Stephen C Dunn, Son of William Edward Dunn

Stephen C Dunn: From Factory Worker to Company Owner

William Edward Dunn (WED) and his first wife had a daughter, Ella. After being widowed, he married Josephine Barbara Lauer and they had eight more children. Their eldest son was Stephen C Dunn, and this page is about him; it's a success story from this generation.

First, Stephen's Obituary

Chicago Heights Star
8/16/1938

"Death Claims Stephen Dunn; Funeral Today

Funeral services will be held today for Stephen Dunn, well known Steger businessman, who died at his home, 3418 Halsted street, Steger, Saturday afternoon following a lengthy illness. He was 48 years old.

Mr. Dunn had been taken to his home about a month ago from St. James hospital, where he had been for two months. Previous to that he underwent treatment at a Chicago hospital. Many friends and business associates in Chicago Heights and Steger were grieved to learn of his death.

A former superintendent of the Steger Piano company during its operation, Mr. Dunn for the past six years was a partner with Vincent Trabucco in the Steger Furniture factory. Mr. Dunn was born in St. Genevieve, Mo., and had lived in Steger for the past twenty-five years.

Survivors are the wife, Mrs. Louise [Seiter] Dunn, and four children, Leonard, Jennie, Aurelia and Stephen, all of Steger.

Friends will pay final respects at funeral services at ten o’clock this mornlng in St. Liborius church, Steger. The Rev. M. P. Weidner, pastor, will officiate. Interment will be made in St. James cemetery, Strassburg."

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From the 1900 census:
The family lived in Chicago, Illinois. The household was made up as follows:
William Dunn, 38, R.R. track foreman
Josephine Dunn, 29
Ella Dunn, 15, nurse girl
Stephen Dunn, 7
John Dunn, 5
Rosa Dunn, 4
Julia Dunn, 3
Eugene Dunn, 1

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From the 1910 census:
The family 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 of scarlet fever, and three more sons had been born. WED had died in 1908 and the household looked like this:
Josephine Dunn, 39
Stephen C Dunn, 17, occupation appears to be "stock keeper", but could be book keeper; worked at the piano factory.
John H Dunn, 15, custom finisher, worked 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 Stephen's WWI Draft Registration:
Date: June 5, 1917
Name: Stephen C Dunn
Age: 26
Address: Steger, Illinois
Date of birth: 16 December, 1892
Occupation: (illegible)
Employer: Steger & Sons [piano factory]
Exempt from the draft: Yes, had wife and child

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From the 1920 census:
By this time Stephen had married and his young family now lived in Crete. Here's his household at that time:
Stephen Dunn, 27, foreman, piano factory
Louise Dunn, 33
Leonard Dunn, 3

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From the 1930 census:
His family had now moved to Steger and the household looked like this:
Stephen Dunn, 38, superintendent, radio factory
Louise Dunn, 42
Leonard Dunn, 13
Genevieve Dunn, 7
Aurelia Dunn, 6
Stephen Dunn, 3

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About the Steger & Sons Piano Manufacturing Company
Several members of Stephen's generation of our family worked for the Steger Piano Company, and an Internet search turned up some interesting information about it. The company was formed in the days before radios became household items, an era when pianos were a primary source of household entertainment. This excerpt of an article about the company touches on that issue:

"[John] Steger worked at a series of different jobs and lived in various households where he noticed that the most prominent piece of household furniture was a piano. In the booming post-Civil War United States, the piano was not merely a musical instrument but a status symbol, sole purveyor of entertainment to thousands of homes. Built by a master craftsman and his apprentices, the ornate piece of decorative furniture was expensive. Thus, although in great demand, only the wealthy could afford them. Steger's dream was to make the piano affordable for everyone through mass production."

Mr. Steger - who emigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1871- was highly successful in this piano manufacturing endeavor, and became a multi-millionaire. When he died his estate was valued at $3 milliion dollars. In 1916! Adjusted for inflation, that's the equivalent of more than $59 million in 2008 dollars. In building his success he recruited German craftsmen, developed assembly-line manufacturing of pianos and designed special railcars for shipping them. By 1920, the village of Steger was the "piano capital of the world," producing more than 100 pianos a day.

Another article says this about the company:

"Steger died in 1916 at the height of his prominence and popularity and at the pinnacle of his company's prosperity. He was spared from experiencing consumer whim-switching from the piano to the newfangled contraption, the radio. No longer the most sought after household item, demand for the mass-produced piano dwindled away. Sales plummeted, and ten years later, Steger's grand dream suffered the marketplace's deathblow. Steger and Sons Piano Manufacturing Company declared bankruptcy in 1926."

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About the Steger Furniture Manufacturing Company
As the popularity of radios effectively killed the mass market for pianos, radios began to dominate the home entertainmet market. The resulting demand for radio cabinets led to the formation of what became known as the Steger Furniture Company. Here's an excerpt from an article about that:

"After Steger's death in 1916, the factories continued until closing in 1926. Having depended on one major manufacturer, the village was particularly vulnerable during the Great Depression. However, the remarkable collection of buildings continued to be a key employment center. In 1930 a macaroni factory started in one of the old buildings, and several years later local craftsmen joined together to manufacture radio cabinets in another. At its height of activity, their Steger Furniture Company employed close to 700."

After seeing that article I ran across a website containing a lot of Steger history and photos, and there I found this article:

"Old Steger Piano Factory Home to Steger Furniture and Others

By Emil Zeman

In 1932 a business that was later to be known as Steger Furniture Company had its modest beginning in the old Steger Cafeteria building located on the southwest corner of 33rd place and Chicago Road. With just a handful of workers this business began to produce wooden cabinets for table model radios.

In late 1933 a group of four men, Vince Trabucco, James Sperti, Steve Dunn and Frank Schaefer (the first three individuals were Steger residents) acquired the Steger Piano Company property that had been vacant for several years. These four men founded Steger Furniture Company and developed it into a prosperous enterprise.

In 1934 the cabinet shop was moved from the cafeteria site to the new location. The new site was the three-story structure on East 34th St. located just west of the old C & E I railrosd tracks that had been a part of the Steger Piano factory.

In 1935 this same company started production of console-type radio cabinets began (sic) in another part of this huge complex. Later, cabinets for Hi-Fi units, record players and TVs were part of the production line. In peak years as many as 700 workers were employed by Steger Furniture, producing well over 100,000 large cabinets plus many thousands of small cabinets in the 34th Street plant."

The dates in the above article coincide with Stephen's 1938 obituary, for it says he and his partner had owned the business for six years. So, it was 1932 when Stephen and his partners started the Steger Furniture Company. This would have been during the height of the Great Depression, which began in 1929.

It would have been a huge challenge to start a business during that period. However, their ability to grow their new business to the point of employing hundreds of workers suggests that they saw the business of making wooden cabinets as the wave of the future as the country moved into the age of electronics. Why would they have made radios with wooden cabinets? According to the research I've done, plastic didn't come into its own until after World War II.

