Merced County Biographies

FRANK J. DUNCAN

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 
        A notable instance of one who has risen to a responsible position by his 
own unaided efforts and who commands the respect of his fellow citizens, is 
presented by Frank J. Duncan, deputy sheriff of Merced County. A record of his 
career takes us back to his birth in Denver, Colo., September 2, 1884, when he 
entered the family of William T. and Elizabeth (Terrill) Duncan, who lived to 
celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. The father, now retired, was an 
attorney-at-law who came to Denver about 1849. The mother came from Virginia.
        Frank J. Duncan was educated in the public schools and was graduated 
from the East Denver High School, to which foundation he added a business course 
in the Denver Modern School of Business. At the age of nineteen, in 1903, he 
enlisted in the United States Army and served in the Philippines for six years. 
Altogether he was fifteen years in the army and was promoted to first 
lieutenant; his later service was in California. On January 1, 1919, he resigned 
his commission and went to Yosemite as a ranger. While on a vacation in Merced 
he was appointed city marshal, which position he held from November, 1919, to 
April, 1922. He then resigned to accept the position of State inspector with the 
Motor Vehicle department until January 1, 1923, when he was appointed a deputy 
sheriff.
        Mr. Duncan is happily married to Miss Beatrice H. Nelson, daughter of 
Henry Nelson, a California pioneer. He is a Republican in politics. His 
popularity and wide influence are betokened by his many stanch friends and 
well-wishers. He is a thirty-second-degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner, 
and is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
 
History of Merced County, California � Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 870-871