Hamilton Dunbar

from "History of Adams County written by Evans & Stivers

      Andrew Dunbar, father of Hamilton, was born in Winchester, Pa. His wife was Deborah Mitchell, of the same place. They were married in Winchester, Pa. about 1779 and several of their children were born there. They emigrated to Lewis County, Ky, in 1794, when their son, Hamilton, born Aug 28,1782, was twelve years old. Here Andrew Dunbar adopted the business of trading along the river with a large canoes between Alexandria, Ohio and Maysville, Ky. One night his boat capsized and he was lost leaving a widow, four sons and three daughters. At the time of his father's death, Hamilton was living on the home farm near Concord, Ky. Not long after that the family moved to Adams County, Ohio. As it was a custom in those days that every boy should learn a trade, Hamilton selected that of a carpenter and followed it in Adams and adjoining counties. He entered the land east of West Union, on the Portsmouth Road, where John Spohn formerly resided. He was married Jan. 14,1808, at West Union, Ohio to Delilah Sparks, born Jan. 1,1792, in western Pennsylvania, the daughter of Salathiel Sparks. Mrs. Dunbar died at West Union, Ohio Aug. 14,1828, and is interred in Lovejoy Cemetery. They were married at the residence of the bride's father in the property east of West Union where Thomas Huston formerly resided and afterwards owned by Hon. J.W. Eylar. Soon after their marriage, Hamilton Dunbar purchased the lot just opposite and west of the stone Presbyterian Church and built the residence thereon in which he continued to reside until his death.

      The children of Hamilton & Delilah Dunbar were; John Collins, born Dec.2,1808 and died the following year; Ann, born Nov.21,1809, and became the wife of Peter Bryant, of Ky, on July 16,1837, and died on July 19,1894; Grace, born Dec 6,1812, became the wife of David Murray on April 22,1829, and died in Georgetown, Ky, April 18,1833; Agnes,born Aug.27,1815, married John L. Cox on April 3,1838, and lived in Abilene, Kansas; J. William Willson, born Nov. 16, 1817, and resided at Locust Grove, Ohio; David, born Feb.4,1820; George Franklin, born Aug. 3,1822, and died at Ripley, Ohio on June 13,1872; Johanna, born July 4,1824, married Jesse Fristoe in 1843, and died at Manchester, Ohio, on May 10,1866; John Sparks born Dec. 6,1827, died at Sigonney, Iowa on June 14,1866.

      Mrs. Hamilton Dunbar married at the age of sixteen and became the mother of nine children in the succeeding twenty years. She was a pattern of all domestic virtues known at that time, and died at the age of thirty-six. Her husband survived her by seven years, but did not remarry.

      Hamilton Dunbar did work for Judge Byrd, while the latter was a resident at West Union. He built the manager's house at Union Furnace in Lawrence County. He built a dwelling house at Union Landing for Thomas W. Means, and another dwelling house at Hanging Rock for Andrew Ellison. In West Union, he built a house for Peter Schultz, being the home where Auditor Shinn died in 1851 of cholera, and afterwards used by J.W. Lafferty for a carding mill. At the time, he worked in West Union, carpenters went into the woods, cut down the timbers for cross-beams, sills and upright posts and hewed them with broad axes, got out the studding and rafters and roofed with lap shingles. All of the house built by him were built in this manner.

      He also built the forge house for Sparks and Means, at Brush Creek Forge Furnace. He also did carpenter work on the home for Col. John Means, below Bentonville, and now owned by A. V. Hutson. But every carpenter has his last contract and Mr. Dunbar had his in the Hollingsworth House on Main St. in West Union, Ohio. He began work on that in June 1835, and had begun on the excavation. John Seaman had taken the contract for the excavation and had worked all day on Sat. June 27,1835. He lived east of thevillage some two miles and had gone home that evening. He was in the prime of his life and vigor. He had made all arrangements to go forward with the work on the following Monday, but that night he was taken with cholera and died on Sunday, June 28. He was the father of Franklin Seaman.

Hamilton Dunbar had overseen the work on the Hollingsworth contract on Sat. as usual, and had attended the Metholdist Quarterly meeting on that day. As he retired that evening, he appeared to be in good health. Later in the evening, he was attacked by the dread Asiatic cholera and died Sunday morning June28, at 4:00 a.m. He went out with the rising sun. At that time it was customary to bury a cholera patient in a few hours after death. He was buried that afternoon at the Lovejoy Cemetery. In those days, there were no hearses, and the body of the deceased was taken out in a road wagon. The few mourners that attended the interment followed the wagon on foot.

      Hamilton Dunbar was the first victim of the scourge that year. He died in the house built by him directly opposite the old stone Presbyterian Church in West Union, Ohio. He was 53 yrs. old.

      He was six feet tall, of large frame, weighed 180 pounds, had blue eyes and fair complexion. He joined the Methodist Church a few years before his decease and was zealously attached to it. He was a man of great firmness of character and his family loved and respected him.

