Duncan's Bridge

(Undated, source unknown; transcribed by Lisa Perry)

Duncan’s Bridge was named for David Duncan, father of James Duncan.  James was born in Kentucky August 1, 1814. Married Mary V. Taylor in 1835, they were the parents of seven children.

He and his wife were buried at Marthasville in Warren County, Daniel Boone Cemetery.  Then in 1845, Frankfort, Kentucky citizens of here, exhumed the bodies and took them back to Kentucky.


Duncan's Bridge, or "Leesburg" as it is familiarly called, is situated in the western portion of Monroe Co., in Woodlawn Township, 20 miles from Paris, 10 miles from Madison. In 1876 there was only one business house, and on saw-mill. In 1884 there were three dry goods and grocery stores, one drug store, two saw and grist-mills, one furniture store, two blacksmith shops, one wagon shop, and one carding machine run by steam.  All were in prosperous condition. The prediction was made, "at no distant day, Duncan's Bridge, though a thriving village now , (1884) will reach an epoch when it will be known as one of the important towns of Monroe Co.," It is situated in the northwest corner of the county on Se. 5, 8, Twp. 55 N, R. 12 W at the junction of J & 151. Mail is via Clarence: population 40.

--Rand McNally, 1974                       (submitted by Robin Gatson)

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Also known as "Leesburg, located in Woodlawn Township.  The town was named after David Duncan, who had married Eliazabeth Finney. They first settled in  Howard County, then Randolph County, and then finally in Monroe County.  

David's son  James Duncan a farmer, was married to Mary V. Taylor in 1835.  They had 7 children.   John W., Greenbury, James, Franklin ,and  3 others who died young.   James, like so many other men, went to California in 1850 for the Gold Rush, but unlike many others, he returned to Monroe Co., Mo., where he owned an 120 acre farm.

After his wife's death, James remarried in 1862 to Elizabeth Capp. Their children were, Caroline, Elisha, Willard, Thrasher, Josephine, Urna, and  2 others that died before 1884.