The Grimmond / Duncan Family Narrative

Isabella Grimmond's home of Banff, Banffshire, Scotland was a quaint Seaside village in the Scottish Highlands. Her ancestors lived in Banffshire for hundreds of years.

Isabella’s father was Joseph Grimmond, born in 1864, one of nine children. Joseph's father, John Grimmond, born in 1826, was a Master Shoemaker. John was raised by his uncle, John Garden, and apprenticed under him. I've never been able to find out what happened to John Grimmond's parents.

The Grimmond’s are of the Clan MacCrimmon, which are heralded as the “Pipers to the Clan MacLeod”. The royal family MacLeod held seat for 700 years at Castle Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, west of mainland Scotland.  

Joseph’s mother was Isabella Cumming, born in Boyndie, Banffshire in 1831. The Cumming/Comyn clan is like many of the families that came to power under King David I of Scotland, of Norman or Flemish origin. The surname is either a place-name, possibly derived from Bosc-Bénard-Commin, near Rouen in the Duchy of Normandy, or from Comines, near Lille, in France.

Richard Comyn (died circa 1179), the nephew of William Comyn, chancellor to King David, is the one who established this family in Scotland. His son was William Comyn, who married (circa 1210) Marjory, Countess of Buchan. William's mother was Hextilda, the granddaughter of King Donald III of Scotland. His son was Walter Comyn, the man who acquired the lordship of Badenoch. The seat of power was Ruthven Castle.

Isabella’s mother, Barbara Duncan, born in 1866 MacDuff, Banffshire, Scotland, was one of ten children. Barbara’s father, James Duncan, was born in 1827 Gamrie, Banffshire, Scotland to James Duncan and Christian Chalmers. He was a general Day Laborer, and Forester.

Barbara’s mother, Ann Kinnard, was born in 1823 in Gamrie, Banffshire, Scotland, to James Kinnaird and Ann Urquhart. 

The Clan Kinnaird emerged as a Scottish family in their original territories of Perthshire. In 1180, Rudulphus (a Norman nobleman) received from his friend, King William the Lion (King of Scots), a Charter of land in the Carse of Gowrie. Rauf de Kinnaird in Kincardine swore fealty to King Edward I of England in 1296.

Sir Richard de Kinnaird (grandson of Rauf de Kinnaird) had a charter of lands and barony of Kinnaird, lying in the sheriffdom of Perth. This was witnessed by John, Earl of Carrick, the King's son and Sir Richard's son, Walter, Earl of Fife. He also had a charter of confirmation of the lands of Chethynrawoch and Kinnynmond, in the barony of Slains in Aberdeenshire. Ann's 5th great-grandfather was Patrick 2nd Baron of Inchture Kinnaird, his wife Anne Fraser of Lovat. This couple descended from Scottish Royalty, but more on that later.

Ann's mother was Ann Urquhart of the Clan Urquhart. The meaning of the word Urquhart itself has been given various Scottish Gaelic translations including woodside, by a rowan wood, or fort on a knoll. There is also Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness. One legend associated with Urquhart Castle involves Conachar of the royal house of Ulster, who is said to have come to Scotland to fight for Malcolm III of Scotland. Conachar was rewarded with the castle. The legend is also that Conachar was on the point of being mauled to death by a wild boar when his dog attacked the beast, and although the dog died, it saved his master. This is one explanation for the boar's head and hounds on the Urquhart chief's coat of arms. William de Urchard is said to have defended the Moote of Cromarty in the time of William Wallace against supporters of the English Crown. From the reign of David II of Scotland the Urquhart chiefs were hereditary sheriffs of Cromarty. 

Clan Duncan origins: From extensive research into the Mac Donald and Mac Dougall Clans I've come across many researchers' theories of where the Duncan Clan may have originated. The first mention of the name Duncan (Donnchadh) was the Lord of Argyll in the Clan Dugall (Dubhghall) who died in 1249 [ref: the 1467 Manuscript; Book of Balimote, and the Book of Leccan]. He was the son of Dubhghall King of Argyll and Lorne who died in 1175; who was the son of Somerled (Somhairle) King of Argyll and the Isles who died in 1164. From Somerled descends the MacDonald's, MacDonnell's, MacDugall's, MacRory (Ruaidhri), MacAlisters, MacAlexandair, the Alexanders, and presumably the Duncan's.

