Soldier Information
Name: Richard Duncan
Alias: Dick
Place of Birth: Nelson KY Year of Birth: 1845
Occupation: Laborer
Eyes: Dark Hair: Dark Complexion: Dark
Height in Feet: 6 Inches: 2
View Ledger
Enlistment Information
Enlistment Date: August 23, 1864
Enlistment Place: Louisville
Enlistment State: KY
Compiled Military Service Record
Document: View
Congressional District: 4
Company: G Regiment(s): 107th USCI
Mustered Where: Louisville, Kentucky
Mustered Out Date: November 27, 1866
Rank at Muster Out: Private
Notes:
Richard Duncan was promoted from private to corporal on September 1, 1864. He was reduced in rank to a private on November 30, 1864. No explanation was provided for the demotion. Richard Duncan was mustered out as a private on November 22, 1866. His pension records, however, list his rank as a corporal. One other item of note. According to his CMSR, when Richard Duncan was mustered out, he owed $10 to sutler Roscoe C. Facer (aka “R. C. Facer). Roscoe C. Facer (1847-1904), a U.S. Navy veteran, was granted a contract on November 25, 1865 to serve as the sutler (civilian commissary serving military personnel) for Fort Reno in Washington, D. C. Facer’s contract was approved by Capt. Clark of the 107th USCI.
Soldier Death Information
Died in war? No
Military Death Date:
Military Death Location:
Military Cause of Death:
Death Date: January 1, 1904
Cause of Death: Unknown
Soldier Pension Information
Pension Card Link: Pension Card
Pension Application Date: September 12, 1890
Application No.: 903367 Certificate No.: 804146
Alternate First Name: Alternate Last Name:
Widow Pension Information
Widow Pension Card: Pension Card
Widow Application Date: July 11, 1904
Application No.: 809896 Certificate No.: 590504
No other family pension card found
Pension File Information
Pension File:
Pensioners:
Pensioner County: Nelson Pensioner State: KY
Number of Pages:1
Pension Notes:
Richard Duncan’s pension card is in conflict with his CMSR. The pension card states that his rank was corporal but his CMSR states that his rank (when he was mustered out) was a private. The CMSR does show that he was promoted to corporal and later reduced in rank to private. I was unable to find any documentation to explain this discrepancy.
Freedman’s Bank/Freedmen’s Bureau Information
No Freedman’s Bank information found
No Freedmen’s Bureau Documents found
Family Information
Mother First Name: Mother Maiden Name:
Father First Name: Jerry Father Last Name: Duncan
Siblings:
Wife #1 First Name: Kate Maiden Name: Moore
Wife #2 First Name: Maiden Name:
Wife #3 First Name: Maiden Name:
Children: Clay Duncan 1869
Betty Duncan 1871
Lena Duncan 1873
Mattie Duncan 1875
Family Notes:
No death certificates or obituaries were found for Richard Duncan. The year of death is based on the year in which his widow applied for pension benefits.
It is likely that Vance Duncan (10299) was the brother of Richard Duncan, however, that relationship has yet to be confirmed.
Family Tree: View
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1870 Census
1870 Census Link: View
1870 Profession: Farm hand
1870 Live with/near former enslaver? Yes
1870 Real Estate Value: 0 1870 Personal Estate Value: 0
1870 Ability to Read? Cannot read Ability to Write? Cannot write
1870 Census Notes:
1880 Census
1880 Census Link: View
1880 Profession: Farm hand
1880 Live with/near former enslaver? No
1880 Ability to Read? Cannot read Ability to Write? Cannot write
1880 Census Notes:
1890 Census
1890 Census information not found
1900 Census
1900 Census Link: View
1900 Profession: Preacher
1900 Ability to Read? Can read Ability to Write? Can write
1900 Own/Rent: Rent 1900 Home Free/Mortgage: Unknown 1900 Farm/House: House
1900 Census Notes:
1910 Census
1910 Census information not found
1920 Census
1920 Census information not found
Enslaver Information
Name: Isaac Duncan Location: Bloomfield, Nelson County, Kentucky
Previous Enslaver: Ellis Duncan
Enslaver Notes:
Richard Duncan was likely first enslaved by Ellis Duncan (1804-1859), the father of Isaac Wilson Duncan (1835-1907), who was Richard Duncan’s enslaver of record in 1864 (Ledger). When Ellis Duncan died in 1859, Richard Duncan became the property of his widow (Isaac Duncan’s mother), Mary E. Wilson Duncan (1808-1872). Richard Duncan, along with 24 other persons, were enslaved by Mary E. Wilson Duncan when the 1860 Slave Schedule was conducted. There were several enslaved individuals who fit the description of Richard Duncan in both the 1850 and 1860 Slave Schedules. Sometime between 1860 and 1864, Mary E. Wilson Duncan must have passed ownership of Richard Duncan to her son, Isaac Duncan because when Richard Duncan enlisted in the USCI in 1864, Isaac Duncan was the enslaver of record on the Ledger.
Ellis Duncan was a trustee of the Bardstown Female Academy, and his son Isaac Duncan was a graduate of Centre College (Class of 1857). Despite their interest in education, it appears as though they did not educate the enslaved. The 1870 Census indicates that neither Richard Duncan nor Vance Duncan were literate. By 1900, however, Richard Duncan could read and write. After the death of his mother in 1872, Isaac Duncan moved his family from Nelson County to Jackson County, Missouri, and later relocated to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Isaac Duncan was known for raising imported purebred Scottish Galloway cattle. Isaac Duncan’s last will and testament (probated in 1908) was very long and detailed. In it, he admonished his children to treat each other with kindness, not to squabble over money, and not to squander their inheritance on speculative investments.
1850 Enslaver Census
1850 Census Link: View
1850 Slave Schedule Link: View
1850 Number of Enslaved: 27
1860 Enslaver Census
1860 Census Link: View
1860 Real Estate Value: $25,000 1860 Personal Estate Value: $22,375
1860 Slave Schedule Link: View
1860 Number of Enslaved: 25
1870 Enslaver Census
1870 Census Link: View
1870 Real Estate Value: $16,480 1870 Personal Estate Value: $6,870
1880 Enslaver Census
Compensation Information
Compensation Application not found