Captain, Co. B, 18th Iowa Infantry The son of James & Margaret Duncan, he was born Aug 14, 1828 in Kent County, Kentucky. When he was six he removed with his parents to Monroe County, Indiana where he grew to manhood. He spent his youth on a farm & received his education in the common schools there. After leaving school he taught for several terms in Indiana.
On April 10, 1851 he married Mary J. Morgan of Morgan County, Indiana. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1831 and was of Welsh & Irish descent. Two children were born to this marriage: Mary E. and James M. both of whom were born in Indiana, in 1852 and 1854 respectively. William Duncan & his family moved to Warren County, Iowa in 1855 where he taught school for eighteen months. In 1857 he moved once again, this time to Clarke County, Iowa where he was alternately a teacher and a carpenter.
There he joined the Missionary Baptist church and was an earnest & consistant Christian.
He enlisted in Company B of the 18th Iowa Infantry on July 26, 1862 and was unanimously elected its captain. He mustered in August 5, 1862 at Clinton Iowa, and mustered out at the expiration fo his term of service on July 20, 1865 at Little Rock, Arkansas having earned an honorable discharge.
He died May 3, 1879 and his widow, Mary, died in 1913. They are both buried in Greenbay Cemetery, Greenbay Twnsp., Clarke Co., Iowa. "He was a brave officer, and was loved and honored by all who knew him."
Sources: Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers During the War of the Rebellion, Vol. 3 p. 146; Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System; Clarke County, Iowa Cemeteries, Vol. 2: The Rural Cemeteries, p. 85; History of Clarke County, Iowa, p. 154; 1856 Iowa State Census for Knox Township, Clarke County, Iowa; 1880 Federal Census for Knox Township, Clarke County, Iowa; Greenbay Cemetery, Greenbay Twsp., Clarke Co., IA
See Other Blog Entries:
Captain Duncan After The Copperheads
Letter from Captain Duncan to Mrs. Duncan
18th Iowa Infantry
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