The second theory for the Clann Duncan passed down from Somerled King of Argyll's other son, Reginald (Raghnall) King of the Isles and Kintyre who died in 1207. His son was Donald (Domhnall) Lord of the Isles who died in 1247, whose son was Angus (Aonghus) Mor, Chief of Clan Domhnall. Angus's 4th son was Duncan (Donnchadh).

Barbara’s brother, William Duncan, son of Ann and James Duncan, was born in August of 1846. He was the first of their family to set out for America. He emigrated from Scotland in 1866, after serving in the English Army when he was 20 years old. He first settled in Sebastian County, Arkansas and married a woman named Martha Hall. They had six children. They moved on to Stonewall, Indian Territory, where he worked as a Tailor. Martha died in 1878.

A year later he married a widowed school teacher named Sally Fraker Johnson nee Thornhill. Her deceased husband, Bradford Johnson, was a Chickasaw Indian. She was considered part of the tribe by marriage, and this entitled her to land. As her new husband, this land was his to expand upon.


William soon formed a partnership with a Christopher Link, and they built the Chickasaw Nation Store on Cow Creek on the Chisholm Trail. The Chisholm Trail was a major trading route used by stagecoaches and freight wagons from Fort Sill to Fort Arbuckle that traveled along it, as well as the cattle drive overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas rail heads.William eventually bought out Link’s interest and named it the “Duncan Store: General Merchandise”.


The ranchers bought supplies in wagon load lots, but the cowboys, drifters, outlaws, soldiers and Indians purchased in smaller amounts and paid when they could. He never turned anyone away who needed supplies or help, and only lost but a few dollars in all the years he was in business. He had several hundred acres of land surrounding the store, so in 1884, he built the first Post Office. He was the Post Master General there until the 1900’s.

William had been a Freemason while in Scotland, and became a 32nd degree Freemason of the Scottish rite. In 1889 he and his wife Sally attended a Freemason Convention in Topeka, Kansas. He found out from his Masonic brothers that the Rock Island Railroad would soon be extended from Kansas to Texas. The survey showed it would cross his land, approximately two miles west of his store.

He and Sarah claimed 500 more acres from the Chickasaw Nation and began furrowing the grounds. They laid down lots, started constructing buildings (including the first school), and began offering up the land to entice people to move there before the railroad came through.

“Duncan Lodge was issued a Charter from the Grand Lodge of Indian Territory on February 8, 1893 to operate as a Masonic Lodge in Duncan. Brother W.T. Howell, a doctor, was the first Worshipful Master of the Lodge; and among the charter members of the Lodge was William Duncan, for whom the City of Duncan was named. Brother Duncan served as the Treasurer of the Lodge.”

In 1888 William had sent money back to Scotland to bring his mother, father and siblings (one of whom was Barbara) to his new town. In March of 1888, the family, including a pregnant Barbara, her husband Arthur Horne, and their four year old son, Joseph, set out on the journey to America. They made the month long voyage aboard the ship, The Furnessia. On the 17th of April they landed in New York at the Castle Gardens, and then made their way by train to Texas. From there they took covered wagons to the Indian Territory of Chickasaw Nation. It was the last of April when they finally arrived at the trading post store on Cow Creek. Barbara’s mother, Ann, died of illness in August of that year, and was buried in the family cemetery a mile north of the store. That September, Barbara’s first daughter, Lillie, was born.

When interviewed by her niece in 1964, Lillie, at the age of 76, recalled Barbara’s stories of the frights and hardships of their pioneer life. The log-house dugout where they lived was hot in the summer. On one of those warm days in autumn, Barbara dug a depression in the shaded yard, lined it with moistened grass and laid a fussing Lillie a-top a pallet within the nest. Her husband Arthur was plowing a nearby field and promised to watch Lillie while Barbara went about her housework. Arthur saw a water moccasin crawling onto the pallet, but before he could reach Lillie, the snake bit her in the shoulder. He had to cut the fang marks out of her tender flesh with his pocket knife, hoping that the blood flow would wash out the venom. She was dreadfully ill for a while, but survived. Despite this, Arthur seemed to like living there, but to Barbara it seemed like the end of the earth, and “keened” for her former home in far-off Scotland.

