Dunkin, Oliver Perry
From Biographical History of Crawford, Ida & Sac Counties, Iowa
The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, 1893

Oliver Perry Dunkin, one of the leading citizens and pioneer farmers of Clinton township, Sac county, Iowa, was born January 21, 1826.

His father, Joshua Dunkin, was a native of Virginia and a soldier in the war of 1812. His grandfather, John Dunkin, was a descendant of Scotch ancestry. The maiden name of our subject's mother was Sarah Richardson. She was born in Ohio, a descendant of German ancestry, and was first married to a Mr. Riley by whom she had four children. She married Mr. Dunkin in Brown county, Ohio, and her death occurred in Fulton county, Illinois, at the age of sixty. After her death the father came to Clinton county, Iowa, where he died at the age of seventy. He voted for Fremont in 1856, but was a Democrat all his life. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and for many years was a Class Leader.

Oliver P. was a lad of fourteen or fifteen years when the family moved to Fulton county, Illinois, and on his father's farm in that county he was reared. He then moved to Jackson county, Iowa, and some years later went to Clinton county and settled near Elwood. From Clinton county, in 1875, he came to Sac county, bought 320 acres of land, and on it has since resided. He has his farm well improved with good buildings and a nice orchard and grove.

Mr. Dunkin was married in Clinton county, Iowa, November 12, 1854, to Mary Jane Clark, a native of New Jersey. Her father, Barnabas Clark was born at Ashfield, Massachusetts, in 1799, was a wagon-maker by trade, and was a resident of Conway, Massachusetts. The family trace their settlement in New England back to 1623. Mrs. Dunkin's mother was before her marriage Miss Submit Hitchcock, who was born in Massachusetts, January 2, 1801, daughter of Heman (Herman?) Hitchcock. At an early day Mr. and Mrs. Clark settled in Delaware county, Ohio, and from there came to Clinton county, Iowa in 1853. They reared a family of five children, two sons and three daughters. One of their sons, Fred, served in the war in an Iowa regiment, and is now a resident of Clinton county, this State. The mother died May 6, 1878, and the father passed away in September 1890. He was a member of the Christian Church and his wife was a Congregationalist. Mr. and Mrs. Dunkin have five children, viz.: Frederick, a resident of Wall Lake township, Sac county; Frank L. on the home farm; Sarah Submit, wife of J.B. Southwell, of Hayes county, Nebraska; and William and George, at home.

Mr. Dunkin is a Republican in politics, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

 

Starting with our family in Virginia, the year is 1788. Joshua Dunkin is born.
It is believed his father was named John.
His mother at this writing is unknown.
John had a brother also named Joshua
and they both died in Adams County, Ohio. John had Scottish ancestry.
In 1788, West Virginia and Kentucky were the western three counties of Virginia.
The year is unknown but Joshua and probably his parents and other family members move to Ohio. Could it be that Joshua's father, John, fought in the Revolutionary War and received land in Ohio for his services? Ohio and was given to soldiers for their service in the military, this was the governments way of paying the soldiers for their service and expanding the country at the same time.
Dunkinsville is a small town in Adams County, Ohio that was obviously named after a Dunkin. Research indicates it was named after a John Dunkin - could this be Joshua's father? In 1818, Brown County splits from Adams County, this is important due to the later references from Brown Co. The next verifiable date is Joshua's wedding to Sarah Richardson Riley, 8/31/1809 in Adams Co. Sarah was previously married to a Mr Riley and they had four children. Sarah had German ancestry. I believe that from
the dates recorded that Sarah was approximately ten years older than Joshua. Sarah's date of birth is unknown but she died in Fulton County, Illinois at the age of sixty [?], after the family moved there around 1840.
Research indicates that Joshua fought in the "War of 1812". At this time he was married and had his first child, Irene.
The war lasted from June, 1812 - Dec, 1814. It appears that they had two more children during the war years,
Elizabeth and Lemuel. Obviously soldiers were given leave during their enlistment period.
Their next child, Oliver, was born in 1826 and was named after Oliver Hazard Perry, a naval war hero of the 1812 war.
The census for Virginia started in 1810. There are numerous John's listed but no way of knowing if John [Joshua's father] was still in Va or which John he might have been. There are no Joshua's listed in this census indicating he was already in Ohio and the fact he married Sarah in 1809 in Ohio proves this.
The 1820 Ohio census shows Joshua living in Brown County, Lewis Township. The 1830 Ohio census does not show Joshua but he reappears in the 1840 census along with his son Lemuel in Brown Co, Lewis Township. I believe there was a mistake in the 1830 census and Joshua lived in Brown Co at that time.
Ohio land records show that Joshua and Sarah sell land there in 1836.
They both sign their names with a "X", indicating that neither of them can read or write. The date of the land sale is, 11/5/1836, and the amount of the sale is $350.
Looking for Joshua's father, John, in the 1820 and later Ohio census has been difficult due to the number of John's listed and the fact there is no proof that he even moved there.
Elizabeth Dunkin, daughter of Joshua, marries Philemon Brown on 12/30/1832 in Brown County, Ohio.
Lemuel Dunkin, son of Joshua, marries Fanny Brown on 5/18/1837 in Brown County, Ohio. They have four children.
Could Fanny and Philemon be related? Could they be related to someone that Brown County was named after?

