MessageCan anyone help me out here? Subject: Re: Looking for John Dunbar b. Scotland He was in PA and served as a commissary to George Washington at Valley Forge. Afterwhich, he contracted typhus fever and was brought home to die. ca. 1778 and removed to Dauphin Co, PA. He had a widow and 3 children, George b. 5/1770 m. Elizabeth Elliott and Catherine Slusser, Susanna b. 1774 m. George Kraft and Robert b. 1771/73 who m. Magdelena Bretz dtr of Ludwig Bretz. The Dunbar migrated to Ohio in early 1800's. Mrs. John Dunbar died just prior to Apr.1829 and was buried by friends in Hummelstown, PA. PS My husband's McMurry side supposedly traces back to the Earl of Moray and Robert Bruce. No hard evidence of such but hey, it's interesting. To be able to add the Dunbar line would be fun. ----- Original Message ----- From: edisup1@attglobal.net To: Audreyschr@aol.com Cc: Mary Jo Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2003 11:41 AM Subject: Fw: Looking for John Dunbar b. Scotland Another dead end!! ----- Original Message ----- From: Keith at British Ancestors To: 'Mary Jo's Mail' Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2003 8:25 AM Subject: RE: Looking for John Dunbar b. Scotland Hello Mary, Our researcher has done some work on this for you but has not produced a positive result. I am not charging you for the work done. Here is the report: As mentioned in our initial response, there are various published genealogies of the Earldom of Dunbar. These cover the main line in the family and we have looked at these, but there is nothing to indicate a link with the Dunbar family in the US. There are mentions of various family members in, for example, Jamaica, so we would have expected a mention of a US connection if one existed. We have also looked at the Kirk Session records but there is nothing in them that lists the people of Dunbar at that time. Dunbar was a royal burgh and there are various burgh records, including lists of burgesses. A burgess was a burgh dweller who was engaged in a trade or business. However, there is a gap from 1735 to 1780 in these records and this would seem to cover the time when John Dunbar was born and so the time when his father may have been a burgess. There are also some taxation records, but these do not start until the 1780s. So, unfortunately, we have not been able to show a link with John Dunbar who left for the US. I am sory we have been unsuccessful on this occasion. Kind Regards, Keith -----Original Message----- From: Mary Jo's Mail [mailto:edisup1@attglobal.net] Sent: 31 July 2003 16:41 To: Keith at British Ancestors Subject: Re: Looking for John Dunbar b. Scotland Keith, Thank you so much for your reply. Yes, I'd like to be included in the newsletter mailing. My address is Mary Jo Barton, 6370 Fairhaven Pl, Reno, NV. Let me know where to mail my check for $57.00 According to our John Dunbar's son, George's bio he was of "distinguished descent" from Dunbar Castle. I will include this bio in this email. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks again! ----- Original Message ----- From: Keith at British Ancestors To: 'Mary Jo's Mail' Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 5:29 AM Subject: RE: Looking for John Dunbar b. Scotland Thank you for your e-mail. We have referred this to our Scottish researcher and received the following response: The main birth, marriage and death records for Scotland are very sparse as far back as the 1700s and it is extremely unlikely that there is any record of the marriage of John Dunbar or the births of his children (if they took place in Scotland). We would have to look at other sources. There are some manuscript genealogies of the Dunbar family that were associated with Dunbar Castle, and we can check these, but it may be the case that John was not in the direct line (assuming he was related at all!) and so it may be difficult to follow up on this. There may be something in the Kirk Session records and there are some tax records for the late 1700s which we could also check, but that would really just tell us how many John Dunbar's paid, for example, window tax in Dunbar. It would not list his family. So, there are a few things we could look at, but they are all very much longshots, and we really do not expect to be able to pinpoint the correct family. We can arrange for our Scottish researcher to visit New Register House, Edinburgh, to conduct an investigation as recommended above. This information would be forwarded to you by e-mail without certified extracts being obtained. The cost would be $57 USD ($79 Canadian, $88 Australian or £31.00) and is guaranteed not to exceed this amount. No payment is required until the work has been done. This work is offered on a Fee Payment basis. This means that the quoted fee will be payable whether or not we are successful in obtaining the information. Please let us know if you would like us to proceed. Please also let us have a note of your mailing address. We look forward to hearing from you. Regards, Keith Spillar We issue a monthly e-mail newsletter to genealogists worldwide. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, please let me know -----Original Message----- From: Mary Jo's Mail [mailto:edisup1@attglobal.net] Sent: 18 July 2003 04:41 To: research@britishancestors.com Subject: Looking for John Dunbar b. Scotland We don't know the date of his birth but according to his son, George's (b. May 1770) bio he was born in East Lothian, Haddingtonshire and was raised in the town of Dunbar. It also states that he was of the line of Dunbars from the Dunbar Castle. GEORGE DUNBAR E-mail this page to a friendTell me when this page is updated GEORGE DUNBAR, Sr. -- Among the distinguished and honored pioneers of Stark county stood the subject of this brief memoir, who was a man of high intellectuality and exalted character, who was prompt in public affairs, having held offices of distinctive trust and responsibility, and who was known as an able and representative business man of Canton during the long years of his residence here. He was summoned into eternal rest on the 31st of May, 1859, and in his death the community lost an honored and valued citizen. In this connection we may state that the family is of distinguished and patrician Scottish extraction, its original home having been Dunbar castle, whose ruins are still to be seen among the fair highlands of Scotland, the same having been the scene of many historic events. John Dunbar, the founder of the family in America, came hither in the early colonial epoch, having been born and reared in the town of Dunbar, Haddingtonshire, Scotland. Of the life history of George Dunbar we can not do better than to quote from an appreciative estimate appearing in one of the Canton newspapers at the time of his demise: "When those who have lived long among the pioneers of our state who aided in laying the