The result of their vision - and timing - was a high level of success. We have a snapshot - made into a postcard - of Stephen and his wife Louise, along with his brother John and his wife Ruth - both successful businessmen - who, in the midst of the Great Depression were prosperous enough to afford an Alaskan cruise on a pleasure ship. The ship was the S.S. Dellwood and on John's page of this blog you will find some interesting things we've learned about that ship.

As to the company itself, in 1945 Steger Furniture Company was acquired by the publicly-held Sparton Corporation to manufacture cabinets for the radio and radio-phonographs that had become the mainstay of the Sparton product line.

Last updated 5/18/09

Leo Peter Dunn, Grandson of Michael Dunn

Some editorial comments about Leo Peter Dunn's life are included at the bottom of this page. To get started, however, I will simply recount the data I've learned about him.Descendancy Chart: Pierce Dunn to Leo P Dunn
Pierce Dunn:He was farmer in Ireland. The evidence we have suggests he emigrated to England in the mid 1800s as a result of the potato blight and resulting famine in Ireland, probably with his son Michael.

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Michael Dunn and Bridget Grace Dunn:
He went from being a laborer in Ireland to becoming a farmer in Illinois. They emigrated from Ireland to England, and then to the U.S. in 1858. They settled in Illinois.

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Peter L Dunn and Ellen Morris Dunn:
He was Michael and Bridget's eldest son, and was born in England. It seems likely he became a farmer, and he moved from Illinois to Washington state to Kansas during his lifetime.

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Leo Peter Dunn and Ruth Irene (unknown maiden name):
He is first recorded as being a farm hand. Later records show him as an auto repairman and then an auto salesman. He moved from Washington to Kansas to California during his lifetime.

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Here are the facts we have about him from various sources.

From the 1900 federal census:

The family was living in Garfield, Washington. Leo was age 5, Peter was 42 (recorded as born in England) and Ellen was age 45 (born in Illinois). Leo’s year of birth is shown as 1894, which differs from other records showing it as 1893.

This census shows Peter’s father [Michael] as being born in Scotland and his mother [Bridget] being born in Ireland. However, other records show both parents being born in Ireland. Ellen’s parents are both shown as being born in Ireland.

Peter’s occupation is not shown in this census, but the neighbors are all farmers, which suggests that he was as well. It records Peter as having emigrated in 1859, but his parents emigrated in 1858, and we believe he was with them at that time. Ellen is recorded as being the mother of eight children, with only four still living.

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From Leo’s 1917-18 WWI Draft Registration:■ Name: Leo P Dunn, age 23;
■ Address: RR 1, Culver, Kansas;
■ Date of birth: October 24th, 1983;
■ Born in Garfield, Washington;
■ Occupation: Farm hand;
■ Employer: Walter Selleck, RR 1, Culver, Kansas;
■ He claimed an exemption from the draft because he had a wife;
■ Previous military service: 2 years as a private in the Coast Artillery, Massachusetts.
(See the footnote at the bottom of this page for information about the Coast Artillery)

♦♦♦From the 1920 federal census:

The family was living in Richland, Labette County, Kansas.
■ Leo's mother, Ellen, age 64, was the head of the household;
■ Leo was listed as Peter L Dunn, age 26, son. (It appears
this is a reversal of his first and middle names in this record);
■ His occupation was shown as auto repairman at a garage;
■ Ruth, Leo’s wife, age 22, was listed as daughter-in-law;
■ Peter F was listed as grandson.

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From the 1925 Kansas census:
The family was living in Parsons, Labette County, Kansas.
■ Leo P, age 31, was the head of the household;
■ His occupation was listed as auto salesman;
■ Ruth I, wife, was age 27;
■ Children listed were Peter F, age 7, and Frank L, age 3.

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From the California Death Index:
■ It shows Leo’s mother’s maiden name as Lyons, which is inconsistent with other information showing her maiden name as Morris;
■ It shows his Social Security number as 530-03-5058;
■ His date of birth: 23 Oct, 1893;
■ His date of death was 4 Dec, 1942, in Los Angeles.

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From his granddaughter, Carla Myers Busby:
Leo Peter had two sons.

■ Peter Frederick – born Dec. 10,1917
He had four children. Evelyn, Donald, Ruth Irene, Ronald Eugene.

■ Franklin Leonard Dunn (Myers) – born April 25,1922
He had three children. Larry Franklin, Leonard Blaine, and Carla Gail.

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As noted previously in this blog, I was able to connect with this branch of our family after posting an inquiry on a genealogy message board - which led to my becoming acquainted with a very helpful gal by the name of Kate. I was looking for information about Michael and Bridget Grace Dunn, and Kate knew of someone else who was also looking for them.

That person was Carla, and Kate linked us up. It turned out that Carla is my generation's long-lost second cousin, and she has been working on her family history for many years. She provided most of the information we have on this branch of the family tree.

Early in my dialogue with her I related to Carla the story of my search for my generation’s grandfather, Eugene Michael Dunn. I also told her that he seemed to have disappeared after abandoning his wife, Hazel Nolan Dunn, and two small children, William Edward (Bill) and Rita Jane Dunn, sometime after Rita was born in 1928.

In response, I received the following from her:

"Hey Pat!

We must be related! My grandfather, Leo Peter Dunn, also abandoned his wife and 2 small sons in 1924. My father had no use for the man, and Dad always said, 'I wouldn't recognize him if I saw him and I sure wouldn't walk across the street to shake his hand.'

My grandmother, Ruth Irene Dunn, remarried and my father took his stepfather's last name. I never met the Dunn side of the family, I heard bits and pieces growing up and I should mention that what information I did hear was not flattering.

During a visit with a Great-Aunt, she showed me a picture of my grandfather, a wedding certificate and an excerpt from my grandmother's diary. That started my search, from just those few items.

I was told my grandfather died in a car wreck in Colorado during WWII. I spent at least 10 years looking for that man!

Surfing the Web one evening, I came across his name in the California Death Index. Thru an 'Act of Genealogical Kindness' I received a copy of his Death Certificate. He died of TB in Los Angeles, in 1942.

He claimed no family, and no family claimed him. Instead of a simple burial, his body was used for medical research. Over the past 5 years, information about him has trickled in. I've discovered he was a 'Con Man.' He married one woman, told her he had never been married, never had children and his parents were dead. Then he stole her car, sold it and disappeared. The general family consensus is - being used for medical research, he may possibly have contributed something positive - finally...."
So there you have it. Both Leo Peter and Eugene Michael Dunn - grandsons of Michael and Bridget Grace Dunn - abandoned their wives and small children in the 1920s. We'll bever know why, but it seems very strange to me.
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Footnote about the Massachusetts Coast Artillery:
Never having heard of the Coast Artillery, I did a bit of research and found the info below. Bottom line: The Massachusetts Coast Artillery was a volunteer militia dating back to 1784, and was a precursor to what we now know as the National Guard.
From a book titled, "The Old First Massachusetts Coast Artillery in War and Peace" comes this excerpt:

