Jefferson County ArArchives Biographies.....Duncan, David Henry 
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Robert Sanchez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00027.html#0006574 July 18, 2009, 2:19 pm

Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922)

DAVID HENRY DUNCAN.
    On the list of Pine Bluff's honored dead appears the name of David Henry
Duncan who was one of the prominent lumbermen of Arkansas—a man who in his
business career displayed marked capability, great thoroughness, notable
initiative. splendid executive ability and unsullied integrity and honor.
Business, however. was to him only one phase of life—a means to an end. He
rejoiced in his success by reason of what it enabled him to do for his family,
for his friends and for the community at large. Those qualities which make a man
an outstanding figure among his fellowmen were his in large measure. His entire
life was a credit and honor to the parents who reared him—an example of marked
love and loyalty to his family and of devotion to the high standards of
friendship. There are perhaps few men who have inspired warmer regard and
friendship among their associates than did he—a fact which was strongly manifest
in a beautiful and merited tribute paid to him in a memorial prepared for the
American Lumberman and which was signed simply "Friends." This memorial gives so
completely the story of his life that it is appended herewith in its  entirety.

    "David Henry Duncan was born in Nashville, Tennessee, February 22, 1865. His
father, David Duncan, was horn in Glasgow, Scotland, and came to this country
when quite a young man, and settled in Cincinnati, afterwards moving to
Tennessee. He married Miss Harriett Dobb of Philadelphia, whose brother gained
great distinction as an instructor in Gambier College; another brother, the Rev.
Alexander Dobb, was rector for many years of the historic and famous Trinity
Church in New Orleans. During the great epidemic of yellow fever, when there was
such an exodus of people from the stricken city, he endeared himself to all by
remaining with his people, while many urged him to leave and escape the plague.
He stood by his post, like the true man he was, and he and his wife, after
faithful service to the sick and dying, succumbed to the tfreaded disease. A
tablet in the church speaks for him and his noble work where he ministered as a
faithful shepherd.

    "A son of Rev. Alexander Dobb was also a clergyman of distinction; he died
in his pulpit in Frankfort, Kentucky, while in the act of blessing his  people.

    "David Henry Duncan spent most of his childhood in Paducah, Kentucky, with
his father, who operated a large hub and spoke factory. When only a boy the care
and responsibility of the business fell upon his shoulders, on account of the
failing health of his father. He manfully met his duty, and as his sister, Mrs.
T. W. Moore of Redfield, Arkansas, who alone of the children survives, says of
him: 'He was father and brother, always kind and thoughtful. Never an unkind
word or selfish act emanated from him.' He was his mother's favorite child and
all that a dutiful son should be. It was, as he deemed it, the greatest
privilege of his life to he able to educate his sister, no sacrifice being too
great for him to make in her behalf; he was the sunshine of the home.

    "He came to Arkansas twenty years ago, and engaged in the lumber business,
and for the past twelve years was identified with John F. Rutherford of the
Bluff City Lumber Company. He climbed by his own efforts to the top of the
business world and was what one would call a self-made man.

    "In 1892 he was married to Miss Martha Rose Dorsey of Atkins, Arkansas, who
with four children survives him and mourns his untimely death.

    "He was a thirty-second degree Mason, belonging to the Consistory of New
Orleans; also a member of Jerusalem Temple of the Mystic Shrine of New Orleans,
and a member of the following orders: Knights of Pythias, Knights of Honor and
Woodmen of the World.

    "In the death of David Henry Duncan, to the loved ones and others left
behind, the sense of personal loss is so great that we can only give expression
in our grief. He was a true, kind-hearted friend. The tender radiance which
shone from his beautiful idea of friendship gave comfort and cheer to all who
came under its influence. To his friends he was faithful and true. To the poor
and needy he ever stretched forth a helpful hand. As a member of the Bluff City
Lumber Company. he was always present and manifested the greatest interest in
all its undertakings, faithful in the discharge of his duties, always doing the
best for the good of the company. This institution mourns the loss of a true and
tried friend.

    "The business interests and the community at large  have  suffered an
irreparable loss.

    "Thrust in a moment from the full tide of this world's interests, from its
joys, its hopes, its aspirations, into the visible presence of death.

    "What sundering of strong, warm manhood's friendship; what bitter rending of
sweet household ties, whose lips can tell? He was a devoted husband, whose life
lay in hers who was his wife; his children, to whom he was a most exceptional
father, each day received their father's love and care, and in his heart the
eager rejoicing proved to meet all demands.

    "He believed in the religion of love and a gospel of good works. He
sympathized with human frailties and human sufferings. He never bore malice. He
felt that the man who scatters flowers in the pathway of his fellow creatures
lets into the dark places of life the sunshine of human sympathy and human
helpfulness. He believed 'we rise by raising others.'

    "To the bereaved ones we can truly say that a loving husband and father has
passed to immortality. We reverently bow our heads in sympathy with those whose
heart ties have been snapped by the stroke that was laden with the acutest
grief. Deep as is our bereavement, theirs is yet more poignant. They miss, as no
other mortals can, the kind and gentle voice of our friend; yet, across the
abyss of grief, we gently clasp the hands of those stricken ones; we whisper in
their ears those soothing words of comfort, 'He is immortal,' and let us see him
not shrouded in night of gloom and sorrow, but smiling upon us from the sweet
halo that marks God's farewell to the day where the gorgeous sunsets paint the
sky and sea with incomparable glory. Smiling with all the well remembered grace
of his true manhood and love and devotion, and saying: 'The sunset speaks but
feebly of the glories of another day. All is well.' With new faith and chastened
hearts, let us echo, All is well!        Friends."

    There is comparatively little to add to this for those who read between the
lines and recognize the sterling qualities of the man. In his business he was
associated with John F. Rutherford under the name of the Bluff City Lumber
Company and their relation was more like that of brothers than business
associates. It has often been said that an individual may best be judged by his
treatment of those beneath him in the social scale and by this standard Mr.
Duncan may be rated high. He was always kindly and just to his employes and
among the choice floral offerings seen at his funeral were many furnished by
those who were in his service, while many of the laborers and the employes in
the various mills owned and controlled by the Bluff City Lumber Company came to
pay their last tribute of respect and honor to him. He was regarded as one of
the best lumbermen in the south and as a financier was looked upon as a wonder,
while with the most progressive business men of his section he stood in the
front rank. Resolutions of respect were passed by all the organizations with
which he was identified, while Mrs. Duncan and her family received letters by
the score from close friends and those also who knew Mr. Duncan in a business
way, especially the lumbermen of the south. Rich in those qualities which endear
men to their fellows, his life was characterized by a charming devotion and
loyalty to family and friends, and by the most straightforward business
dealings. He shed around him much of the sunshine of life and sweet and precious
are the memories which he left as a legacy to all who knew him. It was on the
22d of March, 1909, that he was called to his final rest.


Additional Comments:
Citation:
Centennial History of Arkansas
Volume II
Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1922


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