Joshua, Sarah, and family move to Fulton County, Illinois around 1840 when Oliver is 14 years old. The reason for the move to Illinois is unknown. Could it be that Joshua received land there for his service in the war of 1812? Southwestern Illinois, Arkansas, and Michigan were all part of the military land warrants issued to veterans for the service.
The amount of land given was based on rank and years of service. A search for land records for this time frame in Illinois did not show Joshua owning any land. Why would he wait twenty five years to collect it? It's ironic they would move there for no apparent reason. Maybe he had sold the land earlier and just wanted to see the area. Fulton County also had a large settlement of Quakers during this period. There is no reference that the Dunkin's were Quaker but since the spelling of Dunkin
with a KIN, versus CAN, indicates Quaker origins since the KIN spelling is the Quaker version.
Sarah dies in Fulton County, the year and place are unknown. I have been unable to find any cemetery records on her burial.
Lemuel dies on 6/2/1845 at the age of 32 in Jackson County, Iowa. His wife remarries a Edward Battell or Battles. Of their four children, one is born in Ohio, two in Illinois, and one in Iowa.
When they move to Iowa is unknown, whether Lemuel and his family move first or if Joshua and the whole family go together is not known.
The 1850 Iowa census shows the following;  Joshua, Irene, and ten year old John living in Jackson County, Iowa. At this time the identity of John is unclear.
Could he be a nephew to Joshua or a son of Irene? Irene never marries and there is no further mention of John in later records. Oliver is shown living with the family of Austin T Depue, in Clayton County Iowa, as a laborer.
Joshua dies in Clinton County Iowa, on 1/7/1859. He is buried in the Elwood City Cemetery. Historical notes on Joshua;  He voted for Fremont in the1856 presidential election but was a Democrat all his life. [Fremont being a Republican, would indicate
Joshua's convictions of anti slavery. The Republican Party came into being as against slavery where as the Democrats were not against it]. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church where he was a class leader for many years.

Oliver marries Mary Jane Clark on 11/12/1854 in Clinton County, Iowa.
Mary Jane moves from Newark, NJ, to New York, then Ohio, and finally to Iowa. It appears she was born in Vermont and her parents came from Massachusetts.
There are many references that a lineal descendent of hers, Thomas Clark, came over on the Mayflower with the pilgrims as a first mate of the ship. After searching the passenger and crew list of the Mayflower it appears this is doubtful.
There is a passenger on the Mayflower named Richard Clarke, he was not married and he died the first winter in the new land. There was a John Clarke that was a Master's Mate and pilot, but, wrong first name. In 1623, three years after the Mayflower landed, there was a Thomas Clark who came over on the ship "Anne". This is probably the relative referred
to. According to other family stories, Mary Jane was also related to a Alvin Clark who helped build two of the worlds largest telescopes, one in California and the other in Wisconsin.
1860 Iowa census shows; Oliver, Mary Jane, Frederick, Frank, and Irene living in Clinton Co, Brookfield Township.
1870 Iowa census shows the same info for Oliver and his family with the addition of Sarah and William. The same census shows Samuel Dunkin, son of Lemuel, living in Crawford County, Denison Township with his family.
Samuel moved west at least five years before Oliver and the other members of the clan moved to Sac Co. Did Samuel entice them to move westagain? No other info has been found on Samuel in Crawford County.
1875, what a great year for the Dunkin's! They move to Sac County along with Mary Jane's   relatives, the Wade's, Stanzel's, and the Kenyon's from Clinton County. They so much linked their past to Clinton Co that they named their township in Sac Co, Clinton Township, after the county they justed moved from.
1/20/1879 - Oliver buys 160 acres from the Iowa RR [Railroad?] Land Company.
3/7/1879 -  Oliver buys another 160 acres from the same company. What Oliver did in the four years between moving there and buying the farm is unknown.


