The family name was spelled Dunkin in the early years in America with John Dunkin's son, John Dunkin, Jr., being found in the Billerica records as both John Dunkin, Jr. and John Duncan, Jr.

Found in a Billerica record, "By virtue of ye former order, the Selectmen bought a fatt beast (ox) of John Dunkin and agreed with him to give him land for it." John drove the ox to Boston where it was presented to the town's deputy, Mr. Humphrey Davy. For this, John received 25 acres of land in 1670.

John and his wife Joanna (Jefts) Dunkin had seven children, all born in Billerica, MA:

• Mary, b. 25 March 1676; d. 1 Aug. 1692, killed by Indians.
• John, Jr., b. 28 Oct. 1678; m. Sarah Dutton.
• Joanna (spelled Joannah in Billerica Vital Records), b. 9 April 1681.
• Hannah, b. 21 Nov. 1683.
• Samuel, b. 4 March 1686.
• Deliverance, b. 21 Aug. 1688. The name, Deliverance, was crossed out in the Billerica vital records.
• Benoni, b. 1 Feb. 1690/1; d. 1 Aug. 1692, killed by Indians.

John Dunkin, Jr., a weaver by trade, moved as did other early settlers to Worcester, MA in 1722. There, he bought from Gershom Rice 103 acres on North brook in October of that year. We find in the Collections of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, Early Records of the Town of Worcester, according to James Rice, "one of ye selectmen of sd town," that on Jan. 29, 1728/9, "rec'd of John Dunkin of Worcester 6 ratel snaks ratels which he Declared were killed in Worcester the year 1728."

John, Jr., and his wife Sarah (Dutton) Dunkin had at least nine children:

• Sarah, b. probably in Billerica, MA 14 June 1703; m. Uriah Parmenter. (In her father's will, Worcester, 30 Nov. 1739, she was mentioned as Sarah Parmenter.)
• John, b. in Billerica, MA 10 April 1706; m. Sarah Rogers.
• Samuel, b. in Billerica, MA 5 July 1708; m. in Oxford, MA 12 Nov. 1730, Mehitable Barton of Oxford, MA.
• Ezekiel, b. in Billerica, MA, 9 Jan. 1710/1; d. 9 Feb. 1710/1.
• Daniel, b. in Billerica, MA, 13 Feb. 1711/2; m. Sarah Rice.
• Joanna, b. probably in Billerica, MA, ca. 1714; d. in Worcester, MA 14 March 1737/8, age 23; m. James Hawes. (In her father's will, Worcester, 30 Nov. 1739, he mentions his son-in-law, James Hawes, and granddaughter, Rebecca, child of his daughter, Joanna.)
• Abigail, b. probably in Billerica, MA, date unknown.
• Jonas, b. in Worcester, MA, 9 June 1722.
• Simeon, b. in Worcester, MA, 27 May 1725; m. Bridget Richardson.

Simeon Duncan served in the Revolutionary War going with the company of Capt. Benjamin Flagg to Cambridge upon receipt of news of the fight on April 19, 1775.

Simeon and his wife Bridget (Richardson) Duncan had ten children, all born in Worcester, MA:

• Jonathan, b. 13 Jan. 1744; d. 1773.
• Samuel, b. 9 Jan. 1746-47; m. 13 Oct. 1772, Betty Sterns.
• Jonas, b. 4 Sept. 1748; m. in Worcester, MA, 26 June 1773, Mehitable Wright.
• Jason, b. 30 Dec. 1749.
• Rebecca, b. 23 April 1753; d. in Worcester, MA, Feb. 1795.
• Simeon, b. 22 Oct. 1755; m. Mary Blair.
• Joanna, b. 8 Feb. 1758; m. 3 Oct. 1775, William Sterns.
• Persis, b. 8 Nov. 1760; m. 13 May 1781 Samuel Fullerton.
• Sarah, b. 4 Oct. 1763; m. 9 June 1796, Oliver Fiske.
• Azubah, b. 20 May 1767; m. John Gleason.

Simeon Duncan (2), along with his father, served a short period as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. After the war, he served the Town of Worcester, MA, as constable from 1789 to 1792, surveyor of boards and shingles in 1789, culler of hoops and staves, surveyor of highways, and collector of highway taxes. The town records show payments to him for various services including moving persons and families to other towns, digging graves, and burying the dead.

Simeon and his wife Mary (Blair) Duncan had ten children, all born in Worcester, MA:

• Charles, b. 8 Aug. 1781.
• Polly (called Polly on her birth certificate, called MARY on her marriage certificate), b. 27 Feb. 1783; m. 1 Sept. 1805, Nathaniel Eaton.
• Simeon, b. 12 Sept. 1785; m. 29 March 1807, Anna Howe.
• Sally, b. 1 Jan. 1788; m. 27 Aug. 1809, Frank Webb.
• Nancy, b. 1 April 1791; m. 13 Oct. 1814, Wales Paine.
• Jason, b. 19 Feb. 1793; m. 30 Oct. 1817, Nancy Hare or Hair.
• Joseph Blair, b. 5 Aug. 1797.
• Eliza, b. 27 Sept. 1800.
• Clarissa, b. 8 Dec. 1802; died young.
• William, b. 29 Oct, 1805.

I have not been able to find the family of Anna Howe. The death record of Anna's daughter, Eliza Darling, states that Anna was born in Holden, MA. The death record of Anna's son, Simeon (4), indicates that Anna (called Amy on Simeon(4) death record) may have come from Shrewsbury, MA.

We do not know when Simeon (3) and Anna Duncan left Worcester and moved elsewhere or to Boston. None of their children is listed in the Worcester Births, Marriages, and Deaths (published in 1894) although their marriage is listed on page 332. It seems probable that they left Worcester early in their marriage and did not move to Boston until just prior to 1818 when Simeon's name first appears in the Boston City Directory. He is listed in the City Directories as cordwainer or shoemaker at various addresses through 1844. In the 1850 Federal Census, as a widower, he was listed as living with his daughter, Lucy Darling.

Simeon and his wife Anna (Howe) Duncan had five children:

• Caroline, b. ca. 1808; m. 4 Feb. 1835 James Briggs.
• Simeon (4), b. ca. 1813; d. in Boston, MA 5 Aug. 1889, age 76.
• Meriam, b. 1818; d. in Boston, MA 1 Aug. 1821, age 3.
• Lucy, b. in Boston, MA, 1820; d. 24 April 1911, age 91; m. in Boston, MA 25 May 1839, Samuel Darling.
• Eliza A., b. in Boston, MA 23 Jan. 1822; m. George Darling.

There is a possibility that Simeon and Anna had one other son who is listed as a clerk in the 1833 Boston City Directory and as living at the same address as they did. However, it is not clear that he lived there at the same time as they did, and he could have been a relative instead of their son. I include him in this fasion in the hopes that a future family historian may be able to find his birth certificate and clear up the matter.

• William T. H., b. ca. 1811; m. in Boston, Ma 23 June 1832 Rebecca Butler.