early settlers in Collin County features the Duncan family. The following is an excerpt from that book, "COLLIN COUNTY: Pioneering in North Texas" by Roy and Helen Hall: “At age 17 he [James Duncan] enlisted in the Union Army and served throughout the Civil War in Company E., 2nd Tennessee Cavalry in General Grant’s army. He served under his brother, 1st Lt. Daniel B. Duncan, and was in several battles in Tennessee, as well as the Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi. He received his discharge at Nashville, Tennessee on July 14, 1865 and returned to Newport. “When he was 22 years old he and his family moved to Texas to live. The family and five other families made the trip in a boat made by William Duncan. The boat was 56 feet long and 16 feet wide. Besides the six families, the boat contained their household goods...and F. Grundy brought a span of mules and others their milk cows and chickens. The six families were Martin N. Lewis and family, F. G. Grundy Lewis family, G. Tucker family, Will Clevenger family, J.P. Duncan family, and the Phil Roberts family. “They started on the French Broad River at Hay’s Ferry, then into the Tennessee River, then the Ohio River and at last into the Mississippi. They left the Mississippi to go down Red River to Jefferson, Texas where they sold their boat and came overland to Collin County. They joined his father-in-law [Aaron Bryant]. They arrived March 27, 1868.... "J. P. Duncan and his father-in-law, Aaron Bryant, sat on the first legal murder trail that was held in McKinney, the Belew trial, 1872." William and Elizabeth’s daughter Elizabeth married James Butler. They remained in Cocke County. The following is a transcript of Jim Duncan’s obituary as published in the McKinney (Texas) Courier Gazette newspaper, Sept. 27, 1932. JIM P. DUNCAN DIES TUESDAY AT CITY HOSPITAL Jim P. Duncan, native of Newport Tennessee and resident of the Bowlby community west of McKinney for many years, died at the McKinney City Hospital this (Tuesday) morning, September 27th at 3:35 o'clock. He had been in the hospital for the past six weeks. The deceased was born October 31st, 1844 in Newport, Tennessee being therefore at the time of his death 87 years, 10 months and 26 days old. He was the son of William Duncan and Elizabeth Balus [Bayless] Duncan of Tennessee. Surviving are his wife, who was before her marriage Miss Elizabeth Bryant, and nine children as follows: Mrs. Mary Etta Hutcherson who resides west of McKinney; Mrs. Owen Matthews of Dallas, L.C. Duncan who resides on McKinney Route 2; R. L. (Bob) Duncan of Hopkins County; and Aaron, Ed, Jim, Ray and Clay Duncan all of whom reside west of McKinney. Funeral services are pending. They will be under the direction of the Sam J. Massie and Son Funeral Home of this city. The wife of the deceased, Mrs. Jim Duncan, is critically ill at their home in the Bowlby community. [NOTE: I visited Jim Duncan's grave in May 2015. It is marked with both a standard headstone and a Union army military marker. --Gene Bryant] OBITUARY FOR WILLIAM S. DUNCAN (a prominent grandson of William Duncan Sr. and Elizabeth Bayless) William S. Duncan, 77, widely known farmer and rancher, passed away at this home in Hickory, Okla., Oct. 13, 1943, following a heart attack. He was born May 6, 1866, in Newport, Tenn.; the second son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Daniel B. Duncan, also a brother of the late Mr. Mart Duncan, of Allen, Texas; and a nephew of the late Mesars. Jim and Billy [William Jr.] Duncan, who resided west of McKinney. He was well known throughout Collin County [Texas], having resided there while a young man. After leaving Texas, he went to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) where he resided for the past 52 years or until the time of his death. He was married to Miss Julia Moore of Hickory, Okla., 48 years ago. Mr. Duncan was among the early day settlers of this section of Indian Territory, where he served as U.S. Marshal. He was prominent and had many friends. Relatives who survive include his wife, Mrs. Julia Duncan, Hickory; three daughters, Mrs. A.R. Ritterbusch of Bartlesville, Okla.; Mrs. Garland Nowlin, of Hickory, Okla.; and Mrs. O.T. Morris, of Fort Worth; two sisters, Mrs. Mary Scott, of Dallas, and Mrs. Jim Wallace, of Fort Worth. Death and burial records for William Duncan Sr. are not obtainable. But he was likely buried in the Bayless family (Acton, Duncan and Kyker) graveyard, which is known today as the Kyker Cemetery. He does not, however, have a readable grave marker in this cemetery.

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