Stephen Duncan
Stephen Duncan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Carlisle, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | January 29, 1867 (aged 79) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Planter, financier, banker |
| Known for | Wealthiest cotton planter in the U.S.; second-largest slaveholder; president of Bank of Mississippi; founder of Mississippi Colonization Society |
Stephen Duncan (March 4, 1787 – January 29, 1867) was a prominent American planter and financier based in Mississippi. Originally from Pennsylvania, he pursued medical studies before relocating in 1808 to the Natchez District within the Mississippi Territory. Duncan rose to become the wealthiest cotton planter and ranked as the second-largest slaveholder in the United States, possessing over 2,200 enslaved individuals. His holdings included 15 plantations focused on cotton and sugar production. Additionally, he held the position of President at the Bank of Mississippi and made significant investments in railroads and timber industries.
During the 1830s, Duncan played a key role in founding the Mississippi Colonization Society, which acquired territory in West Africa—referred to as Mississippi-in-Africa—to facilitate the resettlement of free African Americans from Mississippi.
As a Southern Unionist throughout the Civil War, Duncan declined to support the Confederacy. This stance resulted in his social exclusion and prompted his move from Natchez to New York City in 1863.
Early life and education
Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to John Duncan and Sarah Postlethwaite, Stephen Duncan descended from early settlers of the Cumberland Valley, with his grandfather having received a land grant from King George III. After his father died in a duel when Stephen was six years old, his mother remarried Ephraim Blaine.
Duncan obtained a medical degree from Dickinson College in 1805 and subsequently trained under physician Benjamin Rush in Philadelphia. He wed Margaret Ellis, with whom he had two children: John Ellis and Sarah Jane. Following Margaret’s passing, he married Catherine A. Bingaman in 1819; their union produced four children: Stephen Jr., Charlotte N., M. L., and Henry P. Duncan.
Pre Civil-War career
In 1808, Duncan relocated to the Natchez District of the Mississippi Territory, an important commercial center along the Mississippi River. The prosperity of Natchez was largely due to the thriving cotton economy. There, Duncan established himself as a leading planter and banker.[1][2] Among his plantations was "Saragossa," situated just south of Natchez.[3] He served as president of the Bank of Mississippi until its charter was revoked in 1831, after which he helped establish the Agricultural Bank of Natchez in 1833.[4]
Duncan purchased the Auburn plantation from Lyman Harding in 1827.[5]
By the mid-1800s, Duncan’s portfolio comprised 15 plantations producing cotton and sugar,[6] including estates such as L'Argent, Camperdown, Carlisle, Duncannon, Homochitto, Middlesex, Oakley, Rescue, Reserve, Attakapas, and Saragossa.[7][8] His business interests extended into shipping lines, railroads, and lumber enterprises across Mississippi and New England.[9] He held stakes in railroad companies like Erie & Kalamazoo, Columbus Pequa & Indiana, Terre Haute & Richmond, and Panama Railroad.[10]
Duncan sold his agricultural products through Washington, Jackson & Co. based in New Orleans and their Liverpool branch Todd, Jackson & Co., with financial transactions managed by Charles P. Leverich & Co., a New York banking firm.[11] His plantations generated roughly US$150,000 annually,[12] solidifying his status as the wealthiest cotton planter during that period.
During the 1850s Duncan was Mississippi’s largest slaveholder residing locally with over 1,000 enslaved people,[7][13] ranking second nationwide by 1860 with ownership of 858 slaves in Issaquena County,[14] surpassed only by Joshua John Ward’s South Carolina holdings.
While spending winters enjoying Mississippi’s mild climate near Natchez, Duncan typically retreated during summers to places such as Philadelphia, Saratoga Springs (New York), or Newport (Rhode Island).[15]
Colonization initiatives
Duncan was an advocate for the American Colonization Society and played a key role in establishing the Mississippi Colonization Society during the 1830s alongside prominent slaveholders such as Isaac Ross, Edward McGehee, John Ker, and educator Jemeriah Chamberlain. Their mission centered on relocating freed and free African Americans to the Mississippi-in-Africa settlement located in West Africa. Drawing inspiration from the American Colonization Society, this organization primarily targeted freed individuals from Mississippi, a state where enslaved people outnumbered white residents by a ratio of three to one. The society acquired territory for this colony, which eventually became incorporated into Liberia.
Civil War period and subsequent career
Throughout the American Civil War, Duncan maintained unwavering loyalty to the Union, refusing to align with the Confederacy, which led to his social exclusion by many Southern contemporaries. His financial portfolio included investments totaling $1,060,000 beyond his plantation holdings, ensuring his economic stability irrespective of wartime developments. In 1863, he moved from Natchez to New York City. During this time, Duncan made unsuccessful attempts to persuade President Lincoln’s administration to protect his enslaved laborers within Union-controlled regions of Mississippi.
Passing
Duncan passed away on January 29, 1867, in New York City. His remains were interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery located in Philadelphia.
Enduring impact
In 1910, Duncan’s descendants gifted the Auburn estate and its gardens to the city of Natchez. The location was subsequently dedicated as Duncan Memorial Park.
See also
References
Citations
Sources
External links
- ↑ Ann Patton Malone, Sweet Chariot: Slave Family and Household Structure in Nineteenth-century Louisiana, 1992, p. 287
- ↑ Harold D. Woodman, King Cotton and His Retainers, 1999, p. 160
- ↑ Young, Amy L., et al., “The Role of Hunting to Cope with Risk at Saragossa Plantation,” American Anthropologist, 2001
- ↑ S. Scarborough, 2006, p.224
- ↑ William P. Baldwin & Elizabeth Turk, Mantelpieces of the Old South, 2005, p.192
- ↑ MSEncyclopedia
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedharrypowens - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedlsu - ↑ MSEncyclopedia
- ↑ S. Scarborough, 2006, p.237
- ↑ Harold D. Woodman
- ↑ Harold D. Woodman
- ↑ 'Plantation Economy', American Cotton Planter, 1854
- ↑ Tom Blake, Ancestry.com
- ↑ S. Scarborough, 2006 pp.32-33
- 1787 births
- 1867 deaths
- 19th-century American businesspeople
- 19th-century American physicians
- 19th-century American planters
- American bankers
- People of the American colonization movement
- American cotton plantation owners
- American people in rail transportation
- American slave owners
- Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)
- Businesspeople in wood products
- Businesspeople from Mississippi
- Businesspeople from New York City
- Businesspeople from Pennsylvania
- Dickinson College alumni
- History of slavery in Mississippi
- People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania
- People from Natchez, Mississippi
- Southern Unionists in the American Civil War
- People from Mississippi Territory