and twenty acres, all of which is improved. Although grasshoppers and hailstorms destroyed his crops and blizzards
made life in the pioneer winter days uncomfortable, he has steadily kept pace with the growth of the country,
gathering without scattering, and is now able to pass the evening of his life surrounded by everything his heart
could wish that money can buy. As an early settler he has seen the county pass from a vast wilderness, fit only
for a stamping ground for buffaloes and other wild animals, which were numerous in those days, to its present
well-cultivated condition, and has himself been active in the development of its agricultural interests. His old
homestead he improved and lived on until 1880, and then purchased and removed to his present farm, where he carries
on an extensive general farming business. Politically he is a stanch supporter of Republican doctrines and casts
his vote accordingly. He has served as road overseer and uses his influence as a prominent citizen in making a
success any worthy enterprise calculated to advance the welfare of the community.
Mr. Duncan has a nice, comfortable home, and to the lady who has presided over his household affairs so gracefully
for the past thirty-five years, and who has contributed so much to his happiness in life, he was wedded in 1861.
Mrs. Duncan bore the maiden name of Miss Agnes Hill, and is, like her husband, a native of Scotland. She is the
youngest of a family of twelve children born to George and Grace (Braidwood) Hill, the former a native of Leith,
and the latter of Lannockshire, where, also, Mrs. Duncan was horn, August 28, 1840. The other children, in the
order of their birth, are as follows: Grace, Margaret, Daniel, John, Mary and Elizabeth, deceased; George and
Kate; the ninth and eleventh children died in infancy, and Helen, the tenth, also died young. Mr. and Mrs. Hill
came to America in 1851, with their family, and settled in Buffalo, N. Y., and later went to Canada, their deaths
occurring in Delaware county, Iowa, whither they went in 1861.
Mr. Duncan and his estimable wife have been blessed in their marriage by the birth of six children, viz.: Samuel;
Mrs. Grace B. Anderson; Mrs. Jessie F. Johnson; Mrs. Mary E. Bussler; George H. ;and Agnes, deceased. All the
children have been thoroughly educated and well-fitted for their various callings in life, and the whole family
are members of the Baptist church.
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carrying on the work, is a native of Broome county, N. Y., and was born August 27, 1833. His father and mother,
Samuel and Nancy (Rogers) Howard, were natives of Vermont and New York respectively, but both of English descent.
Leonard Howard was the eldest of a family of four sons and two daughters born to this worthy couple, and was reared
in his native place until he had attained the age of sixteen years, during which time he attended the district
schools for an education. When his parents removed in 1849 to Jefferson county, Wis., young Howard accompanied them,
and remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-seven years of age. At that time
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