5/15/09

Edward T Dunn, Son of William E Dunn

Background

William Edward Dunn (WED) and his first wife had a daughter, Ella Dunn. After being widowed, he married Josephine Barbara Lauer and they had eight children.

Previously in this blog I've discussed what I've learned about their eldest son, Stephen, and their second son, John, known as Jack. Their next two children were daughters Julia and Rosa, who died as children, reportedly of scarlet fever. They were followed by Eugene, who is also discussed elsewhere in this blog. That brings us to their next son, Edward T Dunn. This page is about him.

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To start, here's his obituary:


Chicago Heights Star
2/9/1975


"A funeral mass for Edward t Dunn, 30 Mckinley, Steger, was celebrated yesterday in St. Liborius church. The Rev. John Doyle officiated. Burial was in St. James cemetery in Sauk Village.

Mr. Dunn. who died Thursday at St. James hospital, was born January 22nd, 1901 in Chicago, and spent most of his life in the south suburbs. He was formerly personnel manager of the Steger Furniture company.

He is survived by a sister, Mrs. Helen Wolf of Steger and a brother, Francis, of Chicago Heights."

From what is reported above, it appears that he was a lifelong bachelor, since neither a wife nor children are mentioned as survivors. The Steger Furniture company is discussed in detail on Stephen C Dunn's page of this blog.

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From the
1910 census:
Being born in 1901, the first census in which he would have appeared is this one. The widowed Josephine Lauer Dunn and the children now lived in Crete, Illinois. Ella would have been 25 by this time, had married, become Ella Dawson, and was no longer in the household. Rosa and Julia had died, and three more children had been born.

WED had died in 1908 and the household looked like this:
Josephine Dunn, 39
Stephen C Dunn, 17, [illegible word] keeper at Steger Piano factory
John H Dunn, 15, custom finisher, also at the piano factory
Eugene M Dunn, 11
Edward T Dunn, 9
Francis A Dunn, 6
Helen M Dunn, 2

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From the 1920 census:
The family was still living in Crete, and in the household with Josephine, 49, are:
John, 25, a foreman;
Edward, 19, machinist;
Francis,16, millwright;
Helen, 12, presumably still in school.

All three males work for the Steger Piano factory. From other records we know that Eugene married in 1917 and is no longer in the household.


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From Edward's Social Security Death Index

Name: Edward Dunn
SSN: 343-05-2802
Last Residence: Steger, Illinois, United States of America
Born: 22 Jan 1901
Died: Feb 1975

I couldn't find a WWI draft registration for him, which may be because he was too young to be eligible for the draft, for the war ended in 1918 when he'd have been just 17 years old. Nor could I find him in the 1930 census. This surprises me, for as you can see above, he was recorded for 1910 and 1920 and was still living in the same area.

It would be interesting to know more about him, especially about how he spent his later years.

Last updated 5/16/09

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