Manuscript Location

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Library

Place of Origin

United States ➔ Illinois ➔ Jacksonville

Date of Composition

1828-1884

Description

Elizabeth Smith Duncan (1808-1876) was the wife of Joseph Duncan (1794-1844), an Illinois politician who served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1827 to 1834, and then served one term as the sixth governor of Illinois, from 1834 to 1838. He was defeated in his bid for reelection and lived in retirement until his death. Elizabeth Duncan presumably compiled most her recipe book at the imposing Georgian style house that Joseph Duncan built in Jacksonville, in 1833, and that served as his unofficial governor's mansion during his term in office. The library has dated the book 1828, 1841-1863, and 1884, so the book must have been continued after the author's death, in 1876, by one or more unknown persons.

Elizabeth and Joseph Duncan had at least nine children, three of whom survived to adulthood. One of the surviving children was Julia Smith Duncan (1837-1896), who married Edward Kirby (1834-1917), an attorney who served as Judge of Morgan County. The cookbook is part of the library's collection of papers of the Duncan and Kirby families.