My Genealogy Hound

JACOB R. DUNHAM, retired farmer; P. O. New Carlisle, Clark Co., Ohio; is a son of Ross and Sallie Dunham, natives of New Jersey, who emigrated to Indiana about 1817, where they remained till, in 1821, they came to Miami Co.; here they spent the remainder of their days, living in different places in the county; they were among the very early settlers, and commenced right in the woods, when they were obliged to “blaze” trees in order to find a neighbor’s house; in those days they had no lucifer matches, and, if the fire was allowed to die out, they would borrow a brand from a neighbor; Ross Dunham died in 1865, the night after the assassination of President Lincoln, at the age of 78; his wife survived till 1870, and reached the age of 86 years. The subject of this sketch was born in New Jersey Feb. 18, 1815, and, being brought up on the farm, was accustomed to all the hardships of pioneer life; he used to think it recreation to pick brush at night by the light of a large brush-heap fire; he never enjoyed the privilege of attending school until old enough to pay his own tuition, and then only for a short time; at the age of 20, he learned the shoemaker’s trade, which he followed fifteen years, and then went to Shelby Co., where he engaged in farming till 1865; he then moved to Brandt, Miami Co., but held his farm in Shelby Co. till the next year; in 1866, he purchased his present farm of 129 acres in Sec. 11, Bethel Township; this is now in a good state of cultivation, and has fine improvements. Aug. 1, 1839, he married Anna Black, a native of this township, born April 13, 1820; she is a daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Black, of whom mention is made in the biography of John W. Black; by this union they had two children— John B., born June 3, 1840, and Mary E., born April 15, 1843 (now Mrs. Amos P. Aley, and lives in the same house with her parents); John B. would soon have completed a collegiate course at Delaware, Ohio, had he not volunteered to serve his country in the war of secession; he first enlisted for three years, but, being one of Fremont’s body guard, he was discharged at the time of Fremont’s removal from office; he then served a three-months term, and finally went as a substitute with the 100-day men, but never returned; his death occurred at Ft. Whipple, Va., near Washington, Aug. 7, 1864; he was a member of Co. E, 145th O. N. G. Mr. and Mrs. Dunham have been consistent members of the M. E. Church for about forty-five years.