U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dunn, John Sanford (1860-1945) --------------------------------------------------------------------- A History of Preston County West Virginia Biographical Department, Supplied by J. R. Cole Kingwood, W. Va., The Journal Publishing Company, 1914 by H. S. Whetsell Pages 731-733, JOHN SANFORD DUNN. The Dunn family is of Scotch Irish descent. It is an old family in America, somewhat widely diffused, and all of that hardy stock of people so characteristic of the race in the times of the Stuart Kings. It is not known when the great great grandfather of the Monongalia-Preston branch of the family came to West Virginia, but the supposition is that when the county was first settled, Thomas Dunn, the grandfather, was one of the pioneers. He married Temperance Pierpont, a woman of German descent, and by her became the father of fifteen children. They both died at the age of 87, but the father died ten years before the mother. They lived about three miles from Ice's Ferry, on Cheat River, close to what is known as the Tyrone postoffice at this time. The names of the children were as follows: John, the father of the subject of this sketch, was the oldest. (2) James, who raised a family of 16 children and died just a few years ago; (3) Billy; (4) Owen; (5) Thomas; (6) Larkin; (7) Zacquill; (8) Dorcas Reed; (9) Mary Warman; (10) Sade McGraw; (11) Jane Murphy; (12) Temperance Boord; (13) Martha Sheets, and two others who died in infancy. Of the sons only Zacquill and Thomas, and of the daughters, Temperance Boord and Martha Sheets are the only ones living at the date of this sketch. John Dunn, the father of John Sanford, was born April 17, 1814, and died at Reedsville, February 27, 1906. He married Nancy A. Reed, a daughter of William Reed. She was born September 23, 1815, and died at the age of 77 years. Their children were: Ellen, born October 30, 1835, died October 16, 1839; Alcinda, born August 16, 1838, died October 12, 1839; Oliver, born June 24, 1844, died ____, 18__; Brison, born April 16, 1846, died January 6, 1909; Lee Ann born March 2, 1849, still living at St. Clairsville, Ohio; Samantha Victoria, born May 30, 1853, still living at Reedsville, W. Va.; Francis Asbury, born November 23, 1857, and John Sanford, our subject, born August 11, 1860. The old Dunn farm, was an old land grant near the famous "Cheat View," overlooking Cheat River, and there the homestead was kept up until about seven years before the death of the father, when he went to live near Reedsville, close to his youngest son, of whom we write, and to be cared for by him. Like his father before him, and all his brothers and descendants after him, John Dunn was noted for his physical strength and great endurance. He was active up to his death when nearly ninety-two years of age. J. S. Dunn has seen about as much of this country from coast to coast as any man in the State. His life has been a variable one, but along lines of contact with business men from the time he was a boy. These years of experience have given him acquired tastes, and such a comprehensive insight into the affairs of a business life as to fully equip him for the expensive undertakings in which he has engaged. His training for a successful business career was begun before attaining to manhood, and was based on untiring industry, coupled with a large degree of native hard sense. He cleared and improved a little farm adjoining the old homestead, and at the same time was extensively engaged in timber business on Cheat River, buying, rafting and transporting the same to Pittsburgh and the other markets on the Monongahela. In this he was engaged for some fifteen years. He acquired much skill as a pilot in navigating the turbulent Cheat with rafted logs, both for himself and others. In 1888, Mr. Dunn bought the farm near Reedsville in Preston County, where he now lives. The farm was then covered with a dense growth of forest and thorn thickets, with no buildings or fencing. He cleared this land, erected buildings and improvements, and it is now one of the most productive and desirable farms in the county, producing unusual dividends for the acreage cultivated. About twelve years of Mr. Dunn's life was spent largely as an agent and canvasser; first in selling fruit trees before his removal from the old homestead in Monongalia, as well as immediately after his removal to where he now lives, and then taking orders for enlarged pictures. He was engaged in this at the same time he was clearing and improving his farm in the intervals he was at home, and in this way made the money to make the payments on the land, and carry forward the improvements. At length came prospects of the building of a railroad and awakening interest in the marketing of coal around Reedsville, when Mr, Dunn became interested in the timber and coal business, and gradually gave up canvassing on account of larger business affairs engrossing his time and energies. He handled large acreages of coal, under option as well as by purchase outright. For several years Mr. Dunn's time has been largely taken up in the development and sale of town lots in different parts of West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, in which business he has been markedly successful. He has, indeed, become known as a specialist and expert in all of the details of this branch of the real estate business. His business ability and knowledge of affairs in general naturally brought him before the voters of his district, and in November, 1898, he was elected Commissioner of the County Court from Valley District. He served two years and was re-elected at the November election of 1900. Upon the organization of the Court at the January Term, 1901, he was elected President of the County Court and served as such for two years. He was a charter member of Freeport Lodge No. 186, Knights of Pythias of the Grand Domain of West Virginia, and is a Past Chancellor of that lodge. Mr. Dunn was married twice. His first wife was Callie A. Downey, and they were married in 1879. Two children were born of this union, Vester B. Dunn, the well known lawyer of Kingwood, and one daughter, Dora Alice, who as born August 16, 1886 and died December 18, 1886. Mrs. Dunn was a daughter of Francis and Tillie (Blosser) Downey, of Fallen Timbers, Pennsylvania. She died July 14, 1887. Mr. Dunn later married Miss Laura A. Downey, a sister of his first wife, who is still living. Vester B. Dunn was born May 21, 1880, and completed the law course of the West Virginia University at Morgantown in the Spring of 1906. In July, 1908, he began his professional career in Kingwood, where he has been eminently successful from the start, having now a clientele entirely satisfactory to one having practiced for but a short time. He has been twice honored by the people of Kingwood by election as Mayor in which office he served with satisfaction of the citizens. In January, 1912, he was commissioned as Captain of the First Infantry, West Virginia National Guard, assigned to command Company G., of Kingwood, which commission he accepted from patriotic motives, not wishing to see the local Company lost to the town. He commanded his company on Cabin Creek in the great strike troubles there of the Summer and Fall of 1912, and, although without previous military experience, he won the respect of his men and left the company of good shape when he resigned in the Spring of 1913. On November 19, 1908, Vester B. Dunn was married to Miss Edna E. Waters of Fairmont. One daughter, Leora Margaret Dunn, has been born of this union. --------------------------------------------------------------------- From Death Certificate, Monongalia County, WV #12136 FULL-NAME: John Sanford Dunn BIRTH-DATE: August 11, 1860 BIRTH-PLACE: West Va. DEATH-DATE: September 13, 1945 DEATH-PLACE: Morgantown Rural, Morgan District, Monongalia County, WV MARITAL-STATUS: Married (Laura Downey) OCCUPATION: Farmer FATHER: John Dunn (born in West Va.) MOTHER: Nancy Reed (born in West Va.) CAUSE-OF-DEATH: gen. arterio-sclerosis INFORMANT: Laura Dunn (of Morgantown, RFD) BURIAL: Masontown Cemetery, Masontown, West Va. --------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Preston County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/preston/bios.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------