Dunns in 1860 Madison County, Illinois, and Interesting Historical Background

Some Historical Background:
My research has shown that our Irish immigrant ancestors, Michael and Bridget Grace Dunn, first went from Ireland to England, then emigrated to the U.S. via New York in May, 1858. They made their way west and initally settled in the Alton area in Madison County, Illinois. This link shows where Madison County is in relationship to the rest of the state. Here's a map of the county, where you can see where they were.

In trying to imagine what their lives would have been like, I found it helpful to read historical stories about the area where they lived and the world in general. Following are some sources I found:
■ Here's a link with many Alton/Madison County stories;
■ Here's a site with photos of historical Alton;
■ Here's one with facts about Madison County;
■ This link has a chronology of world events in 1858.

James Buchanan was president of the United States when they arrived in New York. The tensions over slavery, which ultimately led to the Civil War, were escalating greatly. Here's a map showing how the states lined up on the issue in 1860.

We know they were in Alton in 1860 because the census tells us so, but we have no way of knowing how long it took them to get from new York to Illinois. However, on the 15th of October, 1858, a huge historical event occurred in Alton. That event was the Lincoln-Douglas debate, the last of seven they held in their campaign for the U. S. Senate. One author introduced his essay about the debate as follows:

“It was the 15th day of October, 1858. Crowds were pouring into Alton. For some days people had been arriving by the steam-packets from up and down the river, the up-boats from St. Louis, bringing visitors with long, black hair, goatees, and stolid, Indian­like faces, slave-owners and slave-dealers, from the human marts of Missouri and Kentucky; the northern visitors arriving by boat or rail, Abolitionists and [anti-slavery] Republicans, with a cast of features distinctly different from the types coming from the south.

They came from villages, townships, the prairies, from all the adjoining counties, from across the Mississippi, from far-away cities, from representative societies north and south, from congressional committees in the east, from leading journals of all political parties, and from every religious denomination within hundreds of miles, filling the broad space in front of the Town Hall, eager to see and hear the now famous debaters--the popular Stephen A. Douglas, United States Senator, nicknamed the 'Little Giant' and plain Abraham Lincoln, nicknamed the 'Rail-Splitter.'

The great debate had begun on the 21st of August at another town, and to-day the long-discussed subject would be brought to a close. Douglas stood for the doctrine that slavery was nationalised by the Consti­tution, that Congress had no authority to prevent its introduction in the new Territories like Kansas and Nebraska, and that the people of each state should alone decide whether they should be slave States or free. Lincoln opposed the introduction of slavery into the new Territories…”

Later in the essay he said, "Alton had seen nothing so exciting since the assassination of Lovejoy, the fearless Abolotionist, many years before."

Of course, after reading that I had to know more about the Lovejoy assassination. Speaking about that event is a site that says, "It has been said that, '...the first armed skirmish of the Civil War..' occurred in Alton, Illinois." The site also describes how a once-closed prison in Alton was reopened to house Confederate prisoners during that war, so Alton played a significant role in U.S. history during the time when Michael and Bridget were getting settled in their adopted country.

Trivia: Douglas won the senatorial election, but it cost him the presidential nomination. In answer to Lincoln, he was forced to expound on his views that the territories need not have slavery despite the Dred Scott decision. This was an 1857 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that people of African descent imported into the United States and held as slaves, or their descendants - whether or not they were slaves - were not protected by the Constitution and could never be citizens of the United States. (This decision was overruled by the adoption of the 14th amendment to the Constitution in 1868.)

The result was that the extreme pro-slavery faction of the Democrat party labeled Douglas indifferent to slavery rather than an advocate of it and split the party in 1860. Lincoln, on the other hand, only gained from the debates. Before 1858, he was scarcely known outside Illinois. After 1858, he was asked to speak in several other states and in 1860 received the Republican nomination and was elected president.

Although railroads and steamships were then being used for long-distance travel, the primary mode of local transportation at the time was horses and buggies. In view of that fact, the gathering of more than 6,000 people to hear the debate must have been an amazing scene. Here's a link to the full essay about the debate, which I find fascinating because it provides a glimpse into the historical circumstances our ancestral family became a part of after they arrived here. I'd love to know if Michael and/or Bridget were present for the debate, and if so, how they felt about what they heard.

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Michael Dunns from Illinois in the Civil War:

I found myself wondering whether our Michael might have been a soldier in the Civil War and learned that many immigrants, including the Irish, enlisted in the Union army. In fact, there's been a book written about an Irish regiment that was formed in Chicago. I found a site where I could do a lookup for his name and found four Michael Dunns who were from Illinois. The information is listed in the following order:
Soldier's name
Side
Function
Regiment Name

Dunn, Michael
Union
Infantry
89th Regiment, Illinois Infantry
Organized at Chicago, Ill., and mustered in August 27, 1862.

Dunn, Michael
Union
Cavalry
8th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry
Organized at St. Charles, Ills. (sic), and mustered in September 18, 1861.

Dunn, Michael
Union
Infantry
59th Regiment, Illinois Infantry
Organized at St. Louis, Mo., as 9th Missouri Infantry, September 18, 1861.

Dunn, Michael
Union
Infantry
20th Regiment, Illinois Infantry
Organized at Joliet, Ill., and mustered in June 13, 1861.

There's insufficient information on that site to further identify our Michael, and I've not seen any information anywhere else to link him to military service. Therefore I don't know if we'll ever learn whether one of those listed above is him.

