History LIFE D WORDS BY BRAD KELLAR
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Telling tales of Wolfe City from tall grass to high cotton
Probably in any small town one person can be relied upon to answer questions about the community ’ s past .
In Wolfe City , that person is local historian is John W . “ Dub ” Duncan .
Wolfe City has been officially a city for about 130 years , and for almost half of that time Duncan has been compiling and writing about the city situated on the Hunt / Fannin county line .
Although he has been to and seen a lot of places , Duncan , 88 , who currently lives in Rockwall , says his life and his family are connected to Wolfe City .
“ I ’ m the son of the late Oscar Ervin and Ollie Maud White Duncan ,” he said . “ My dad was born in Wolfe City in 1891 , three years after Wolfe City had its beginning .”
Duncan said his mother was born in a tent by the railroad in Capps , Texas , in 1907 , where her father worked for the railroad .
Wolfe City never has been very big — about 1,400 residents at last count — but as Duncan can tell you , it has a lot of stories to tell . Wolfe City can lay claim to helping create the first high school yearbook , it was once home to
met my wife , Dora , when she was 15 and I was 17 in Wolfe City . We dated for two years till she graduated in 1954 , and we got married on her 18th birthday . We have now been married 68 years .
— John W . " Dub " Duncan
John W . “ Dub ” Duncan is the unofficial historian for the City of Wolfe City and surrounding communities . the founder of one of the largest and most successful adoption programs in Texas , it birthed a famous international diplomat , and had family ties to a legendary American president .
According to the Texas State Historical Association , the community at the intersection of state highways 34 and 11 was settled in the late 1860s or early 1870s , when Lemuel Pinckney Wolfe built a mill near the banks of Oyster Creek . In 1887 , Wolfe City incorporated , and the tracks of the Santa Fe Railroad reached the community . Duncan attended two country schools in the region .
“ They were the Honey Creek and Oyster Creek schools , both south of Wolfe City , where we never had electricity ,” he recalled .
Duncan attended three years at Wolfe City High School and then finished the 12th grade with a course at SMU in Dallas . It is safe to say he had a diverse professional career .
“ I was raised on various farms in the Wolfe City area , but when I was 18 , I moved to Dallas to go to work for Dallas Plumbing Company ,” Duncan said . He worked for plumbing companies for about a dozen years , then sold plumbing for Montgomery Ward and then transitioned to work for a division of Westinghouse coin operated laundromats . Duncan began working for Lone Star Steel Company in Dallas in 1964 and was there for 27 years as a manager of four departments , including record retention , which was helpful in his future endeavors .
Duncan had other aspirations and ways to stay occupied during this time , including falling in love .
“ I met my wife , Dora , when she was 15 and I was 17 in Wolfe City ,” Duncan said . “ We dated for two years till she graduated in 1954 , and we got married on her 18th birthday . We have now been married 68 years .”
Dora has been by his side through the many changes in his life and careers .
“ In addition to having a full-time job , Dora and I owned Dahn Enterprise Inc ., a bookkeeping service ,” Duncan said . “ We also owned Duncan ’ s Investment Company , where we bought , upgraded and rented or sold homes , Duncan ’ s Coins and Supply Company , where I bought and sold paper money and coins , and Duncan ’ s Coin Jewelry Company , where I cut coins and made thousands of jewelry items that I shipped all over the world . So if you have a piece of cut coin jewelry , the odds are that I made it . We also owned Duncan Home Maintenance Company , where I had a crew that we maintained rental property for
GREENVILE LIFE 28 HOLIDAY 2022