1880 Iowa census - Oliver and his family living in Sac County. The search for the Dunkin's all started with this census. A actual copy of this census is posted on the Sac County web site. Along with the Dunkin's are the Wade's, Stanzel's, and Kenyon's all on the same page.  This indicates they all bought land next to each other [or very close], since the census taker would have stopped from house to house while taking each families statistics.

"The Farm"

After the purchase of 320 acres, Oliver along with his sons, plow the virgin fertile soil and start to make a life and home for themselves in Sac County.
Due to old age, and two of his sons wanting to farm on their own, Oliver sells the farm to Frank and Will.

3/1/1889 - Frank buys 80 acres from Oliver for $2500.
12/15/1890 - Frank buys another 80 acres from Oliver for $2400.
12/15/1890 - Will buys 160 acres from Oliver which include the original house and buildings. Oliver, Mary Jane, George, and Irene live with Will in the same house. Will pays $5000 for the farm. The deeds for each sale show a $700 mortgage. The above mentioned sale prices may have been for tax or other reasons and were monies never paid.
3/4/1895 - Frank sells 80 acres to Gottlieb Wiese.
4/24/1899 - Will sells 80 acres to Gottlieb Wiese.
Frank and Will buy equipment together and share some family expenses. George, never wanting to farm, goes to school to learn the new trade of auto mechanics. He works out of Will's place fixing anything that is mechanical. George lives with Will until Will's marriage, at this time he splits his living between Frank and Will.
Frank retires from farming and his son Perry takes over the duties. The estate of Frank gives his wife Lena 1/3 and the rest is divided equally between Rose, Anna, Ida, Katherine, and Perry.
1923 - The original farm house burns down, Will and Elizabeth borrow $1500 to build a new house. They live in one of the farm buildings until the basement is completed and then move into it until the house itself is done. The new house is built on the same site by a relative of Mary Jane, I believe his name was Olis [?].
1925 - Will's health is bad and they rent the farm and house out. A auction is held to sell off the equipment.
1926 - Will and family move back to the farm and rent out the land.
10/2/1931 - Will sells the farm and the place starts going to hell.


As a young child I can remember a black lock box my father had that contained his most precious possessions. He stored his medals from WWll in it along some old photographs and papers. After his death in 1982 my mother passed these items on to me where they stayed until one day I decided to take a close look at what I had been given. What I found was quite interesting; a pocket watch that belonged to my grandfather [Will], later given to my oldest son who had it restored to working
order, a billfold with a lock of blond hair and some letters written by my father and his father to each other tucked inside, the billfold had the name of OP Dunkin written on it along with Elwood Iowa, Maquoketa Clinton Co, and Wall Lake Sac Co, and some other writing that is to faded to make out. There were numerous receipts from the farm dating back to the late 1800's including;
8/30/1908 - Threshing bill for 700 bushels of oats for $21.30.
5/24/1899 - $400 receipt from W H Peck & Co [Lumber, Cement, & Coal] on acct. Could this be for lumber to build a barn?
12/21/1919 - 50 gallons perfection oil @ .104 cents per gal - total $15.20.
10/6/1919 - 70 gallons Red Crown Gasoline @ .218 cents per gal - total $15.26.
2/2/1917 - State of Iowa Motor Vehicle Registration.
Many of these receipts had both Will's and Frank's name on them including bank notes. It appears they bought equipment together and shared other expenses.


"Excerpts from Sac County Articles"


Oliver Perry was a leading citizen and pioneer farmer. He came to Iowa while it was yet a territory.
Lena [Frank's wife] was the stepdaughter of Conrad Meyer.
Nearly all of the early settlers in Clinton Township came from Clinton County.
1877 - Grasshoppers destroy all the crops.
Frank Dunkin is allied with the Republican Party and served as school director. He was a member of the Lake View Lodge of Odd Fellows.


