Thomas Duncan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, about 1830 but the exact date is unknown. McKee Duncan his grandson, in giving information for his death certificate, tried to make him older than his wife, and stated he was born in 1827. Unfortunately that date was a year before his parents were married. It is known that he was at least two years younger than his wife. He was taken by his family to Louisiana about 1835 where he spent his early days. He probably removed with them to Washington, D.C., about 1850 where he completed his education and theological training. He graduated from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia in 1855, and that year he became Assistant Minister at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. During his service there he met and married Mara Lear Morris on 26 May 1855. They first lived in Washington where their first child was born in 1858. Later that year Thomas Duncan accepted a call to be minister of the Episcopal Church at Markham Station, Virginia, about 40 miles west of Washington. Being in the Country he evidently needed help with the various chores as indicated by a piec6 of paper found in his possessions which read;

"On or before the 1st day of January 1860 we bind ourselves our heirs etc to Pay Martin P. Brooks the just and full sum of Forty five Dollars for the hire of negro, boy Aaron for the present year and to clothe him with good summer and winter clothes such as are usually given to hirelings Hat, Blanket and Boots as witness our hands and seals thus 1st day of Januarys 1859.

s/s Thos Duncan
s/s J.A.Marshall"

He did not own this slave, but he and Marssall hired him for a year. It is not known what connection he had with Marshall.

The Duncan's second child was born in December 1959 in Washington, where Maria evidently had gone to be with her mother who was living on H Street. She also went there when their third child, Louis, was born 25 March 1861. By that time many of the Southern States had seceded and the War between the States was imminent. Her mother tried to get Maria to remain in the safety of Washington, but she decided to return to her home at Markham Station. Thomas Duncan' s association with the South during his Louisana days was so strong that sometime after hostilities commenced he joined the ranks of the Confederacy, much to the disapproval of his wife's family. He served as Chaplain in the Maryland Line the Confederate Army, and the following is quoted from page 122 and 123 of Mr. W.W. Goldsborough's book;

"At Hanover Junction, Oct 22, 1864 and for the first since leaving the Valley of Virginia, the different arms of the. Maryland line were united" - - - - - "The Field Staff of the Maryland Line as now organized was as follows Col Commanding Bradley T. Johnson; Capt Geo. W. Boot, A.A.G; Capt Wilson C. Nicholas, Assist Inspr-Gen; Major, Charles R. Harding A.Q.M; Major Geo. E. Kyle, A.C.S; Surgeon Rich. P. Johnson, Med. Dir; Lt. A.C. Trippe, Ord. Off; The Rev. Mr Duncan, Chaplain." - - - "A chapel was'. built under supervision of Mrs. Johnson and her sister Miss Saunders, Episcopal services were held in the Chapel for the first time on l7th of January by the Chaplain Rev. Mr Duncan."

Their house was in a contested area, sometimes being held by Union forces and sometimes by the Confederates. In her later life Maria Duncan often spoke of witnessing skirmishes in her back yard. Rev. Duncan's relationship with his wife's family was further strained when at one time, while their house was in Confederate hands, one of Maria's brothers, who was an officer in the Union Army, crossed the line to visit with her, and was informed on by one of Thomas Duncan's sisters. Although the Union Officer escaped, members of the Morris family would. have as little as possible to do with Thomas Duncan, and from that time on some even refused to speak to him, He also served as one of General Lee's Chaplains and evidently did extensive traveling, as is mentioned n his diaries. Also mentioned in the diaries were the many delicious meals which he consumed at various places with different people. Judging from the diaries he passed through the Union lines many times, and often saw his wife. Returning from these trips, he usually brought back medical and other contraband supplies. In fact he was acting almost in the capacity of a spy. He evidently never lacked for nerve, as on one such occasion in the Washington Railroad Station, he got a Union sentry to guard his suitcase, full of contraband, while he purchased a ticket.

Upon cessation of hostilities he returned to his parish at Markham Station, where he remained until 1866 at which time he became Pastor of a church at St. Margaret's, Maryland. In 1868 he accepted a call to become Pastor of St. John's, a Protestant-Episcopal church in Brooksville, Maryland, a town near Olney and about equidistant from Washington and Baltimore. Here is where his fourth and last child could have been born, but being only a short distance from Washington, the child was probably born in Maria's mother's house. He remained at this Church until 1875, his last sermon being delivered on Easter Sunday of that year. He had already made plans to remove to Knoxville, Tennessee, to accept a call from the St. John's Episcopal Church there. The following are quotes from records of that Church;

"At a meeting of the Vestry on 19 April 1875, the Rev. Thomas Duncan, of Brookfield (Brookeville), Maryland, was unanimously elected to be Rector of St. John's Church." "The minutes of a meeting of 11 May 1875, contain notice that the Rev. Mr. Duncan accepted his election." “- - - Rev. Thomas Duncan, whose labors were longer in period, extending some five and a half years - - . He was able to report at the end of one year after he began his duties, one hundred and thirty communicants, and the confirmation from the parish in the time of his residence averaged eleven or twelve a year."

