The collection is open to research.
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.
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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Landon Duncan Letters, Ms1997-023, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Landon Duncan Letters were donated to Special Collections in December 1997.
This collection has been digitized and is available online.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Landon Duncan Letters commenced and was completed in March 1998.
Landon Duncan was born in Faquier County, Virginia, on March 26, 1786. He moved to Stokes County, North Carolina, presumably to live with his uncle Alamander Duncan. At an undetermined date he moved to Giles County, Virginia, and lived there, in the Wolf Creek section, for the remainder of his life. He married Sarah Kirk on August 12, 1812; they had nine children.
Duncan was a Baptist minister and established several churches in the county. He also served as a teacher in Pearisburg and was a Commissioner of the Revenue. He died on September 22, 1867.
The collection consists of six letters, mostly written by Landon Duncan. Two of the letters (1812, 1814) were written by Duncan to his uncle Alamander Duncan in Stokes County, North Carolina. Three of the letters (1837, n.d.) were written to his cousin Hiram Duncan of the same county. One letter (1836) was written by Jane H. Threves in Gallatin, Tennessee, to her cousin Hiram Duncan.
Many of the letters are addressed to the North Carolina Duncan family in Blakely, Stokes County, but a recent check (March 1998) of a North Carolina map shows that this town no longer exists.
Landon Duncan's religious convictions are evident in all of the letters he writes to his North Carolina relatives. In several of the letters he expounds at length about the nature of God's grace and his faith. Duncan also writes frequently about the current prices of basic goods such as pork and corn, and occasionally about his neighbors. In his letter of December 16, 1814, he gives his opinion of the draft laws passed in the Virginia legislature for War of 1812.
The collection is arranged chronologically.
The guide to the Landon Duncan Letters by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).