"...Who was then sufficiently far-sighted to foresee that on June 30, 1916, the same company would take the Federal oath as the '1st Company, Coast Artillery Corps, National Guard of Massachusetts' ? A company in those days was commanded by a captain with the rank of Major; and this office was promptly conferred upon John Jones Spooner. Jonathan Warner became the 'Captain-lieutenant,' and Joseph Pierpont and John Swift were elected the other two lieutenants, as at that time authorized. Warrants were issued to four sergeants; four musicians were appointed, twenty-four men were detailed as cannoneers, eight as pioneers, three as drivers and when two brass four-pounder cannon had been issued to them, the Roxbury Artillery were ready for any kind of a fight or frolic. It was not to be until Aug. 30, 1849, that Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn would suggest the famous motto now borne by the Company, 'In time of peace prepare for war.' No one can question however but that the sentiment of the motto has always controlled 1st Company activities."
The portion of the book I read says the Coast Artillery became largely ceremonial at some point - called upon for parades and such - but was reactivated as a military force in 1916, as cited above. The timing was undoubtedly a result of the fact that what became known as World War I was underway in Europe. In 1916 the U.S. was not yet involved in the war, but the looming possibility of U.S. involvement - which occurred in 1917 - must have triggered the reactivation.The book from which the above excerpt comes can be read online by clicking here. To turn the pages forward or back, click on the right or left page of the book as it appears on the monitor. Clicking on the "+" sign at the top of the page enlarges the print and allows for scrolling the pages.
Last updated 5/13/09

Franklin L [Dunn] Myers, Great Grandson of Michael Dunn

Frank Myers Was the Recipient of a Purple Heart
For Being Wounded During Combat in World War II

Background

Franklin Leonard Myers is the great grandson of Michael and Bridget Grace Dunn. According to a “Cousin Calculator” I found online, that makes him my generation’s 2nd Cousin 1 x removed. “1 x removed” refers to the fact that an extra generation separates my generation from our GG grandfather Michael Dunn as compared to Frank.

Frank is cousin Carla Myers Busby’s father, and in writing about him Carla told me, “…he lives in Wichita, Kansas. He is a retired plumber, having operated his own business for several years.”

As noted previously in this blog, I was able to connect with this branch of our family after posting an inquiry on a genealogy message board - which led to my becoming acquainted with a very helpful gal by the name of Kate. I was looking for information about Michael and Bridget Grace Dunn, and Kate knew of someone else who was also looking for them. That person was Carla, and Kate linked us up.

It turned out that Carla is my generation's long-lost second cousin, also 1 x removed, and she has been working on her family history for many years. She provided most of the information on this page.

Peter L Dunn and Leo Peter Dunn

Peter L Dunn was the eldest son of Michael and Bridget Dunn and was Carla’s great grandfather. Early in my dialogue with her I related to Carla the story of my search for my generation’s grandfather, Eugene Michael Dunn. I also told her that he seemed to have disappeared after abandoning his wife, Hazel Nolan Dunn, and two small children, William Edward (Bill) and Rita Jane Dunn, sometime after Rita was born in 1928. In response, I received the following from her:

"Hey Pat!

We must be related!

My grandfather, Leo Peter Dunn, also abandoned his wife and 2 small sons in 1924. My father had no use for the man, and Dad always said, 'I wouldn't recognize him if I saw him and I sure wouldn't walk across the street to shake his hand.'

My grandmother, Ruth Irene Dunn, remarried and my father took his stepfather's last name. I never met the Dunn side of the family, I heard bits and pieces growing up and I should mention that what information I did hear was not flattering.

During a visit with a Great-Aunt, she showed me a picture of my grandfather, a wedding certificate and an excerpt from my grandmother's diary. That started my search, from just those few items.

I was told my grandfather died in a car wreck in Colorado during WWII. I spent at least 10 years looking for that man! Surfing the Web one evening, I came across his name in the California Death Index. Thru an 'Act of Genealogical Kindness' I received a copy of his Death Certificate. He died of TB in Los Angeles, in 1942.

He claimed no family, and no family claimed him. Instead of a simple burial, his body was used for medical research.

Over the past 5 years, information about him has trickled in. I've discovered he was a 'Con Man.' He married one woman, told her he had never been married, never had children and his parents were dead. Then he stole her car, sold it and disappeared. The general family consensus is - being used for medical research, he may possibly have contributed something positive - finally...."

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The story above about Leo Dunn is included on this page because it explains something that would otherwise be confusing in understanding Frank Myers’ story. Although Carla’s father Frank was born a Dunn, his name became Myers - and her maiden name was Myers, although she’s also a Dunn via her biological ancestry.

The relevance of all this will become apparent when you read the essay below about Frank Myers and his experiences during World War II, which Carla sent in response to my request for info about family members who have served in the military.

She proudly sent photos and the essay, and in sending them she said, “My father, Franklin L. (Dunn) Myers, served during WWII. He was in the Army, serving under General George Patton. Franklin L. (Dunn) Myers is the grandson of Peter L. Dunn, [and is] the great grandson of Michael and Bridget Grace Dunn.”

She also said, “A few years ago my son, Brian, did a special report on his Grandfather's military service. I am including it with a few pictures of my father during that time. In earlier conversations with you, you expressed a great interest in family lore. Please indulge a proud daughter and mother with her collection of memories!”

I asked Carla for permission to share the story about her father’s name change from Dunn to Myers, and she said, “Yes, you have my permission to [tell] the Dunn/Myers family information. It has been confusing to say the least, hopefully this will help explain our situation.”

She added, “I recently spoke with my father, Frank, and explained that I have been in contact with the Dunn Family. He is very interested and somewhat amazed by it all. He recently turned 86 and is in very frail health. I have been keeping him abreast of our progress on the research and he made the comment, ‘After 84 years, sounds like they might be pretty nice after all.’ I have to totally agree!”

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About the Essay

Included below is what may be the most profoundly valuable story I’ve encountered so far in the process of assembling our Family History.

It’s the essay written by Frank Myers' grandson, Brian, as a school assignment. It's about a member of our family who was awarded a Purple Heart after being wounded in combat during World War II. He was also one of the soldiers involved in the liberation of prisoners in Nazi Germany, including those in the infamous Buchenwald concentration camp.

Thank you, Carla, for your willingness to share this story; I am incredibly grateful to learn about your dad - and the contributions he made to our freedom from Hitler's tyranny. Without his efforts - and those of the many others who served - who knows how many more millions of people would have been exterminated by the Nazis? It boggles my mind to contemplate what might have occurred if the U.S. had not won that horrible war.

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Serving In Patton's Third Army
My Grandfather’s Memories
By Brian Busby

For the past several weeks, our American History class has been studying World War II. We have read our textbooks [and] watched “Schindler’s List”, but the most interesting has been the personal accounts by several Veterans who visited our class.

I chose to do my writing project on my grandfather’s personal experiences during this time. My grandfather can tell a story about every person he has met, he’s a very talkative guy, but when it comes to WWII, he doesn’t say much about his experiences, more often than not, when asked about them, he will reply “I’ve tried to forget all that.”

