JONATHAN DUNNING (alias Singletary);---At the first settlement of Killingworth, Conn, (the part of town now called Clinton), Jonathan Dunning drew the lot of land next to the parsonage. He had daughters born there in 1666 and 1668; was a soldier in an Indian War of 1676; and about 1682 is mentioned by Cotton Mather as one of a band of "Ranting Quakers" who pretended to perform miracles. In some of the records he is styled "Singletary" and the same man has apparently been traced in a family of Singletarys in Haverhill Mass. No connection seems to have been established between him and any of the later Dunning families in New England.
HICKS DUNNING;---Sarah (dau. of Thomas Joy who came to Hingham, Mass, 1638) married 1648, Hicks Dunning, and to them was born, Mar. 31, 1672, a son Edmond, but no descendants have ever been recorded. Joy's will calls him Dunham or Denham.
ANDREW DUNNING;---Said to have been born in Devonshire, Eng.; m. Susan Bond in England; came to America from Devon, Eng., in 1717; with 5 sons, landing at a place now called Georgetown, ME, near the mouth of the Kennebeck River, blacksmith by trade; soldier in Capt. John Giles' Co., in the Indian War of 1723-24; subsequently moved to Brunswick, Me., and built a house at Maquoit; d. Jan 18, 1736, aged 72, and is buried in Brunswick Old Burying Ground; descendants served in the Rev. War; many descendants today, for records apply to M.B. Dunning, M.D., Bedford, Iowa.
SAMUEL DUNNING;---Born in England; came to America early in life and settled in Kent Co., Del., near the present site of Dover; his younger brother Thomas, and sisters Deborah and Martha came to this country with him, but died without issue. Samuel m. Tamar Wilson and died in Kent Co., Del., about 1734, aged 70. He is said to have had 7 children. Records of descendants of his son William, may be had from M. B. Dunning, M.D., Bedford, Iowa.
SOUTHERN DUNNINGS---In the summer of 1730, a Wm. Dunning was Speaker of the South Carolina Legislature. In 1780, "James Dunning of Charleston S.C., was an Addresser of Sir Henry Clinton." Clinton captured Charleston early in 1780, and it was for the most part loyal, and these "Addressers" were doubtless Loyalists, though Clinton paroled them. During the Revolution, among some Loyalists who were captured in North Carolina, was one, Ensign John Dunning (named also as Denning and Downing). The Colonial and State Records of north Carolina, Vol. XI, p.486, say that he was captured at Moore's Creek Feb. 27, 1776, with a great many others, nearly all Scotch Highlanders, who had been settled in N.C. after the defeat of the Young Pretender at Culloden, and were still coming to N.C. as late as 1775. In a report of a Committee of the N.C. Congress on the prisoners, it is set forth "that John Downing did actually take up arms and go to war as an Ensign to Capt. Seymour Yorke's Co.; that he is a freeholder in Guilford and Orange Counties and lives in Guilford Co." In 1816, a Judge Wm. Dunning (b. 1794 in Guilford, N.C.) moved from Guilford, N.C., to Tennesee, and from thence, in 1822 to Bloomington, Ind.., in company with three of his brothers, John, Thomas and Paris Chipman. Wm. Dunning was Judge of Buchanan Co. Ind., 1844-1862 and d. 1879; John Dunning settled in Iowa; Thomas Dunning settled in Illinois; Paris Chipman Dunning, who is mentioned by Gen. Lew Wallace as being a sutler in the Mexican War, was eleccted Lieut-Governor of Indiana with Gov. Whitcomb in 1846, and on Gov. Whitcomb's election to the U.S. Senate in 1848, filled out the term, 1848-49, as Governor of the State. Sufficient investigation has never been made to determine the exact connection of these different families. Some of those who were Loyalists in 1776, may have fought on the other side at the battle of Guilford Court House in 1781. Descendants of Judge Wm. Dunning maybe be had from M.B. Dunning, M.D., Bedford, Iowa.
ABIJAH DUNNING;---came to America as a young man; m. 1763 in Salem, Mass., to Elizabeth Gregory (b. June 4, 1742; d. May 2, 1820); moved 1773-74 to Springfield, Mass; thence in 1790 to St. Johns, Canada, with 4 sons and one daughter; thence in 1792 to Montreal; thence in 1801 to Cumberland, Ont, and later to Longueil, Treadwell's Seignory, a few miles south of L'Original Canada, where he d. Dec. 18, 1800, aged 75, monument in old Protestant Burying Ground at the Four Corners. Most of his descendants in Canada today. Records and a fine Memoir of Abijah and his sons may be had from M.B. Dunning, M.D., Bedford, Iowa.
