WILLIAM DUNN

William and Mary Almeda BARLOW were married 01 AUG 1875 at Brunswick, WI. They had the following children: 1. Elmo Weston DUNN was born 30 MAY 1876 at Galesville,Trempealeau, WI and died 26 SEP 1955 Flandreau, Moody, SD. 2. Minnie Edna DUNN was born JAN 1878 at Flandreau, Moody, SD and died DEC 1943 at Sanborn, SD. 3. William Edmund DUNN was born 16 AUG 1880 at Flandreau, Moody, SD and died unmarried and childless 06 OCT 1899 at Flandreau, Moody, SD. 4. John Fred DUNN was born 19 JUL 1888.

This portrait of William Dunn hangs in the home of Thomas D. Ashmore in Rapid city, SD.   A photo of the painting was taken by Tom's sister Sue while the painting was hanging on the wall. That photo was then scanned.

William was born about 1847 in Canada and moved with his family to Leelanau County, MI about 1860. On 01 Aug 1875 he and Mary Almeda BARLOW were married at Rock Rapids, WI. Their first child, my grandfather, Elmo Weston Dunn, shown below, was born at Galesville, Trempleau, WI on 30 MAY 1876.

William moved his family to Dakota Territory in the fall of 1876, settling five and one half miles north east of Flandreau, Moody, DT and working in town as a blacksmith.

On 05 Nov 1877 William filed application number 7833 for land entry to homestead the SW Quarter of Section 7 in Township 107N of Range 47, containing 160 acres and on 03 Feb 1883 he filed his final affidavit required to perfect his claim at the Clerk of the District Court for Moody County, F. W. Pettigrew.

His notice of final proof was printed in the HERALD, a weekly newspaper published at Flandreau, for five consecutive weeks, as was required, beginning 29 Dec 1882, and last, in the issue of 26 Jan 1883. In his affidavit he named the following four witnesses to prove his continuous residence and cultivation of the land: M.D.L. Pettigrew, E.I. Heald, W.A. Clark, and William Jones, all of Flandreau. The two who actually testified were W.A. Clark and E.I. Heald.

In his testimony, William said he was a native born citizen (not true, he was born in Canada), 36 years old, and he built his home and established residence on or before 08 Nov 1877. His residence was a frame house 20 feet by 24 feet. He said he built a stable,dug a well and broke (plowed) 100 acres. He assessed the total value at $1,200.00. There were no problems and Patent issued, certificate number 4255, 20 Mar 1884.(Recorded, Vol. 9. Page 360, by the Recorder of the General Land Office, and filed at Moody County on 25 Sep 1884, Recorded in Book "A" of Patent, Page 120).

In addition to their homestead and "Tree Culture", William and Mary were active land purchasers. On 10 Nov 1879 William purchased from F.W. Pettigrew "the north half of lot fourteen (14) in block nine (9) townsite of Flandreau" for $75.00. He paid $28.55 on signing the land contract, $21.15 01 May 1880, and $25.00 10 Nov 1880. The agreement called for William to "erect thereon a comfortable dwelling, and occupy the same as a residence"

William, on 23 Mar 1881 purchased the second, or south half of Lot 14, Block 9 from one of his homestead witnesses, William Jones. It was a cash sale for $100.00 and the Warranty Deed was recorded in Book 4, Page 554, Moody County, Territory of Dakota.

Mary purchased from Joseph A. Pickett,"a single man" the South half of the NW Quarter of Section 7 in Township 107N of Range 47W, containing 80 acres. Warranty Deed filed 22 Dec 1882 and Recorded in Book 4, Page 483 at Moody County, Territory of Dakota. The selling price was $150.00.

For reasons unknown to me William and Mary sold their homestead to Wilbur A. Clark for $500.00 by Indenture dated 28 Feb 1883. On 03 Feb 1883 William signed an affidavit as part of his final "proving up" saying he had neither sold nor encumbered the land (Book 4, page 128 of the records of said Register of Deeds office for said county).

