DUNN
In 1635 there sailed from London, England, for the new colony of Virginia, as America was then called, the ship "Barmaneston," Captain James Recroft. In order to restrict emigration, which was growing at an alarming rate, every alternate name on the list of passengers was stricken off and permission to sail refused one-half. Thus the name of Oliver Cromwell, who became the Lord Protector, was stricken from the list, and the next name was that of Joseph Dunn. His son Thomas Dunn, was made secretary of the party that went on to New England.
The records tell us nothing further about Joseph. Thomas Dunn, aged twenty-five, came in the "Defense" in July 1635, and was admitted freeman of Massachusetts, May 26, 1647; settled at Weymouth, Mass., in 1647, removed to Rehoboth, Mass., and thence to New Haven, and finally Fairfield, Connecticut; died in 1660 without wife or issue, leaving his property to Rev. John Jones.
(I) John Dunn, who was, according to tradition, related to Joseph Dunn mentione above, was probably born in England. He settled about 1716 in Barnstable, Mass. From his age at death, we know that he was born in 1685. He died at Barnstable, July 21, 1755. His house stood on the hill at the head or south end of Straight Way, and his homestead is still called Dunn's Field. [1910]. His wife Experience died Aug. 17, 1746, aged fifty years. He was a member of the East Church of Barnstable.
Children:
1. Dorothy, born 1716; married Josiah Smith, of Plymouth.
2. George, mentioned below.
3. Mary, baptized with Dorothy, April 17, 1726.
4. Elizabeth, baptized April 17, 1726.
5. John, baptized with Martha, April 24, 1726.
6. Martha.
7. Thomas, born Oct. 15, 1727.
8. Thomas, Sept. 29, 1734.
(II) George, youngest son of John Dunn, was born about 1720. He settled in Oakham, Worcester county, Mass. He served in the old French war in 1745; was taken prisoner, sent to France, there exchanged and returned to Quebec. He finally reached home after an absence of seven years to find that his young wife had been dead for five years. He was also a soldier in the revolution from Oakham in Captain Seth Washburn's company, Colonel Jonathan Ward's regiment. He died before 1778, but we find no record of the settlement of his estate or of his death. He married (second) Rachel _____, whose name we find on a deed of land at Oakham from George Dunn to Jabez Warren, of Middleborough, dated July 19, 1770.
George Dunn bought his palce at Oakham, eighty acres and ninety rods, of Alexander Bothwell, of Rutland West parish (Oakham) by deed dated June 11, 1762. The names of his children are to be found in the Worcester probate records. The minor children had John Blair appointed their guardian, April 4, 1778, just after the death of the older brother William, whose property they inherited. In two deed the chldren of George, as heirs of William, transfer their rights in his estate. Alexander and George Dunn, of Cammelsburgh, New York, Matew and Rachel (Dunn) Clark and Lemuel and Agnes (Dunn) Eliot, of Leyden, Mass.; James Dunn, of New Braintree, deed their interests, Jan. 14, 1793, to Jonathan and Jane (Dunn) Forbes, of Oakham. The others, Joseph and Joel Dunn, of Oakham, and John Dunn, of Cornish, N.H., deed also to Forbes, Feb. 24, 1792. The names connected with all these transactions indicate that many of the friends and relatives of Dunn were Scotch-Irish.
Children of George Dunn:
1. William, died 1777-78; soldier in the revolution in Captain Simeon Hazeltine's company, Colonel John Fellow's regiment, in 1775; in the Continental army in 1777; and for three years enlisted in Captain Goodall's company, Colonel Putnam; said to have been killed at Saratoga in 1777. The family records tell us that the father died on the field of battle at White Plains or was taken prisoner and starved to death in one of the British prison ships in New York.
Children of second wife:
2. Alexander, born Sept. 19, 1761, at Oakham; soldier in the Continental army, aged eighteen, height five feet seven inches, of ruddy complexion, 1780; lived at New Braintree and at Cammelsburgh, New York.