In my research I have found the Dunkin name spelled in many variations;
ie Duncon, Dunkan, Dunken, Duncan and any other way a person could think of.
When researching one has to keep in mind that years ago many people could not read or write. When a person wrote a
another persons name they spelled it they way they thought it sounded.
This obviously makes the search a bit more difficult when trying to track down a families history.
It was not uncommon for complete families to move from one area to another back in the old days, this was true in our family also.
Searching through Ohio records I've found many Joshua's and John's, this has made it very difficult in knowing which family is which. The tradition of naming children after other family members was wide spread which also complicates sorting out each family line. The older census shows only the head of household - no names of wives or children. By 1850 the census now showed the first names of all family members which make it very easy to trace family lines.
I know that all of the information I've collected is not completely accurate and without gaps. I've had much satisfaction in discovering all the info that I've shared and hope that others will continue in the search of the Dunkin history.
The future means so much less without knowing the past.

William Wallace Dunkin lll




 

Thomas Clarke, Sr. of Plymouth, born c1599, died 24 March 1697, aged 98 (97) years, came over in the Anne in 1623 age 23 years (also stated "supposed mate of the Mayflower," in the History of Town of Duxbury).  Married  1stSusanna Ring, daughter of widow Mary Ring, before 1631. (From "Cape Code Library of Genealogy and Local History," "A Facsimile Edition of 108 Pamphlets Published in the Early 20th Century," Volume I. Family Tree Maker, Family Archives, Family History, Massachusetts & Maine Genealogies 1650s-1930s.)(Vital Records of Plymouth)  He married 2nd probably widow Alice Nichols of Boston, 1664, daughter of Richard Hallet (History of Duxbury p246, 247).  Is this a second Thomas Clark, or is this also the  same Thomas Clark listed in Duxbury  Children: (Andrew, William, James, Nathaniel, John) (History of Duxbury p247 lists children as: Wm., James, Nathaniel, Andrew, & Susanna)

  1. Andrew Clarke (born c<1635) died 1706, living in Boston before 1676, married Mehitable Scottow, baptised 1649. Removed to Satucket (western Brewster) c1676, many children removed to Harwich.
    1. Thomas Clark born 1672 (Lt. Thomas), of Plymouth
    2. Susanna Clark born 1674 married John Gray
    3. Andrew Clark (alive 1693) married Elizabeth Winslow 1711
    4. Scotto or Scottoway Clark of Plymouth, m. Mary
    5. Nathaniel Clark married Abigail Hedge 1720
    6. Mehitable Clark b 1676 Boston, m. John Haskel 1705.
  2. William Clark (alive 1693), left 18d by the William Clark Of Duxbury in 1687 (History of the Town of Duxbury,  MA, with genealogical registers, Justin Winsor, 1849. )
    1. James Clark (alive 1693)
    2. John Clark (alive 1693).  A John Clark is stated as a grandson of old Thomas Clark of Plymouth in the History of Duxbury, but did not state grandsom of which Clark.)  John Clark of Barnstable, married Mary Benjamin 16 Aug. 1695, died at Plymouth 1712.
      1. John Clark 16 Nov. 1697
      2. Joseph Clark Is this Joseph Clark born in 1657, died in Braintree in 1708?
      3. Isaac Clark who went to "Hardwich" (History of the Town of Duxbury,  MA, p247)
      4. James Clark
    3. Andrew Clark (alive 1693)
  3. James Clark (born <c 1636, alive 1693) married Abigail Lothrop 7 Oct. 1657
    1. James Clark born <c1702
  4. Nathaniel Clark (alive 1693), "the secretary."
  5. Susanna Clark married Barnabas Lathrop 13 Nov. 1658. (History of the Town of Duxbury,  MA, with genealogical registers, Justin Winsor, 1849.

 

Mate Thomas Clark is said to be the father of our James Clark. This Thomas was on the "Mayflower", his title suggesting he was part of the ship's crew. (F-405) Although he returned to England, he might be the Thomas Clark listed as owning property in Boston, MA in 1647 according to the "Book of Possessions." (C-928)
There was also a Mate John Clark/e on the Mayflower who was from the small parish of Rothershithe on the outskirts of London. He was christened there on Mar. 26, 1575. I include him in case John and Thomas were brothers. This John Clarke is believed to be the father of a Thomas Clark who was baptised at Rotherhithe on May 4, 1600. The similar naming pattern and both Clarke's being mates on the Mayflower suggest a connection. (F-506)

 

This information was provided by BILL DUNKIN