On 30 Apr 1883 Wilbur A. Clark sold the homestead claim back to the Dunns. Not to William and Mary, but just to Mary, for $500.00, Sarah, Wilbur's wife, relinquishing her right of homestead. A wife, at the time, had a right of Dower or Homestead and the land could not be sold without her consent.  (Recorded in Book 4, Page 529, Moody county, DT Register of Deeds.

On 01 May 1883, Mary purchased from Sarah Graham, a widow, the East one half of the NW Quarter of Section 29 in Township 107N of Range 48W, containing 80 acres for $500.00(Recorded in Book 5 of Deeds, page 106).

On 25 Jun 1888 Mary and William executed a Mortgage Deed with F. W. McConnell for $1,000.00, payable as follows: $1,000.00 due 25 Jun 1893 and five coupon notes for $90.00 payable annually for five years on 25 Jun. The land mortgaged was the SW Quarter of Section 7 and the South half of the NW Quarter of Section 7 all in Township 107N of Range 47, containing 240 acres(Recorded at Moody County Register of Deeds, in Book 19 of Mortgages, on Page 50).

William also had a "tree culture" on which Patent issued for the SE Quarter of Section 7 in Township 107N of Range 47W in South Dakota (by now a state), containing 160 acres. Patent issued 23 Jun 1891, Recorded in Vol. 7, Page 51 by the Recorder of the General Land Office.

Items from the Moody County Enterprise, Flandreau, Moody, SD:

August 11, 1881. Messrs. Clark Bates and Lindsey are building a wood and coal office next to William Dunn's blacksmith shop.

January 5, 1882. Blacksmiths:
William Dunn has a large shop and he manufactures breaking plows and plow lays in large numbers. J.C. Dahl also has a blacksmith shop.

March 27, 1884. Wm. Dunn has purchased the interest of M. Whitman in the firm of Whitman and Cady's blacksmiths, and will hereafter be found at the old stand again.

February 5, 1885. Wm. Dunn has rented his blacksmith shop to A. Cady.

June 2, 1887. William Dunn has gone into the machinery business. He is selling the McCormack binders.

November 17. 1887 Wm. Dunn has moved his blacksmith shop back several feet and is to have it underpinned and a floor put in.

August 23, 1888. Knute Knutson has formed a co-partnership with Wm. Dunn in the blacksmithing business and the firm is now known as Dunn & Knutson. Mr. Knutson ran a shop for a long time, but more recently has been working for Mr. Dunn.

October 9, 1890. William dunn has rented his blacksmith and wagon repair business to Messrs. Knutson and Odell, both of whom have been in his employ for sometime past.

William signed a will dated 03 Mar 1893 at Flandreau, Moody, SD. William's will reads "To my wife, Mary A. Dunn, all my property both real and personal wheresoever situated and whatsoever nature to be held by her in fee simple to do with as she may please."

William died of TB 08 Jul 1893 at Flandreau and is buried at the Flandreau Cemetery.

Obituary from the Moody County Enterprise, Flandreau, Moody, SD, 13 July 1893.

"Died-William Dunn at his home in Flandreau, SD Saturday, July 8, 1893 at the age of 46.

The deceased was born in Ottawa, Canada, of Irish parentage, moved to Michigan in his boyhood years and married in Wisconsin and finally came to South Dakota to make his home. A wife and four children are left to mourn his loss, but are amply provided for. His parents, two brothers and five sisters are also living.

Deceased was first taken sick about two years ago when he experienced a severe attack of the grippe. Since that time he declined rapidly in health. A trip to Canada last winter seems to have aggravated his case rather than to help him. He became continually weaker until last Saturday when the disease he was afflicted with terminated in death.

The funeral service were held on Saturday and were conducted by the Masonic Lodge of Flandreau, F. and A.M. A large number of friends and relatives also attended. The remains were interred in the Flandreau cemetery."

I realize the man's story sounds like a title abstract but that is just because those are the records I have been able to access. There was a lot more to him. My mother's first cousin, Irma Grace DUNN Waxdahl, remembers hearing about her grandfather. She told me William was "fun loving, a curly haired, good looking Irishman". He was an excellent musician and played the violin for dances. While he played, having a good time, Mary would sit on the sideline, very quiet and proper.