After the events of September 11, [2001] there was a slight chance that I could be drafted. I realized that I was near the same age as my grandfather when he was drafted in 1941. Approximately 60 years later, I could face what he had endured. Just knowing what little I did, I wanted to know more, I wanted him to share with me. My parents over the years had pieced together information about Grandpa’s military service. With their notes, stories, online research and a very long phone conversation with my grandfather, I learned more than I could ever imagine.

Franklin Myers was 19 when WWII broke out. A Kansas farm boy, with a young son, he was drafted and started Army Basic Training in 1941. He was stationed at several Army bases: Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where one of his duties was butchering sheep; Camp Blanding, Florida; Camp Robinson, Arkansas; Fort Rooker, Alabama; Fort Belvore, Virginia, where he attended school; Fort Benning, Georgia, where he attended a Specialist School in Mechanics.

At Fort Benning, he was assigned to Patton’s 2nd Armored Division. After undergoing training in Tanks and other armored vehicles, he was sent to Camp Shanks, New York. He shipped out from there on a troop transport, late 1942, headed for North Africa.

His voyage across the Atlantic was not very pleasant. His ship carried 300 to 400 men, all of whom were seasick most of the trip. They were heading to North Africa to join Patton’s 3rd Army Western Task Force. Off the coast of Spain/ Portugal, in the Strait of Gibraltar, the troop transport was torpedoed and destroyed. Out of the 300 to 400 men, only 80 survived. The survivors of the transport were picked up by a destroyer and taken to North Africa where they joined Patton’s troops.

Patton swept North Africa while the British Commander Montgomery swept Egypt and forced the Germans to retreat. Grandpa relates a story about being in his foxhole late at night. The French Moroccan soldiers were known for quietly sneaking into the American’s foxholes. They were American allies, so they posed no threat. They dressed all in black and they were never seen or heard until suddenly their knife was at your throat. The Moroccan soldier would whisper “Joe?” After quickly assuring them that they were GIs, the Moroccan soldier would cut themselves, drawing blood then sheath their knife, then ask for a cigarette. They would cup their hands around the burning end of the cigarette so the glow wouldn’t give away their position.

After serving 45 days in North Africa, Grandpa’s outfit headed for Sicily. He left from either Tunisia or Algiers. The Invasion of Sicily was in June 1943. Patton’s 3rd Army pushed the Germans out of Sicily. The battle lasted over 13 days.

Patton’s troops were then sent to England. For 18 months, they trained for D-Day. Grandpa was a PFC, Private First Class, with the credentials of Mechanic/ Truck Driver and Demolitionist. He spent a lot of time roaming the English countryside at this time, where he actually met General Patton during one of his little escapades.

Grandpa and a fellow soldier had “commandeered” a “Cherry picker” and had parked it underneath a Cherry tree, breaking off branches and eating the ripe cherries. Several military vehicles proceed to their location and suddenly stop. Stepping out of one of the vehicles is General Patton. He walked over to Grandpa, looked at the Cherry Picker, looked at the soldier breaking off branches and said, “Well boys, looks like you found a good use for that Cherry Picker, that’s probably the only thing that damn thing is good for!” Then, to Grandpa’s relief and great surprise, Patton said, “While you’re up there, break me off some of those damn cherries!”

On June 6, 1944, the D-Day Invasion began. Patton’s troops landed at Ingram Beach. Grandpa will not talk about D-Day. He tells of seeing things that he’d rather not talk about. After watching the movie, “Saving Private Ryan,” I think I understand his reasons not to relive his memories.

In the fall of 1944, Grandpa went to France. There he was involved with the Breakthrough at Saint-Lo. Grandpa’s tank was blown up during this time. There is a picture, published in the Stars and Stripes military newspaper, of his burning tank sitting on a hillside at sunset at Saint-Lo. Shortly thereafter, Grandpa was in a jeep that was hit by a mortar round. As he was jumping to safety, he was hit by shrapnel and wounded. [For this] He received the Purple Heart.

After recovering from his wounds, he next was involved in the Battle of the Bulge, driving the Germans out of France. He was in Belgium, Luxembourg and in March 1945, they crossed the Rhine into Germany. At this time, his outfit started coming across Concentration Camps. Patton’s 3rd Army liberated two smaller camps, then in April of 1945, they liberated Buchenwald. [Some photos of Buchenwald can be seen here.]

Grandpa speaks of the prisoners grabbing, hugging, crying and thanking him. He spoke of the horrendous physical condition of the prisoners and of the terrible smell of the camp.

Buchenwald Concentration Camp was built between 1935 and 1937. It was one of the first camps and was a model for all the others. There were “state-of-art torture” and “scientific studies” facilities, as well as the gas chambers and crematoriums. Estimates claim possibly 100,000 prisoners died there. When Patton’s troops liberated Buchenwald, they found pile of ashes, bodies stacked like cord wood, flatbed wagons full of bodies, waiting to be incinerated, and the ovens still burning bodies.

Grandpa was then stationed at Victor Red Camp outside of Berlin. He was there when V.E. Day* was declared in May 1945. He was then sent to Marseilles, France, where he boarded a ship to come home.

Grandpa was discharged in 1946. He served 5 years, most of it in combat. He speaks of serving under General George Patton, one of the most celebrated Generals in American History. Grandpa still respects Patton and was proud to be associated with him.

I’m very proud of my Grandfather. I now realize that at a very young age, in serving his country, he faced and survived quite a lot.

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■ *V.E. Day = Victory in Europe Day, which marked the surrender of Germany and the end of the war in Europe. However, the war continued in the Pacific theatre until August of 1945.

■ For more on General Patton, click this link.

■ For an understanding of the significance of the Purple Heart, see this site: Purple Heart

■ Here's some info about finances in the era when Frank Myers was discharged from the Army. In 1946 a gallon of milk cost 70¢, a loaf of bread cost 10¢, a new car sold for $1,400, a gallon of gas cost 16¢, and a new house sold for $12,638. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was about 177 and the average wage earner in 1946 earned $2,390 per year.

Last updated 5/11/09

John Henry Dunn, Son of William Edward Dunn...

And Uncle of William Edward (Bill) Dunn

John Henry Dunn was born in June, 1894, and was known as Jack. His wife’s name was Ruth and they had one child, an adopted daughter, Phyllis Ann. From the perspective of those who emigrated to the U.S. he epitomized the American dream. Consider:

■ His grandparents: Michael and Bridget Grace Dunn were illiterate immigrant Irish-Catholics who arrived here in 1858 during a period of much anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic prejudice. When they married in 1853 he was a "labourer" and she was a lowly washerwoman.

■ His father: In the pioneering railroad industry in the years following the Civil War, Michael and Bridget's son, John’s father William, rose from being a railroad hand - basically a laborer - to become a highly respected officer of the Illinois Southern Railrway Company. He also held other high-level roles in the railroad industry;

■ John subsequently became the president of a far-flung, publicly-held lumber company employing thousands of people - and was a major leader in his community.

It’s a genuine rags-to-riches American success story, one that fascinates me.

