Talk:John Duncan Sr.

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Untitled[edit]

I suggest that the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress is in error in the case of John Duncan, Sr. While it says that he went to law school at the Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Ky., I find this to be unlikely for two reasons. Firstly, I do not think that this institution had a law school in 1947. However, the Cumberland College in Lebanon, Tenn. (now Cumberland University) did at that time, and John Duncan, Jr.'s bio in the same work says that he was born in Lebanon, Tenn., in 1947. While this is hardly conclusive proof (so far I have resisted the temptation to edit this article further on that basis) I would love it if someone with genuine knowledge in this area would do so.

I have decided to go on and buck the "Bioguide" on this one. There is almost no way that John Duncan, Sr. was going to college at the Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky and that his son just happened to be born, at the same time, in Lebanon, Tennessee, home of the "other" Cumberland College. I am changing the article on the assumption that the compiler of the "bioguide" biography on John, Sr., just assumed which Cumberland College was meant and assumed wrong; I feel that the article on John, Jr. is less likely to have gotten his place of birth wrong.

Rlquall 21:51, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Army service[edit]

It is unclear from the references, particularly the ones from the 1950s and 1960s, if Duncan was a special agent as a soldier in the United States Army or as a civilian working for the Department of the Army. A good reference that delineates that would be helpful to clear that up, either one that specifically says his rank in the army, or says he was a civil servant. The July 26, 1953 article "New State Legion Commander, Active in Civic Work, Disavows Political Interest" from The Knoxville News-Sentinel says, "The Army's special agents didn't have ranks like regular soldiers. Mr. Duncan was in the same pay grade as a master sergeant, however." This could mean he was a General Schedule civilian member of the Department of the Army. Semper Fi! FieldMarine (talk) 15:22, 9 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]