Barbara, the dainty redheaded “tenderfoot”, had also been frightened of the Indians who came to camp around the store. Her brother, William, had assured her they were harmless, but one day when she was alone with Lillie, two Chickasaw women walked into the house and made it understood they had come to see the baby. In a bag on the back of the younger woman was an infant (papoose). She removed the infant and made it understood she wanted to put Lillie in the “papoose” bag instead. Barbara thought maybe the young woman just wanted to show her how to carry a baby in the bag. However, as soon as Lillie was secured, they made off with her outside and disappeared into the underbrush. Barbara’s frantic screams brought everyone on the run. Lillie was eventually returned, and exchanged with the other infant with assurances that they meant no harm, but she knew she wanted no more of that life. She demanded that Arthur take them back home, and he did. Her father, James, returned with them. 

Back in Scotland, Barbara and Arthur Horne had another son, Alexander, born August of 1890. Sometime after 1891 Joseph Horne passed away. 

William Duncan completed the train depot, and on June 27th of 1892 the first train arrived. The Town of Duncan was officially declared a City, with the population at that time being 200-300 people. 

In 1907 Oklahoma received statehood. The City of Duncan’s population was 1200, and it was declared the official capital of what is now Stephen’s County, OK. In 1918 oil was discovered and Duncan became one of the earliest and most productive oil fields of early America.

By 1907, however, William decided to move west with his wife and son to California, then north to Bremerton, Washington. He died there in June of 1921. He is buried, next to his wife, in the Ivy Green Cemetery, Bremerton, WA.


A couple years after the death of her first husband, Joseph Horne, Barbara nee Duncan married Joseph Grimmond in June of 1894. He worked as a Ship Carpenter. They had four daughters between the years 1894 and 1901 (Barbara, Annie, and Isabella were born in Banffshire, whilst the youngest Christine, was born in Durham, England). Joseph is listed as dying at sea aboard a Royal Navy Ship around the year 1903 near Australia. 

Barbara remarried a John Cockburn of Glasgow, Scotland in 1904. Between the years 1905 to 1907 she had two more daughters, Estella and Millicent, both born in Glasgow. John Cockburn passed away in 1909, and soon after, Barbara made the decision to go back to America.

Her first born son, Joseph Horne, left for America at the age of 20, sailing aboard The Laurentian October through November of 1906. Joining him was his sister, Lillie, age 18, and her new husband, William Large. The other son, Alexander, came over to America in 1910. Barbara and her five daughters (Barbara, Isabella, Christina, Estella and Millicent), came through Ellis Island in September of 1911. They had sailed aboard the ship, The Cameronia. Her other daughter, Annie, stayed behind. Barbara’s father, James Duncan, had remained in Scotland and passed away in February of 1917. Between the months of April through June of that year, Annie married a man named John Trodden of Durham, England. Annie and John, along with their daughter, Florence, immigrated to America in 1924 where they settled in New York.

Once in America, between the years of 1912 to 1919, Barbara married a man named William R. Reid (her fourth marriage). On the 1920 Census they are living in Syracuse, NY with her three daughters, Christina age 18, Estella age 14, and Millicent age 12. Isabella was married to Clifton Gardner by this time. Her daughter Barbara Jr. married in 1917 to a man named Clarence Raymond. They remained in New York until her death in 1987. They had 2 sons, Donald and Duncan.

Barbara Sr. is listed as widowed, yet again, on the 1930 US Census, living with Millicent in Los Angeles, CA. Millicent is married to a Raymond Vaughn. Millicent and Raymond have an eleven month old boy named Leonard. Estella (divorced from Thomas Barclay) is also living in Los Angeles, as is Christina, her husband, Allen Algier, and their two sons, Richard and Thomas.

Barbara Duncan

On the 1940 Census, Annie and her husband, John Trodden, are now listed as living in Los Angeles, as is Christina with her new husband, Paul Merritt.

Millicent has remarried. His name is Richard Brewer who has two sons of his own. Barbara is still living with them. Sometime before 1945, Millicent, Richard, the children, and Barbara moved to Medford, Oregon.

Barbara died there in November 30, 1946. Her headstone is in the Siskiyou Memorial Park, Medford, OR. She was 80 years old, had birthed nine children, and had outlived four husbands.