John’s obituary provides most of what we know about him. In it, connections to the following names may need clarification: John’s sister, Mrs. Ray Wolf (Helen Dunn Green Wolf) was cousin Mary Green Starasinic’s mother. Francis Dunn was cousin Colleen Dunn Becker’s father and Eugene was my generation’s grandfather.

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His Obituary

Chicago Heights Star
9/3/1964

"JOHN H (JACK) DUNN

Requiem Mass for John Henry (Jack) Dunn, a former resident of Steger, was held August 26 in St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Helena, Ark. Burial was in the church cemetery.

Mr. Dunn, a retired president of the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company, died August 24 after suffering a heart attack at his home in suburban Helena.

Mr. Dunn was born in St. Genevieve, Mo., and moved to Steger with his family when he was 3. He lived in Steger until 1917, when he left to work in Chicago. He had lived in Helena since 1934.

Mr. Dunn was president of the Helena Country club, chairman of the board of advisors for the Sacred Heart academy, a member of the Helena hospital board and of the West Helena Chamber of Commerce board.

Survivors include his wife, Ruth; a daughter, Mrs. John Stiefel of Chicago; a sister, Mrs. Ray Wolf of Steger; three brothers, Francis Dunn of Chicago Heights, Edward of Steger and Eugene of Brinkley, Ark.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Stephen, in 1938.”

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A couple of things I’ve learned about him from our long-lost cousins:

■ First, it’s interesting to know that his wife, Ruth, was Jewish, and I’m told that his marriage outside the Catholic tradition of the family was a major heartbreak for John’s mother, Josephine.

■ Second, when John’s brother, Eugene, went into a coma and was institutionalized for several years as a result, John paid for Eugene’s care. That lasted until John’s death, and Ruth didn’t continue the payments. Because the rest of the family either couldn’t or wouldn’t pick up the expense, a decision was made to, in effect, “pull the plug”. Even so, Eugene lived for five years after John's death. It's unclear who paid the bills for Eugene's care during that period.

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Another little piece of John's history was sent to me by cousin Colleen Dunn Becker. It’s a copy of a postcard, and here’s what Colleen said about it.

“This is a picture, going from left to right, of John Henry Dunn, his wife Ruth Dunn, Louise Seiter Dunn, and her husband Stephen Dunn (John and Stephen were William Edward Dunn’s children). I don’t know where or when this picture was taken except that it is a Christmas card of sorts.”

When I was researching the maternal side of our family tree I saw several examples of photos from this era that were made into postcards. What we have here are the front and back of one such postcard, addressed to “Mrs. J. [Josephine] Dunn". This one has no stamp on it, so it was never mailed.

From the looks of it, these two couples were on a cruise sometime just before Christmas on a ship called the S. S. Dellwood, so I researched it and came up with this:

S. S. Dellwood
Collection Name: Alaska Steamship Company Collection
Title: SS Dellwood
Description: Title from verso. Verso reads: "one of four ships lost in World War II."
Creator: Dudley, Roger
Corporate Name: Dellwood (Ship)
Holding Institution: Alaska and Polar Regions Collections, Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks.; mailto:fyapr@uaf.edu --(907) 474-6594--PO Box 756808, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6808.

That led me to search further, and I found this:

Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1943
Date: 07/19/43
Ship: Dellwood (USAT)
Type: Cable ship
Cause: Grounded
Result: Sunk
Location: Alaska
Deaths: None
Source

Which in turn led me to search for “cable ship” + 1943, and I found this:

Army Cable Ships
The Army operated a considerable fleet of cable ships. One type supported the Coast Artillery Corps controlled mine fields and was a small, coastal design under the Coast Artillery. Another type, associated with the Signal Corps, was generally larger and supported communications. The Pacific areas had fewer commercial cables and military pages cables were more common than in the Atlantic. In the Pacific these ships were engaged in linking the islands sprinkled between the West Coast and the Philippines.

The Dellwood was originally a cable ship, for I found this: “CS [Cable Ship] Dellwood undertook the laying of a new cable in 1924 between Seattle and Alaska with a landing at Ketchikan…”. The Dellwood was apparently converted into a pleasure ship during the period when the photo on the postcard was taken - and later converted back again, for I also found this:

“Following Pearl Harbor, CS Dellwood was repurchased and fitted out for cable repair work; after her sinking, maintenance work was undertaken by CS Silverado, Brico (a barge), and CS's Glassford and Basil O. Lenoir.”

To summarize, it appears that this is the sequence of events involved:

■ Sometime prior to Christmas of 1937, John and Ruth Dunn were on an Alaskan cruise on the ship S.S. Dellwood with Stephen and Louise Dunn. John could have been no older than 43 at that time, Stephen no older than 45. (In the picture they appear to be in their 30s.)

■ They had a photo taken of themselves that was made into this postcard. Since Stephen died in August of 1938, the cruise and photo had to have been taken prior to that year.

■ Sometime after WW II began, the S.S. Dellwood was converted to military use and became a cable ship. These ships were involved in physically laying cable for communications to aid the war effort.

■ In July, 1943, the Dellwood was grounded and sunk.

One result of our having this photo is that we have, literally, a snapshot of two young members of our ancestral family and their wives who – in the midst of the Great Depression – were prosperous enough to afford an Alaskan pleasure cruise.

Why is that of interest? Because the Great Depression was a massive global economic recession (or "depresssion") that ran from 1929 to 1941. It led to a stock market crash, massive bank failures, breadlines and unemployment that reached as high as 33% - so their prosperity seems very unusual in view of where the overall economy was at the time.

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Chicago Mill and Lumber Company

From his obituary I realized John was an important leader in his community, for he was on several boards and such, but I had no knowledge of his business or how large and significant the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company was.

I turned to the internet to see what I could learn about the company - and wow, was I surprised at what I was able to find! Following is some of the info I gleaned when searching for the company name.

As you read on, understand that we have no information as to when he began his role as president of the company. But we do know that the company's annual report to stockholders contained a letter from him as president in 1962. Therefore, we don’t know how many of the events described below or how much of the decision-making regarding those events occurred on his watch.

Bottom line: Our uncle/great uncle Jack was president of a large company (it owned hundreds of thousands of acres of timberland) and he was a “big shot” in his community - but his company was controversial, as you'll see below.

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Here's a link to a photo of one of the company's locomotives - presumably at one of its facilities - taken in Louisiana in 1962.

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"Once the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company began operations at the Singer Tract [in the early 1940s], the site was quickly cleared of old-growth timber." Story and photos here.

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"The small city of Caraway was one of the last to incorporate in northeast Arkansas. Initially known as White Switch, it began as a lumber camp about 1912. The abundance of timber attracted the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company to buy vast tracts of land. The huge northern company drew large numbers of workers to cut the timber and ship it to the main mill at Blytheville (Mississippi County)." Source

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"On June 16, 1941, a fire broke out at the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company, a manufacturer of wooden boxes on North Ogden Avenue [in Chicago]. The fire started in bales of paper located on the first floor of the two story brick building. The shooting embers then ignited a fire on the second floor by sparking a mill dust explosion. With the rush from the blast, the flames spread quickly throughout the rest of the building and caused the roof to collapse. Three Chicago firefighters, Norris Coulombe (Engine 42), George Michalski (Engine 3), and Henry Bodenlos (Engine 4), were trapped by the collapse in the burning rubble.

