William Brice Duncan


     One of four brothers (Ralph, Ray and Edward), Brice grew up on his father's
  homestead, four miles south  of Medicine Lodge. The boys and their one sister,
  Dora Elizabeth, attended the country school near the farm. Brice married Emma
  May Haner of Sharon in 1908 and upon the death of his father, A.L. Duncan, the
  homestead was divided and farmed by the four sons.
     Brice and Emma soon moved to New Mexico where their son, Beuford Brice, was
  born. Soon they returned to Kansas and assisted Ray on the farm. A daughter, 
  Joan, was born there and went to the same school attended by her father and
  brother.
     Beuford and Joan, although several years apart, shared the joys and hardships
  of farm life, including a tornado in 1927 which moved their house several
  hundred feet. Over the years, they participated in the Peace Treaty pageants.
  Beuford started out as an "Indian" and ended up driving the oxen as a "buffalo
  hunter," as was his grandfather.
     After graduating at the height of the Depression, Beuford joined the Civilain
  Conservation Corps, and assisted with many worthwhile projects, such as building
  dams and shelter belts. Later he went to California and worked for a gas company 
  until World War II. During this period he married a homestown girl, Edna Gordon,
  and their two children (Larry and Kathleen) were born in Barstow, California.
     After the war Brice and emma moved into town where they lived until their
  deaths - his in 1950 and hers in 1964. Beuford and Edna returned to Medicine
  Lodge in 1943 to agian enjoy the small town atmosphere and to give their
  children knowledge of their roots. In 1953 they moved to Wichita as employees
  in the Boeing Company offices. Ten years later they were sent to New Orleans
  to work on the new Space Program, he as a Purchasing Agent and she as a Technical
  Writer. At this time they adopted another son, Kelly.
     In the meantime Joan graduated from MLHS and married Eugene Whelan. She 
  worked in the First National Bank, and he was employed at National Gypsum,
  except for a stint in the Korean War. Their children Gregory, Timothy, Michael,
  and Karen also attended Medicine Lodge grade and high schools, then went on to 
  college and professional careers. Gregory and Michael married hometown girls,
  Sara Lottridge and Amy Parker, respectively. Tim married Cindy Cook of
  Independence, Kansas, and as of this date they have a daughter, Brooke Suzanne.
     Larry Duncan, Beuford's son, married Janell Coburn and works in the Veterans
  Hospital in Gulfport, Mississippi. He has a son, Richard Lee, and a daughter,
  Teresa Kay.
     Kathleen married Carl Pope, a building contractor in Mulvane, Kansas. They
  have two sons - Kevin and Brian. Kathleen owns a beauty shop and is active in
  church work in Mulvane.
     All of the Duncans have wonderful memories of life in Medicine Lodge and
  consider it their "hometown."
                
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 162 
     Submitted by: Bueford Duncan, Joan Whelan 

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