3. Rachel, born March 14, 1763, at Oakham; married Mathew Clark of Leyden.
4. George, settled at Cammelsburgh before 1793.
5. James, born 1767; settled at New Braintree, then at Bakersfield, Vermont, bout 1795.
6. Jane, married Jonathan Forbes.
7. Joel.
8. John, mentioned below.
9. Joseph, married (intention at Oakham, Oct. 12, 1792).
10. Agnes, married Lemuel Eliot, of Leyden.
(III) John, son of George Dunn, was born at Oakham, in 1770-71. John Blair was appointed his guardian in 1778, when William died. He settled in Cornish, New Hampshire, and lived later at Bakersfield. His four sons gave on hundred and fifty years of service to the Christian ministry.
He married Abigail Reed.
2. Lewis, a Baptist minister for twenty-nine years at Fairfax, Vermont; president of Pella College Iowa; his son R. A. Dunn, of Waterville, Maine, was grand secretary of the state Baptist Associtaion, and daughter, Mrs. Cornelia Henry, a minister at Tahiti.
3. Thomas, an earnest evangelist chaplain in the army appointed by General Butler; superintendent of negro schools at New Orleans; died there in 1862.
4. Rev. Ransom, sixty-four years minister in Christian Church and teacher of it.
(IV) Hiram, son of John Dunn, was born Bakersfield, Vermont, Feb. 5, 1812, died at Valley Falls, New York, March 1, 1876. He was educated in the district schools, and early in life was attracted to the study of divinity. He was ordained a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church before he married, and at one time was pastor of Mooers, Clinton county, N.Y. During the civil war he was appointed United States marshal of the district of northern New York by President Lincoln, with whom he enjoyed a personal friendship, and he left the ministry to accept the office. He was afterward collector of customs for the district of Champlain for a number of years, resigning to take up again the duties of Christian minstry at Valley Falls, N.Y., where he died two years later. He preached the gospel in various towns in northern New York with zeal and earnest faith for forty-five years. He was an able preacher, and a beloved pastor.
He married, Oct. 20, 1836, Matilda Caroline Fitch of Mooers, N.Y., born Oct. 20, 1817, died Dec. 30, 1903, daughter of Isaac and Agnes (Churchill) Fitch.
Children:
1. Daughter, died in infancy.
2. Matilda H., married Lorenzo Baker.
3. Jerome, died aged fourteen years.
4. Pliny F., enlisted in the Seventy-seventh New York Volunteers, Company I, as a private and rose to the rank of captain, serving throughout the civil war; married Julia Messinger; was a railroad contractor and was killed whle working in Texas in 1886; children: Lillian, died aged ten years; Child, died in infancy; Ruth, married George McIlvaine and has two children.
5. Orville Comstock; died aged twenty-four, unmarried.
6. Nettie M., married Richard H. Angell; children: mabel Angell, Emmett Angell, who lives in Oregon; Ralph C. Angell, who resides at Seattle, Washington; Ethel Angell.
7. Lilliam, died in 1884; married Albertus B. Angell; children: Wilmer Dunn, died age seventeen years; Bessie, married R. W. E. Rogers of New York.
8. Wilmer Hiram, mentioned below.
(V) Wilmer Hiram, son of Hiram Dunn, was born at Mechanicsville, Saratoga county, N.Y., Sept. 19, 1859. He was educated in the public schools, and studied law in the office of Judge Shedden and Judge S. A. Kellogg, at Champlain. He was admitted to the bar in 1880, and has been in active and successful pratice since then. He is a member of the county and state bar. He was district attorney of Clinton county from 1884 to 1890, and served for a number of years on the board of education of the town of Champlain. He belongs to the Presbyterian church, and is a member of Modern Woodmen of America. he is a prominent Democrat, and a much respected and influential citizen.
He married, Oct. 22, 1884, Lola Frances Rich, born in Montgomery county, N.Y., June 10, 1861, daughter of Asa D. and Mary E. (Dillenback) Rich.
Children:
1. Mary Louise, born Sept. 22, 1886.
2. Orville Rich, Jan. 21, 1888.