A 5-11 alarm and subsequent special alarm calls had brought 45 pieces of fire apparatus and equipment to the scene on Ogden Avenue. Firefighters had just started hose operations when the roof collapsed, so the firefighter presence within the building was still somewhat limited. Unfortunately, the severity of the explosion prevented firefighters from rescuing their trapped colleagues, and the three trapped firefighters asphyxiated in the burning rubble. Five other firefighters were injured by the explosion.

The total damage of the fire was estimated to be about $75,000. The widows of the fallen firefighters were given support from Mayor Edward Kelly and the Firemen’s Mutual Benefit Association. The three firemen, along with other victims, were later recognized for their heroic efforts in the annual police and fire thrill show held at Soldier’s Field on July 13, 1941." Source

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"To this day, the land recently added to the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge is known as "the Singer Tract," for the Singer Sewing Machine Company, which in the 1930s thought it might harvest the old-growth forests to make sewing machine cabinets. But conservationists were already calling attention to the value of these soggy bottomlands as wildlife habitat, particularly for the fast-disappearing ivory-billed woodpecker, a showy but reclusive swamp-lover that nested only in the southeastern U.S. and Cuba. Under pressure from conservation groups to preserve the land, the company sidestepped the controversy by selling it to the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company, which soon began harvesting the precious hardwoods for World War II shipping crates. In the 1940s, even as the cut raged across the Singer Tract, ornithologists and conservationists begged in vain for Chicago Mill to preserve the ivorybill's last known nesting trees." Source

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"At first some of us didn't know how to react to the rediscovery of an ivory-billed woodpecker in the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas. After all, we environmentalists aren't used to such good news.

I thought about former Audubon president John Baker, and wished he were still alive to see this miraculous event. In 1942 he led a desperate effort to stop the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company from cutting down the bottomland forest in Louisiana where the last ivory-bill had been seen. Chicago Mill and Lumber refused, the trees were cut, and Baker watched what everyone thought was the last bird isappear." Source

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"In the three decades between the 1890s and 1920s, our southern states' bottomland swamp forests were logged into oblivion. By 1920, ivory-billed woodpeckers, dependent on these forests, were thought to be extinct. But in 1924, the founder of Cornell University's famed bird laboratory found a pair in Florida. Two local collectors heard of the woodpeckers' presence and shot them. Again, extinction seemed to have occurred.

Then in 1935, a bird expedition found several pairs in an 81,000-acre Louisiana swamp forest owned by the Singer Sewing Machine Company. But then Singer sold the tract of bottomland to the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company for logging. Four federal agencies, including the Audubon Society and the governors of four Southern states, appealed to Chicago Mill to sell their timber rights so an ivory-bill sanctuary could be formed. Chicago Mill's chairman rebuffed the coalition, cheerfully announcing, "We are just money grubbers." The Lord God Bird (as the woodpecker was sometimes called because of its startling size and coloration) was last seen there in 1944 as the last of those trees fell." Source

♦♦♦

"This is a perfect example of how nonfiction should be written. Every school and public library should have a copy of this book. It is a valuable addition to the study of man, nature, and the environment. Phillip Hoose's wonderful book captures the reader's attention and doesn't let it go till the very end of a beautifully written account of one of the most magnificent birds ever to grace this land. The cover of the book, not to mention the title, immediately attracts attention and after reading it the reader clearly understands why this bird was referred to as the Lord God Bird.

Hoose introduces us to collectors like Brewster and Wayne who helped lead to the bird's demise. There are the corporate villains in the form of the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company and the Singer Manufacturing Company who could have saved the last real refuge of the Lord God Bird but who chose profit over conservation when the Singer Tract was not spared from the woodcutter's ax. There are heroes to this story. You will meet Jim Tanner, "Doc" Allen, and J. J. Kuhn who worked tirelessly to save the species. Having read this book I felt that Jim Tanner was definitely someone I wished that I had known personally. Educators will find countless lessons on environmental awareness, extinction of species, and the recklessness with which man has 'civilized' the wilderness." Source

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Racism Affected the Company

From a book titled, "A Different Day, African American Struggles for Justice in Rural Louisiana, 1900-1970" comes the following excerpt:

“Louisiana’s predominately black lumber industry became the target of intense organizing efforts by the CIO-affiliated International Woodworkers of America (IWA) in the early 1940s. Although many workers supported unionization, organizers encountered strong opposition from company owners and local officials. After spending three weeks in Tallulah working with employees at the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company, Morton Hobbs Davis was run out of town at gunpoint by three men who claimed to speak for the entire community when they told him: “We are not going to have the C.I.O. here. Understand? You come in here trying to stir up these ni●●ers, and we’re not going to have you organizing those damn ni●●ers.”

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History of the Company

The roots of the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company date back to the 1890s, and a description of its history can be found here. In part, it says:

"Wilford H. Gonyea, a West Coast lumberman, tendered an offer to buy the company on June 29, 1965, and after the stockholders accepted, the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company ceased to exist as a corporation and continued operations as a partnership under the same name. The general offices were moved from Chicago to Greenville [Mississippi] in September of 1965. The Chicago Mill and Lumber Company operated three sawmills and two box factories, and it owned over two hundred thousand acres of timberland primarily in Louisiana and Mississippi by 1980."

Last updated 5/3/09

Eugene Michael Dunn, Son of William Edward Dunn...

And Also Father of William Edward (Bill) Dunn

My generation's paternal grandfather, Eugene Michael Dunn, and his wife, Hazel Loretta Nolan Dunn Youngs, had two children - my generation's father, William Edward (Bill) Dunn, and our aunt, Rita Jane Dunn Erickson Tumbiolo.

My mother reported that Eugene abandoned his family after Bill was born, came back years later, stayed long enough for Hazel to get pregnant with Rita, who was born in 1928 - ten years after Bill was - and left again for good. None of my generation ever met him, or had even seen a picture of him until I began assembling our family history and found a long-lost cousin who had photos of him.

Because there was no known contact between him and my branch of the family after he, in effect, disconnected, finding him turned out to be a challenge – a detective story, in fact. On this page of this blog I not only report the things I’ve found out about him, I also describe the process involved in learning his story, for that may also be of interest.

It started when Rita’s daughter, my cousin Noel Erickson Ray, provided me with copies of several family documents she’d inherited from her mother. Included was a copy of Hazel and Eugene’s June, 1917, application for a marriage license. It says he was a bookkeeper and that his parents were William Edward Dunn and Josephine [Barbara] Lauer, both from Steger, Illinois. Both were listed on the application as being dead at that time. The form does not say deceased; Eugene wrote “dead” on the application, which strikes me as interesting.