With them his word was law. he was a Whig in politics and devotedly attached to his party, as earnest in politics as he was in all other things.

David Dunbar

      David was over six feet tall, with a patriarchial beard and a commanding appearance, his person would have attracted attention anywhere.

      He was born in West Union on Feb.4,1820, when the village was only sixteen years old. The howling of the wolves in the vicinity of the new town of log houses was among his lullabies.

      His father was, Hamilton Dunbar and his mother was Delilah Sparks, daughter of Salathiel Sparks, one of the pioneers of Adams County. His father was born in Winchester, Pa. in 1782, and his mother in Winchester, Pa. in 1792. They were married in West Union in 1808. He was one of the nine children born between 1809 and 1827. His mother died Aug. 14,1828, and he was left to care for his older sisters. He had such schooling as the period afforded and on June 28, 1825, at the age of fifteen was left a double orphan by the death of his father of the dreaded disease, Asiatic cholera.

      David was a boy of twelve, when he was sent to Pine Grove Furnace to learn to mould tea kettles and hollow ware. He commenced work with Solomon Isaminger at a stipulated sum. He only remained with Isaminger but six months, but he followed the business of moulding at Pine Grove, Aetna, Union, Vesuvius, Bloom, and Franklin Furnace for four years, but he did not like the business nor the associations and he determined to leave and learn another business.

      As everyone rode horseback in those days, and as horses were then equivalent to a legal tender, he concluded to learn the saddlery business and begun at Aberdeen, Ohio in 1837. He worked at this business at various places and under different places until he became of age in 1841, when he located at Clayton, Ohio, and set up in the saddlery business for himself. Here he held his first office, that of Constable, but achieved no particular distinction in it. At this place, he connected himself with the Methodist Episcopal Church in Feb. 1842. When he removed to Manchester in 1844, he connected himself with the Methodist Episcopal Church until 1869. In that year, he transferred his membership to the Methodist Protestant Church on account of its form of church government, dispensing with Bishops and giving representations in the annual conferences.

      In Sept. 1844, David Dunbar entered into partnership with his brother, John, in the saddlery business at West Union, Ohio. But not liking it, on Dec. 5, 1844, he dissolved the partnership with his brother, and went to Manchester and formed a partnership with John W. Coppell, under the name of Coppell & Dunbar, in the saddlery business,which was continued until Feb. 1846, when the firm dissolved and our David retired. At the same time, he formed a partnership with Major Vinson Cropper, under the name of Cropper & Dunbar, and the two built and conducted the first wharfboat ever located in Manchester and made it quite a shipping point. The firm received goods for West Union, Jacksonville, Locust Grove, and as far north as Sinking Springs in Highland County. During the time this firm conducted the wharfboat, John Buchannan had the contract to furnish oats for the U.S. Army in Mexico and they did not have room to store away on the wharfboat, the many thousands of sacks of oats which he delivered to them from West Union. Smith and David owned and ran a packet line at that time between Portsmouth and Cincinnati. Their boats were Ashland and Belle Aire, one up and one down each day. In low water, the same company ran the Mingo Chief and the Planet. The same firm built the Scioto and Scioto No.2. There was a daily packet line from Cincinnati to Portsmouth at that time and their boats were the Alleghany, New England, Buckeye State, Cincinnati, Brillant, Messenger, and De Witt Clinton. All of these landed regularly at Cropper & Dunbar's wharf and transacted a great deal of business. In 1849, David Dunbar disposed of his interest in the wharfboat and returned to the saddlery business, which he continued until 1852, when he went into the grocery trade, in which he remained.

      It will be observed that Mr. Dunbar had a penchant for forming partnerships, but on Sept 12, 1848, he formed the most important partnership of his life and one that continued. On that day he married Nancy J. Dougherty. For over fifty years, he and his wife had trod the pathway of life side by side, hand in hand, they shared many blessing together and had their portion of sorrows, among which was the loss of a bright son, at the age of seven years, in 1877.

      David Dunbar was an ardent and enthusiastic Whig during the existence of that party. When that party dissolved after the Presidential election of 1852, he cast his political fortunes with the Democratic party and from it he received the appointment of Postmaster at Manchester in 1855,which he continued to hold until 1866.

      In 1860, Mr Dunbar became a Republican and in 1861, there was an election held by the patrons of Manchester post office to determine who should be recommended for the appointment. Mr Dunbar received the endorsement of a large majority of both Democrats and Republicians and he was reappointed by the Republican administration. In 1866, he refused to Johnsonize and was removed.

      David and Nancy Dunbar had a son, John K. Dunbar, who was one of the foremost men of Manchester. They also had three daughters, Anna, Minnie, and Emma. Anna married Marion Crissman on July 16, 1874, they had two children,Carl and Augusta Belle.