The Elusive "Miss Edwards"

I would have liked to have known William F Duncan (b. 1842 d. 1925). He would be my maternal great-great-grandfather. Everything I know about him comes from his pension files that I have. His handwriting is clear and concise. His spelling is good and it seems that I read into his sentences a sense of humor. It is not to say he wrote with humor but in the way he filled out the application, I feel he might have had a good sense of humor. He was a sickly man. He was pensioned from the service as he had a lot of physical problems and I believe this all happened after being kicked by a horse. However he still managed to have a lot of children.. haha. Eight to be exact.

He was born in North Carolina and died in Tennessee and I wonder if he was in touch with his family or estranged. His first wife died of tuberculosis leaving him with a small son, my great-grandfather David Washington Duncan. He left for Georgia with his second wife and family then onward to Tennessee. I am having a hard time working through his parents but I am saying that I am gaining some experience because I did finally find a census for his mother today proving her name is Jane. In his pension application, he was so formal that he listed his mother as "Miss Edwards".

Miss Edwards has turned out to be Jane Edwards. I stumbled upon her gravestone listing and that gave me her birth and death dates and so far I have found her on the 1870 and 1900 Census. On both she was living with her son Thomas (b. 1849) so George W Duncan, her husband, died before that yet. They had 7 children per her 1900 Census information.

Jane E. Duncan
born September 4, 1817
died April 20, 1912
A Tender Mother - A faithful friend