John Ticknor Duncan, the Treasurer of the Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, was born in Plainfield, December 22, 1831, son of Samuel B. and Ruth (Ticknor) Duncan. His great-grandfather, James Duncan, born in 1724, resided in Haverhill, Mass. James married Elizabeth Bell, who was born December 25, 1725, and had a family of twelve children. Robert Duncan, the grandfather, was born in Haverhill, May 21, 1760. When a young man he settled in Plainfield. He married Hannah Emerson, a native of Haverhill, and became the father of four children-Samuel B., John Thaxter, Mary A., and Hannah -all natives of Plainfield. John Thaxter, who was born in 1798, and followed a mercantile business in Vermont for a number of years, was afterward engaged in the manufacture of iron in New York State, and died in 1870. He married Fanny Dennison, and had a family of six children, four of whom are living. Mary A., born March 23, 1800, married John Bryant, of this town, who was associated with Squire Kimball in a mercantile business and the woollen manufacturing industry. She lived to be ninety-one years old, and two of her four children are living. Hannah, who was born in 1802, married Reuben True, one of the prosperous farmers and prominent residents of Plainfield in his day; and she lived to the advanced age of ninety-four years. She was the mother of four children, one of whom is living.
Samuel B. Duncan, born November 20, 1795, was educated in the schools of Plainfield and Haverhill, Mass. Soon after the completion of his studies he volunteered to serve in the War of 1812 as a substitute for his brother, who had been drafted. For thirtyfive years he was a Trustee of the Kimball Union Academy, and he filled the position of Treasurer for twelve years. He died December 22, 1869. His wife, Ruth, was born in Lebanon, N.H., in 1777, daughter of John and Mabel (Green) Ticknor. She became the mother of three sons, namely: John T., the subject of this sketch; Robert H. born November 12, 1833; and Samuel A., born June 19, 1836. Robert H. prepared for his collegiate course at the Kimball Union Academy, and was graduated from Dartmouth College, class of 1857. He studied law at the Poughkeepsie (N.Y. ) Law School, and is now a prominent patent attorney in New York City. He married Abbie Vinning, daughter of Samuel Vinning, of Holbrook, Mass.; and she has had four children, three of whom are living. Samuel A. attended the Kimball Union Academy, and was graduated from Dartmouth with the class of 1858. After pursuing a course at the Columbia Law School, he was engaged in teaching at Quincy, Mass., for a time, and was for two years a tutor at Dartmouth College. In 1862 he was commissioned Major of the Fourteenth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, was later appointed Colonel of the Fourth United States Colored Regiment, and retired from the service with the rank of Brevet Majorgeneral. During the years 1867 and 1868 he was special agent of the United States Treasury at Washington, was Examiner of Patents from 1868 to 1870, and Commissioner of Patents from 1870 to 1872. Later he became associated with his brother, Robert H., in New York City, and died October 18, 1895. On December 25, 1867, he married Julia Jones, of Washington, N.H.; and she became the mother of five children, three of whom are living. She is now residing in Englewood, N.J. Mrs. Samuel B. Duncan was ninety-four years old, when she died in 1871.
After graduating from the Kimball Union Academy in 1852, John Ticknor Duncan immediately turned his attention to agriculture. He succeeded to the home farm, and has since carried it on with success. The property, which contains about fifty acres, is located in the village of Meriden, nearly opposite the academy and adjoining Dexter Richard Hall, where many of the students board. In 1870 he succeeded his father as Treasurer and Trustee of the academy. This institution has from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five students in attendance. Dexter Richard Hall, a handsome three-story building belonging to the academy, is used during the vacation season for summer boarders. Mr. Duncan has acted as a Justice of the Peace and Notary Public for the past twenty years. Politically, he supports the Republican party. He was a member of the New Hampshire Constitutional Convention of 1889.