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Census Records

The 1900 Census shows that Eugene was born in July, 1898, and was living in Chicago, Illinois, with his father, William Edward Dunn and mother Josephine Lauer Dunn. Five older siblings also lived with them as well. The other children were Ella (born Sep, 1884), Stephen (born Dec, 1892), John (born Jun, 1894), Rosa (born Sep, 1895), and Julia (born Sep, 1896). Eugene was one year old.

The 1910 census shows the now widowed 39-year old Josephine and her children living in Crete, Illinois. Her husband had died in 1908, and the census shows that she'd had eight kids. Eugene was age 11, and all six of her living children were there with her (two others had died, reportedly of scarlet fever).

Not related to the census, but fitting here in the timeline, we have the certificate, "In Remembrance of First Communion", for Eugene dated June 11, 1911. The event tool place at St. Liborius [Catholic] church in Steger, Illinois. Eugene would have been not quite 13 at that time.

The 1920 census shows Eugene living in Chicago with Hazel. His occupation was "clerk - die casting" – from which I surmise that he was employed in a clerical job with some sort of factory by that time. Even though their son, Bill, was born in 1918, he's not recorded in this census, which seems odd.

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The Marriage Application and Draft Registration

Marriage records for Lake County, Indiana - where they were married - lists his name as Eugeno, obviously a typo, which at first kept me from finding them because I was spelling his name correctly. Later it occurred to me to look for Hazel, which worked; the record shows their marriage date as June 20, 1917.

At that time males in both Indiana and Illinois were required to be age 21 to marry without parental consent. On his marriage license application Eugene's date of birth is shown as June 8, 1896. However, in fact, he would have been just shy of age 20 at the time, so he lied about his date of birth in order to get married without parental consent. His father had died in 1908, but although Eugene claimed that both his parents were dead, I later learned that his mother actually lived until 1942. So, he also lied about that as well.

His 1918 World War I draft registration card shows his date of birth as July 8, 1898, which is the correct date. The draft registration also shows that he was living in Steger, Will County, Illinois, was a clerk, and his nearest relative was Hazel Dunn. It was the first time I'd seen a middle name for him on anything.

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The Social Security Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt in 1935. A database called the “Social Security Death Index” (SSDI) containing information about most of those who died while enrolled is available online. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA) website, the SSDI contains a listing of persons who had a Social Security number, who are deceased, and whose death has been reported to the SSA. But I couldn’t find Eugene in the SSDI.

So what happened to Eugene Dunn? That was my dilemma. At that point in my search here’s what I knew:

■ He was born in 1898 in Illinois;

■ He was married in 1917 in Indiana;

■ The last census in which I found him was for 1920, which shows that he lived in Chicago with Hazel;

■ I couldn’t find him in the 1930 census, the latest one publicly available;

■ I couldn’t find him in the SSDI.

I’d found information about other family members living both before and after Eugene’s era, but could find no trace of him having a life after fathering Rita in 1928. I found no evidence that he ever remarried or had other children, or that he was even alive after Rita’s birth.

Another aspect of this story is that if his parents were both dead at the time of his marriage in 1917 - which at first I thought was true - they would both have died before he was 20 years old. That seemed unusual, and made me wonder whether there were health issues or an accident of some sort that caused their deaths. If it was health issues, I wondered if it could have been something genetic that caused Eugene’s early demise as well.

At that point I was thinking that Eugene may have died after Rita was born in 1928 and before 1930. If so, he would have missed the 1930 census and would not have been enrolled in Social Security because it didn’t come into existence until 1935.

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Puzzled – and a bit frustrated by then – I had run into a brick wall because of my limited knowledge of how to do genealogy research. To aid in my quest to find out what became of Eugene, I engaged the services of an interesting gal who specializes in doing genealogy research for Illinois–based families. She located an obituary for Josephine. Here’s the summary she provided:

"Obit for Josephine…

Chicago Heights STAR, Fri Oct 30, 1942: - she was survived by 7 grandchildren (son Stephen's children account for 4 of the 7) - one daughter, Mrs. Helen Green of Steger - and FOUR SONS: John of Chicago, Edward of Steger, Francis of Chicago Heights...and....drum roll please....EUGENE of NEW ORLEANS, LA. (that dog was in NOLA as of late Oct 1942!)"

Although I couldn’t do so because I wasn’t looking in the right place, she was also able to find him in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). Here’s her summary of that.

"Now - the trick is to figure out - -

If Eugene can be found in the SSDI - birthdate July 1898 --- there's only ONE that might match: (checked for Eugene Dunn in SSDI - with birth year anywhere from 1898 through 1902 -- because people lie about their birth year, but rarely the month & day)

Eugene DUNN
Birth Date: 8 Jul 1898
Death Date: 15 Dec 1969
Social Security Number: 430-22-9821
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: Arkansas
Death Residence Localities
ZIP Code: 72023
Localities: Cabot, Lonoke, Arkansas

I just had to look at a map - - Arkansas shares a border with Louisiana... What do you think?"

Since Social Security didn’t begin until 1935, Eugene could easily have been in Arkansas by the time he enrolled. So, the combination of Josephine’s obituary and the SSDI info led me to the conclusion that Eugene migrated south and lived there until his death in 1969.

As noted below, Eugene's brother John also lived in Arkansas. However, he predeceased Eugene, who – until health issues discussed below apparently interfered – lived out his days alone in Arkansas with his chickens. Chickens? Cousin Mary Green Starasinic (Eugene's sister Helen's daughter) reported that he raised chickens - and she gave me photos of Eugene that show that to be the case.

Molly, the gal who does genealogy research for Illinois-based families, had previously provided me with an obituary for Eugene’s mother - Josephine Barbara Lauer Dunn. She also found one for one of her sons, Eugene's brother Stephen Dunn. Then she sent me the following info about Josephine’s other children. (For daughter Helen's name to make sense below, we need to know that she was born Helen Dunn, married and became Helen Green - as seen in Josephine's obituary above - was widowed, remarried and became Helen Wolf - as seen below.)

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“Chicago Heights STAR, Thurs, Sept 3, 1964
John H. "Jack" Dunn - retired president of Chicago Mill & Lumber Co - d. Aug 24, 1964 in Helena, ARKANSAS. Lived in Helena since 1934 - survivors include his wife Ruth; a sister, Mrs. Ray (Helen) Wolf of Steger IL; 3 brothers, Francis Dunn of Chicago Heights, Edward Dunn of Steger, and Eugene Dunn of Brinkley, Arkansas.

(OH YEAH - the very last line in Jack Dunn's obit -"He was preceded in death by a brother, Stephen, in 1938" - NAILED this Dunn line to yours. You may doubt, and you may scoff - but I can back up my "intuitions" with documentation...if not, I offer abject apologies, and forget about invoicing.)

Same newspaper - Feb, 7, 1975
Edward T Dunn - b. Jan 22, 1901 Chicago - evidently never married; survived by sister Mrs. Helen Wolf of Steger IL, and Francis Dunn of Chicago Heights IL

Same newspaper - Dec 10, 1987
Francis A "Smiley" Dunn - lifelong Chicago Heights resident - b. Nov 10, 1903 in St. Genevieve MO. Retired from woodworking for Caravelle Wood Products Inc. Survivors include his wife Edna; daughter Colleen Becker of Springfield VA; sister Helen WOLF of Steger IL and 3 grandchildren.”

