John Holt Duncan

DUNCAN, JOHN HOLT (1820 ~ 1896). John Holt Duncan was born July 7, 1820 in Cynthiana, Kentucky to John Hicks Duncan and Pauline Randolph Holt, daughter of a Revolutionary War Major.

The family moved to Fayette, Mississippi in the early 1820's, where his father became a respected physician. John Holt Duncan attended Oakland College in Alcorn, Mississippi, although he later transferred to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, although his exact dates of enrollment are unknown. He did graduate in 1840 and while he was there, he helped found and was the first president of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.

John Holt Duncan came to Texas in 1852, settling in Houston practicing law. It is unknown what he did during the 12 years after his college graduation. He enlisted in the Confederate Army on March 29, 1862 in San Antonio, eventually becoming Captain of Company C, 31st Regiment, Texas Cavalry.

He was injured at the Battle of Newtonia in Missouri on September 30, 1862, losing his right leg. After the injury, John Holt Duncan was returned to Texas where he served in the Confederate Ordnance Department in San Antonio. He resigned from the Army on May 30, 1864, possibly to become the a Fourth District Judge. Little is known of Duncan after the war, until his death on May 27, 1896.

Information taken from Texas State Cemetery file materials.