Early Gregg politician knew when to fold 'em
By Van Craddock
John M. Duncan knew his political future was a gamble. And believe me, the Gregg County politician knew a thing or two about gambling. That's likely why, in 1902, the East Texan decided not to run for governor of Texas.
John Martin Duncan was born in Tennessee in 1851. At age 7 his family moved to East Texas, settling in Marion County. Duncan eventually worked as a brick mason at Nash's Iron Foundry, learning the trade from his father.
Although he had little formal education, Duncan studied law at John Stallcup's Jefferson law office. Duncan was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in Jefferson. He had few clients and spent much of his time doing brick work to pay the bills.
In 1876 he moved to Longview, a bustling Gregg County rail center, where he hung out his attorney's shingle and married Allie Davis of Longview.
Duncan served as county attorney of Gregg County that same year and he was elected state senator (1878-1882), representing Gregg, Smith, Upshur and Camp counties. In 1884 he was elected Smith County judge after moving to Tyler to practice law with a future governor, James Stephen Hogg.
Duncan was making a name for himself in Texas politics. An 1880 publication said Duncan "is a lawyer second to no practitioner at the Texas bar, and as a public speaker has no superior in the state."
Early on, Duncan had been elected as an "Independent Democrat." It wasn't long before he fully embraced the Democratic Party, and in 1896 was a delegate to the national Democratic convention.
Allie Duncan died in 1886 and four years later Duncan married Edwina Louise House. Longview in the early 1880s boasted a number of saloons, each offering various games of chance. Duncan had a weakness for cards and dice.
In December 1881, he filed the following unique document with the Gregg County clerk: "Having yielded to the fascination of the gaming table, acknowledging its fault and the evil and realizing the fact that a strong and determined effort of the will is necessary to resist further temptation, I have determined that henceforth, I will abandon the unholy practice of gaming in every form and shape."
Duncan went on to declare he not only would never again play a game of cards, but wouldn't even enter a structure where gambling was being conducted.
As far as we know, John Duncan kept his promise of not gambling for the final 36 years of his life.
That 1881 document may have played a role in Duncan choosing not to run for governor in 1902. A number of supporters began urging him to seek the office. Noted one Texas newspaper:
"(Duncan) is well known to every Texan … He is warm in his personal attachments, unostentatious in manner, plain and straightforward and, as a lawyer, is one of the brightest ornaments of the Texas bar."
Duncan decided not to run for governor but he still had the political itch, winning election in 1907 to the Texas Legislature, representing Gregg and Smith counties.
After leaving office in 1909, the Duncans relocated to Houston where he resumed his law practice. He died on San Jacinto Day, April 21, 1917, at the age of 65.
The Texas House of Representatives passed a resolution lamenting Duncan's death and declaring Texas had lost "one of her noblest, most patriotic and useful citizens."