foundations of society in our community, are removed from us by death, it is becoming that a proper tribute of respect be paid to their memories, and that by this means their names and their virtues may be perpetuated. The subject of this notice had passed far beyond the ordinary limit of human life, -- eighty-nine years! How few number so many! The deceased was born in Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, in the first day of May, 1770, and was thus six years, tow months and two days of age at the time when that immortal document, the Declaration of Independence, was signed. His father, John Dunbar, soon afterward removed to Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, in company with his family, comprising his wife, tow sons and one daughter, George being the eldest of the children. The father having been called to participate in the perilous events of the war of the Revolution, was engaged as a commissary, supplying the army of General Washington at Valley Forge with such provisions as he could secure, and while thus engaged he contracted what was then known as camp fever and was brought to his home where he soon afterward died, leaving his widow and children to struggle along through the trying days that followed, the hardships entailed being the greater by reason of the dangers and uncertainties attending the progress of the great struggle for national independence. Under such conditions and vicissitudes as these George Dunbar was reared to manhood. On the 21st of April, 1796, he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Elliott, and they became the parents of five sons and four daughters, all of whom survived him except one son and one daughter. The first six years after his marriage were passed in Hummelstown, Dauphin county, and at the expiration of this period, in 1802, he removed to Mifflinburg, Northumberland county (now Union county), where he resided until 1814, when he came to Columbiana county, Ohio, where he made his home until 1816, in which year he came to Stark county and located in the little pioneer village of Canton. On the 12th of August of that year he was called upon to mourn the death of his wife. In the autumn of 1821 he married Mrs. Catherine Slusser, who survived him and lived to an advanced age, her death having occurred about 1892. Mr. Dunbar ever manifested a deep interest in the growth and prosperity of Canton. Within the forty years of his residence here he witnessed the gradual and healthy growth of the place until, from a town of three or four hundred inhabitants, it had grown to a city of five thousand population, while since his death the advancement has been still more marked. By his kind and amiable disposition, his integrity, his sympathy with his neighbors in their trials and afflictions, and his fidelity to those stations of public trust which he had been called upon to fill, Mr. Dunbar won for himself the respect, the confidence and the affection of all those by whom he was known. Mr. Dunbar was a notary public and had been mayor of the city and justice of the peace. He and his sons conducted a chair factory and did a flourishing business, manufacturing chairs of all kinds, while their trade extended into all parts of the state. Upon the death of his son George he closed out the business and thereafter lived retired until his death. He was at one time a member of the Ohio legislature, and during his term of service rode to and from the capital city of Columbus on horseback, this being prior to the era of railroad building." Mr. Dunbar was a man of fine intellectual gifts and mature judgment and was well fitted for leadership in thought and action. His opinions were always well fortified and he never lacked the courage to defend them, though he was always tolerant and charitable in his judgment of others and his sympathy for those in affliction was instant and helpful. In politics he gave his allegiance to the Democratic party and was an active worker in its local ranks, while his religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church. No children were born of his second marriage, and of those of the first union we enter the following brief data: John, who was a talented portrait painter, died in Canton in 1877, and his grandchildren, Paul and Ella Rider, are now the only descendants of the family living in Canton; George died in 1851; William was a representative member of the bar of Mr. Vernon, Ohio; Allison was for a number of years sheriff of Stark county; Horace was a successful and prominent lawyer of the county; Mary became the wife of Eli Sowers; Elizabeth married Hiram Myers; Margaret was the wife of Doctor Sala; and Matilda died unmarried, all of the children being now deceased. Of the Rider family we may say that it was of stanch German extraction, the name having originally been Von Reuter, while the first representatives in Stark county were Paul and Sarah (Shorb) Rider, who came from Frederick county, Maryland, in 1823, and settled on a section of land in Plain township, where the Plain Center mills now stand, Mr. Rider died shortly after the erection of the mill. The children of their son Louis Dubarth Rider are now the only representatives of the family in Stark county, as are they also of the Dunbar family, as has been previously intimated. NOTE: Dunbar Castle's ruins aren't in the Highlands, they are just North of the Scottish/English border - And saw many a battle with the invaders from the South before Oliver Cromwell had it demolished after the 1650 Battle. DUNBAR RUINS BACK HOME We don't know who or where he married or how he got to America and then to PA. His wife died late 1828 or before Apr. 12 1829 and was buried in Hummelstown, PA. His children were George (above), Robert b. 1771/73, and Susanna Dunbar (m. George Kraft). Robert moved to Pickaway OH. Susanna and George lived in Middletown, PA. George lived in Canton, OH. I am attaching a bio of George Dunbar and an old letter written by him dated Apr 12 1829 to his brother Robert. We have been desperately searching since 1943. I and others have been searching from the early 1980's. We cannot seem to find him. Some stories say the Dunbars migrated with the Grays, and I believe that this line went to Canada. I don't believe ours did. As far as we can tell, we are not related to the Robert Dunbar 1690 of Hingham Mass. I would be forever grateful if you could help me in this search. Please let me know what the costs will/may be. I am 63 years old. My line is: John Dunbar b. ??? ca 1745-50 ? Robert b. 1771/73 Lewis b. 1803 in PA Marion b. 1840 in IN John W. Dunbar b. 1863 in IN (me) Mary Jo Dunbar b. 15/Nov/ 1939 and yes, my Dad was 76 or 77 when I was born. So, consequently he died and my young mother, Josephine died at age 45 in the same year. We were placed in an orphanage in 1949 and did not know of any Dunbar relatives. Please help!!