♦♦♦

4605 Dunns served In the Civil War:
1627 were Confederate soldiers.
2978 were Union soldiers.

Source: Compiled by Ancestry.com from the Civil War Service Records

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Dunns in 1860 Madison County
Immigrants tended to cluster in groups of fellow countrymen, usually in areas where friends and other family members had settled. My research has shown that not only Irish families, but sometimes whole parishes and even villages were transplanted and reunited in their adopted country by utilizing a practice dubbed "chain migration". The significance of that is that the people listed below may very well have been part of this phenomenon.

"Chain migration can be defined as a “movement in which prospective migrants learn of opportunities, are provided with transportation, and have initial accommodation and employment arranged by means of primary social relationships with previous migrants.” (Source)

"Henry Mayhew explained how chain migration worked: 'As soon as the first settler is thriving in his newly chosen country, a certain portion of his or her earnings are carefully hoarded up, until they are sufficient to pay for the removal of another member of the family...; then one of the friends left "at home" is sent for; and thus by degrees the entire family is got over, and once more united'." (Source)

♦♦♦

Below is a list of the Dunns recorded in the 1860 census in Madison County, the first census after Michael and Bridget arrived here. I've put the known members of our ancestral family in red to make it easier to identify those we are sure are related to us.

In the census, but not showing on this page, are three males by the last name of Furlong, ages 15, 18 and 21, who are also members of Michael and Bridget's household. Their connection to Michael and Bridget is unclear, but they are recorded as being born in Illinois, so they apparently weren't relatives or friends from Ireland. They may have been boarders or hired hands.

It's interesting to see how many Dunns on the list were Irish immigrants, for, knowing about chain migration, it suggests that they and their families might be related to Michael and Bridget - and therefore to those of us in our Dunn line. It would be interesting to know is that's the case.

It's also interesting to note that occupations of adult males is recorded in the census, but not that of women. Apparently women were assumed not to be employed outside the home, so no occupational listing was required for them in 1860.

The information is presented in the following order:
Name, occupation
Home in 1860
Age in 1860
Birth Year
Birthplace
Gender

View Record
John Dunn, day laborer
Alton, Madison, IL
51
abt 1809
Ireland
Male

View Record
Ann Dunn
Alton, Madison, IL
50
abt 1810
Ireland
Female

View Record
Catharine Dunn
Township 4 Range 7, Madison, IL
46
abt 1814
Ireland
Female

View Record
Michael Dunn, farmer
Township 4 Range 7, Madison, IL
30
abt 1830
Ireland
Male

View Record
Wm A Dunn, railroad engineer
Alton, Madison, IL
30
abt 1830
Ireland
Male

View Record
Bridget Dunn
Township 6 Range 9, Madison, IL
Post office: Upper Alton
29
abt 1831
Ireland
Female

View Record
Charles Dunn, day laborer
Alton, Madison, IL
29
abt 1831
Ireland
Male

View Record
Michal Dunn, farmer
(First name incorrectly spelled)
Township 6 Range 9, Madison, IL
Post office: Upper Alton
29
abt 1831
Ireland
Male

View Record
Michal Dunn, day laborer
Township 5 Range 8, Madison, IL
29
abt 1831
Prussia
Male

View Record
James Dunn, farm hand
Township 3 Range 9, Madison, IL
25
abt 1835
Missouri
Male

View Record
Agnes Dunn
Alton, Madison, IL
24
abt 1836
Canada
Female

View Record
Catharina Dunn
Township 4 Range 7, Madison, IL
24
abt 1836
Ireland
Female

View Record
Joseph Dunn, day laborer
Alton, Madison, IL
24
abt 1836
Ireland
Male

View Record
Patrick Dunn, carpenter
Alton, Madison, IL
23
abt 1837
Ireland
Male

View Record
James Dunn, farm laborer
Township 6 Range 10, Madison, IL
21
abt 1839
Illinois
Male

View Record
Mary Dunn
Township 4 Range 7, Madison, IL
10
abt 1850
Illinois
Female

View Record
Catharina Dunn
Township 4 Range 7, Madison, IL
8
abt 1852
Illinois
Female

View Record
Robbert Dunn
Township 5 Range 9, Madison, IL
7
abt 1853
Illinois
Male

View Record
Peter Dunn
Township 6 Range 9, Madison, IL
6
abt 1854
England
Male

View Record
Bridget Dunn
Township 4 Range 7, Madison, IL
5
abt 1855
Illinois
Female

View Record
Margaret Dunn
Township 5 Range 9, Madison, IL
5
abt 1855
Illinois
Female

View Record
Mary Dunn
Alton, Madison, IL
4
abt 1856
Indiana
Female

View Record
Wm Dunn
Township 5 Range 9, Madison, IL
4
abt 1856
Illinois
Male

View Record
Margaret Dunn
Township 4 Range 7, Madison, IL
3
abt 1857
Illinois
Female

View Record
Charles Dunn
Township 5 Range 9, Madison, IL
3
abt 1857
Illinois
Male

View Record
Wm E Dunn
Alton, Madison, IL
3
abt 1857
Indiana
Male

View Record
John Dunn
Township 4 Range 7, Madison, IL
2
abt 1858
Illinois
Male

View Record
Wm Dunn
Township 6 Range 9, Madison, IL
2
abt 1858
England
(This is incorrect, he was born in Illinois)
Male

View Record
Susan Dunn
Alton, Madison, IL
6.12 (6 months old)
abt 1859
Illinois
Female

Last updated 5/16/2010