Then she commented as follows:

“Helena AR - where John Henry "Jack" Dunn resided since 1934 - is in Phillips Co AR - which is adjacent to Monroe Co AR -- so John & Eugene only lived about 30-35 miles from each other.”

She later sent me the info below:

“We'd talked about trying to find ‘live bodies’ of Dunn siblings of your Eugene - I think I may have something to run with.

Yesterday at the Pres. Library, I found/printed the obit for the last surviving Dunn sibling - Helen M. Wolf - who died July 3, 1994 in Joliet - (formerly longtime resident of Steger). Services at St. Liborious Catholic Church in Steger. Her husband Jesse Wolf died in 1992; Survived by a daughter, Mary [Green] Starasinic of Joliet.

I just checked my NewsBank subscription, for obits for surname Starasinic - and found the following obit from January of THIS YEAR, indicating Mary Starasinic (husband Joseph) was still alive and in Joliet IL as of January 6, 2008:
Herald News, The (Joliet, IL) January 6, 2008

Deceased Name: Josephine "Jo" St. Germain (nee Starasinic) Age 83. Passed away Friday, January 4, 2008 at her late Joliet residence. Born February 5, 1924 in Joliet, to John and Barbara (nee Broaderic) Starasinic. A member of St. Joseph Catholic Church and its Altar and Rosary Society and St. Joseph Seniors.

Survived by her two children, Laurence (Diane) Saint Germain of Chicago, and JoAnne (Richard) Davidson of Joliet; seven grandchildren; three brothers, Louis (Loretta) Starasinic of Joliet, Joseph (Mary Lou) Starasinic of Joliet, and Leonard (Janet) Starasinic of Texas; two sisters, Barbara (late Robert) Smrekar of Crest Hill, and Margaret (late William) Norton of Joliet; and many nieces and nephews.”

She located the address and phone number for Mary Green Starasinic and sent that information as well, and said:

“Mary Lou Starasinic is the daughter of Helen M. (Dunn) Wolf - and your Eugene was Mary Lou's uncle.”

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I called Mary (as she prefers to be called). After I introduced myself she said, "I used to have a relative in Indiana by the name of Patrick Dunn." I told her I was in Indiana - and she then reeled off the names of all five East Chicago Dunn kids - more than 50 years after her last contact with us - and told me she used to visit our family often!

Among other things, she told me that - with her mother, Helen - she remembers visiting her uncle Eugene in Arkansas, and said she had a photo of him on the front porch of his house there, which she later gave me. She told me he never remarried after leaving Illinois, and she had no info about what he did for a living in Arkansas. However, the photos Mary provided lead me to conclude that he became a chicken farmer there.

I don't know whether or not I'll ever find his obituary and/or death certificate, which I’ve tried to locate, but at this point in my search I had a live person who had knowledge about that generation of Dunns. Hip, hip, hooray!

I wanted to find out what became of Eugene, and I now had at least a partial answer. Mary knows nothing about the why of his leaving Hazel and their kids, for she was young when that happened and either wasn't told or doesn't remember anything she may have heard.

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A 1944 Letter From Eugene

I asked Mary whether she knew of any other living members of the Dunn family and she provided me with contact information for her cousin, Colleen Dunn Becker, the daughter of Francis Anthony Dunn, who was known as Smiley. I contacted Colleen and was able to meet her and her husband, Ken Becker, when they passed through Indianapolis in the summer of 2008. Another long-lost cousin who knows something about the Dunn family of old! Hip, hip hooray again!

From Colleen I received a copy of a letter written by Eugene. The envelope is addressed to both her parents, although the letter itself appears to be directed primarily to Edna, Colleen's mother.

The letter includes no significant info about him, but it's the only document I've seen that gives us any glimpse of him as a person. He was in New Orleans at the time, which is consistent with the info in Josephine's obituary. It's dated 1943 but the postmark on the envelope is 1944, so he was apparently confused about the date.

Postmark:
New Orleans, LA,
May 30, 1944

Postage:
3¢ stamp

Addressed to:
Mr. and Mrs. F.A. Dunn
[Francis Anthony Dunn]
2420 Chicago Road
Chicago Heights
Illinois

Return Address:
E.M. Dunn
610 So. Carrollton Ave.
New Orleans La.

(Click on the above link, put your cursor on the picture
that appears, hold your left mouse button down and move
from left to right to see what the area looks like these days.)

The Letter:
New Orleans
Monday
May 20, 1943

Dear Edna, Colleen and Worm Digger

Yes Edna, he may tell you he was making a garden but I’ll bet not one worm got away. All the while he was digging didn’t you notice that fishy look he had in his eye?

I[t] certainly was great to hear from you and hope and pray that little Colleen will grow to be as fine and sweet as her mother. I have another little gift for her, and she will sure appreciate it when she is just a little older. It is something you just can’t get in Chicago. It is something for her to play with.

I am glad that the weather is nice there now Edna, on account of poor Smiley, wanting so bad, to make a garden, and you do know Edna that if he did not take those worms and feed them to the fish, they might eat the seeds and poor Smiley’s work would be for nothing. Can he help it if they are not careful when he finds fish and they get caught on the hook[?] No of course not. And I’ll bet some of those fish don’t even appreciate what he is doing for them, and not go near the hook. Ungrateful little devils.

You say you are not as good with the pen as I am, [but] your writing looks mighty precious to me, I am always so glad to hear from you all. Also remember you do not get the practice I do. You know Edna it just depends on whose eyes look at it that determines how it looks.

Well I must get downtown so will sign off for now and will be waiting anxiously to hear from you. Would also like to hear from [his sister] Helen but I guess she is just to (sic) busy. Tell them hello! for me please. Write soon. Please!

(signed)
Eugene

Love to all!

610 So. Carrollton Ave.
New Orleans La.
------------------------
Excuse pencil – no pen point

Trivia: The comment about the pen point interested me, for it seems to refer to the need for a point (called a "nib") on a fountain pen. In looking for a date when ballpoint pens came into existence I learned that the first ones in the U.S. went on sale at Gimbels department store in New York City in 1945 for $12.50 each, so he wouldn't have had access to one at the time he wrote this letter.

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World War II was still underway at the time of the letter, so I wonder why he wasn't in the military, knowing that he registered for the draft in 1918. Having said that, he may have had health problems that exempted him from serving, for Colleen reported that he had a drinking problem, and in fact spent the last years of his life in a coma. He was institutionalized during those years, with the expense for it being paid by his well-to-do brother, John Dunn, until John died.

As I understand it, Eugene's other relatives were either unwilling or unable to continue paying the cost after John's death, so the decision was made, in essence, to pull the plug. All in all, the story of Eugene Michael Dunn is an unhappy tale of a reportedly very intelligent man who abandoned his young family, moved to Arkansas to raise chickens, and ultimately died alone after years of being in a coma. Not a pretty story.

Last updated 4/30/09