THEOPHILUS DUNNING;---(sometimes named as Downing and called "the fisherman"), had land granted him in Salem, Mass, 1642; had a son Theophilus, bapt Mar 13, 1642; dau. Ann (or Hannah) bapt. Sept. 8, 1644; and a son Benjamin bapt. Jan 17, 1647, all in Salem, Mass. Nothing further is known of Thehopilus, but in the Town Reports of Boston Record Commissioners is found mention of a Benjamin Dunning, who we assume, later moved to Long Island, where a Benjamin Dunning is mentioned at Newton and Jamaica, L.I., in 1699, and again as late as 1708, when he is named as the father of Hannah Dunning who m. Isaac Hurd in Stratford, Conn, May 11, 1708.
OTHER DUNNINGS;---From Hanna, "The Wilderness Trail", Vol. II., 331, in a list of Indian Traders is given the following: "James Dunning (sometimes incorrectly written as Denning, Demming, Denny, Dinnen, etc.) a trader at Allegheny 1734-1754; licensed in 1744 (Denning); robbed by Peter Chartier and the Shawnees at Allegheny, April 18, 1745; an unlicensed trader in 1747 (Denny) and in 1748; one of Forbe's and Bouquest's guides in 1758"; also, "Robert Dunning (and Donegal), trader in 1730, residence in what is now Carlisle, Pa."
The above comprise about all the Dunnings in America of early mention, but that there were later immigrants of the name in the U.S., is well known, these being mostly of Irish origin. The main branches of the family in America today, however are the following:
MAINE DUNNINGS, from Andrew Dunning who came to Maine in 1717.
DELAWARE DUNNINGS, from Samuel Dunning who d. 1734 in Kent Co., Delaware.
SOUTHERN DUNNINGS, from the family originating at Guilford, N.C.
ABIJAH DUNNING famiy, mostly in Canada
FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONN., DUNNINGS, from Benjamin and John Dunning who first appeared at Stratford, Conn., about 1700.
ORANGE COUNTY, N.Y., DUNNINGS, from Michael Dunning who m. 1710 in Jamaica, L.I., and was one of the party which founded Goshen, Orange Co., N.Y. in 1719; supposed to be a brother of Benjamin and John.Modern descendants are fairly numerous from all the main branches but the best classified families of record are the Fairfield Co., Conn., Dunnings and the Orange Co., N.Y., Dunnings. These families are presumed to be descended from Theophilus Dunning, the English immigrant, granted land in Salem, Mass., 1642, and who probably lived and died there. Theophilus is therefore assumed to be the head of the family and is mentioned in these records as "Theop1".
As no further mention is found of Theophilus, Sr., or of his son, Theophilus, we feel justified in further assuming that the younger son, Benjamin, bapt. Jan. 17, 1647, in Salem, Mass., on reaching adult years located to Boston, Mass., and in support of this assumption we find in the Town Reports of the Boston Record Commissioners, the following mention: "Benjamin, son of Benjamin and Mary Dunning, born in Boston, Mar. 3, 1679. Benjamin was a taxpayer in Boston in 1681 and 1685; he was elected Sealer of Leather, Mar. 12, 1782, and a tything man in Capt. Turill's Company, Apr. 30, 1684." To connect the Benjamin Dunning of Boston with a Benjamin Dunning mentioned in records at Newtown and Jamaica, L.I. in 1699 and later, seems a rather long step, but the fact that two brothers, Benjamin and John Dunning, appeard at Stratford, Conn. (just across from Long Island) about 1700, and were baptized together (as adults) May 30, 1703, in Stratfield Church, (now 1st Church of Bridgeport, Ct.), lends a very decided probability to the assumption that the Benjamin Dunning of Boston moved to Long Isalnd where his family grew up. In 1708, Benjamin Dunning of Jamaica, L.I., is named as the father of Hannah Dunning who m. Isaac Hurd in Stratford, Conn.; and Benjamin and John Dunning who came to Stratford, Conn. about 1700, were very likely his sons, as was probably Michael Dunning who m. 1710 in Jamaica, L.I., and who was of the part which founded Goshen, Orange Co., N.Y, in 1719. We therefore place Benjamin Dunning bapt. Jan 17, 1647, in Salem, Mass., named in Boston records and later in records of Jamaica, L.I., as second in the line of descent, and refer to him as "Benj2".
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