Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts and Archives Department

DUNN FAMILY
PAPERS, 1836-1924

Collection #
M 0090
OM 0105
BV 01083-1124, 2679

Table of Contents

Collection Information
Historical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Box and Folder Listing
Cataloging Information

Processed by
Charles Latham
16 October 1993

COLLECTION INFORMATION

HISTORICAL SKETCH

George Grundy Dunn, Sr. (1812-1857), was born in Washington County, Kentucky. While a boy, he moved with his family to Indiana, first settling in Monroe County and later moving to Lawrence County. Dunn attended Indiana University, but left after a dispute with a professor during his third year. He then taught school in Switzerland County. Later he returned to Bedford in Lawrence County where he studied law, served as principal of the Lawrence County Seminary, and worked as a store clerk. In September 1835 Dunn was admitted to the bar and formed a partnership with Col. R. W. Thompson. He married Julia Fell, daughter of Moses Fell and sister of Antoinette Fell, in 1841. The following year he was elected prosecuting attorney for Lawrence County.
According to W. H. Smith, a former Indianapolis newspaperman who had heard a number of Dunn's speeches, Dunn was noted for his strong convictions and for his mastery of invective and sarcasm. He was so successful as an attorney that many other law firms gave up the Lawrence County segment of their practices. His impassioned oratory was also considered a hallmark of his terms as a Congressman (Whig 1847-1849 and Republican 1855-1857) and as a State Senator (1850-1852). He died after his second term in Congress.

Moses Fell Dunn (1843-1915), son of George Grundy Dunn, Sr., graduated from Hanover College in 1862, then studied at Harvard University and in France and Germany. Fluent in several languages, he traveled extensively, including several trips around the world and expeditions, primarily for fishing, throughout the United States. He practiced law with his brother George Grundy Dunn, Jr. A Republican, he served in the state legislature in 1866. He and his brother also operated a local limestone quarry. Never having married and leaving no family heirs, Moses Fell Dunn left large amounts of land to Purdue University and to Bedford's Masonic Order. The Bedford city hospital was renamed Dunn Hospital in his honor.

Little is known about George Grundy Dunn, Jr. (ca 1840-1891), who was perhaps eclipsed by his father and brother. Apparently, however, he handled a substantial amount of the business of the law firm of Dunn and Dunn prior to his death.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection, including 43 bound volumes, three manuscript boxes, and four small boxes of photographs, cover the period 1836-1924. It is arranged by category and chronologically within category.

In.Box 1, the first twenty-five bound volumes (BV 1083-1107) are account books and day books which cover the legal business of George Grundy Dunn, Sr., until his death in 1857. The legal business of the succeeding firm, Dunn and Dunn, is covered by the next six bound volumes (BV 1108-1112, 2679) and material in Folders 34-48, which contain legal papers largely from the 1880s.

In Box 2 are seven folders (Folders 1-7) of correspondence. Folder 5 shows that during 1887 John A. Reed, a coal merchant of Minneapolis, made George G. Dunn, Jr., a sort of guardian for his son Will Reed, who was wandering about the East trying to "find himself." Folder 8 contains miscellaneous mementos of travel through Europe in 1888 and 1890, probably by Moses Fell Dunn, who at some point gave travel lectures, one dollar for a series of three.

Folders 9-13 of Box 2 contain receipts and miscellaneous papers. BV 1114-1124 contain account and day books of an unidentified law firm which apparently succeeded Dunn and Dunn after 1915. Folder 26 contains occasional verse by E. Antoinette Fell, sister of Mrs. Dunn, Sr. Ten personal notebooks, full of aphorisms and historical notes, probably by Moses Fell Dunn are in Folder 28 of Box 2 and in Box 3.

In Boxes 4-7, stored in Visual Collections, are cartes de visite photographs apparently taken or collected by Moses Fell Dunn during his travels. These are mainly from India and the Far East, and include buildings, individuals, and groups, as well as some unusual objects.

There are three oversized documents in the collection, in OM 105. All relate to Moses Fell Dunn. In Folder 1 is a certificate of membership in the Union Literary Society of Hanover College, dated 1860. In Folder 2 is his diploma from Hanover, dated 1862. Folder 3 contains his 1894 passport, signed by Secretary of State Walter Q. Gresham.

BOX AND FOLDER LISTING

BOX 1: Legal records, 1836-1915
Records of George Grundy Dunn, Sr.

Folder Contents

Records of Dunn and Dunn

Unidentified records

CATALOGING INFORMATION

For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:

1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog
2. Click on the "Local Catalog" icon.
3. Search for the collection by its call number, using the letter or letters designation and four digits (e.g., M 0715, SC 2234).
4. When you find the collection, go to the "Holdings" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.

END