While the Rector at St. John's, he was conferred, in absentia, the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Divinity, from Columbia University, now George Washington University, in 1878. Everything concerning his duties apparently went smoothly until 21 December 1880, when the following was received by the Church.

"To the Vestry of St. John's Church
Gentlemen:
I hereby resign my position as Rector of St. John's Church to take effect from this date.
Truly yours,
s/s Thomas Duncan
P.S. I will vacate the rectory as soon as possible."

Something evidently came up suddenly which displeased him sufficiently to cause him to take such a drastic action. The Vestry accepted his resignation and adopted the following resolution;

"RESOLVED that the Vestry of St. John's Church, in accepting the resignation of the Rector, the Rev. Thomas Duncan, tendered this day, desires to place on record its high text missing from original and evening for both the members of his family and his servants. After he came to live with his son he would say grace at meals, and whenever a guest was present, it almost became a sermon. He was the inventor of a device which enabled the driver of a carriage to open a gate without getting out of the carriage. He left a will dated 13 April 1910. in which he made specific bequests to the Trustee's of the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary and High School of Virginia, the Evangelical Education Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Children of his deceased sister Mary Bradley, and his sister Fanny Milton. The remainder and bulk of his estate was left to his wife, Maria, which upon her death was to be equally divided between his two sons, Murray and Louis Duncan.

Maria Lear Morris was born 31 May 1828, at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, at which time her father was Commandant of the Yard. A few years afterwards she moved with her family to Washington, where she spent most of the winters of her unmarried life, the summers being spent with members of her mother's family in Providence, R.I. Nothing is known of her early days until she married Thomas Duncan, except that she did have several love affairs with men of whom her father disapproved and mentioned the fact in his diaries. Her sister, Harriet, affectionately known as "Grandma Cool' by the Louis Duncan family, described Maria in her younger days as being very small with chestnut colored hair and grey eyes. She was very attractive, vivacious and "quite a flirt." - - She was a woman of great stamina and strength of character, a characteristic of the Morris women, without the imperialistic attitude and biting tongue of her sisters, Harriet and Julia. It is not known where Maria received her education, but it evidently was thorough. Her children did not have the opportunity to attend school due to the war or location of her husband's parishes, but she was able to teach them in such a manner that they were sufficiently grounded in the fundamentals to enter formal schools at no disadvantage.

Maria loved animals and always had some when possible and they, in turn, showed great fondness for her. She used to feed her cows, which she considered as pets, salt right out of her hand. In later life she was never without a cat, would follow her about as a dog does, and in order to be who close to her would nestle down in her sewing basket, in the midst of all the pins and needles. Maria desiring to impart to her granddaughters some fundamental details of living, taught them to "sew a fine seam, it and if the stitches were not fine enough, out they came and the task would have to be redone. Often on these occasions a tap or two from her thimble on the forehead would emphasize the seriousness of the task. Knitting was also a requirement and she would give a prize of five dollars for the first wash cloth knit in tile dark. This type of instruction never seemed a chore because she always made it such an interesting challenge. After her husbands retirement she made many dresses for the children In the orphanages "so they would feel more cared for and not so regimented. She also knit many outfits, such as helmets, wristlets, scarves, etc., for the men stationed in lighthouses, and she often received a duck from them as an expression of their thanks. She used to please her grandchildren in Pelham Manor by knitting fascinating clothes for their dolls. She also used to read aloud to them and was a master in the dialect of Uncle Remus.,

the lean years of the Civil War she formed the habit of doing without many varieties of food. Butter being non-existent, bacon grease was occasionally used in its place, which she considered a great treat even in her later life. . She broke her hip in 1913 and nothing could be done about it surgically. Her determination not to become an invalid soon had her walking with a cane which she had to use thereafter. Her daughter-in-law Edith Duncan called her "little mother” which emphasized the deep devotion she felt towards her. She died 12 April 1917 in Pelham Manor, New York, and was buried in the Morris Plot of the Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

It is interesting to note that Maria Mortis Duncan is descended from John Rhodes and his wife Waite Waterman via two branches. one from son William Rhodes, Waitstill Corliss, Sarah Bowen, and her mother Harriet Bowen who married Commodore Morris. The other from son Zacharia Rhodes, Mary Wilkinson, Lydia Morris, Captain Charles Morris and her father Commodore Morris. As one branch had an extra generation in it, it could be said that her great great great-grandmother(Waite Waterman) married her great-great great great grandfather (John Rhodes) or vice versa.