Ancestors and Descendants of Cornelius Dunham
with a Brief History of Crawford County, Iowa
Dunhams -- Hancocks -- Plymouth Colony -- Pedersons -- Seieroes -- Cemeteries -- Family Tree
Dunlap Nativity Scene -- Travel Blog 2007 -- Dunlap Schools History -- Old Iowa History
Photos of Related Places and People
Cornelius Dunham (pictured above on the left) was born in 1797 in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. He had a restless spirit that carried him great distances in the eastern United States. He finally decided to head west, and did so profitably. He stayed for a while in Illinois, starting a family and buying big tracts of land; but his spirit urged him to travel still farther west. This was the time of the great Morman migration, and Cornelius accompanied them as far as Iowa. He settled for a time in Maquoketa in Jackson County, Iowa, and had a son, Z.T. Dunham (far right). Pushing westward he, with Franklin Prentice, arrived near the Boyer River near what is now Vail, Iowa (far left). He stayed there for several years, then, for the last time, on a tip from a Native American (Indian) scout, moved his family southwest, a mile northwest of what is now Dunlap, Iowa. The farmhouse Cornelius built and  the cemetery in which he is buried still stand; some of his descendants still live and prosper on this beautiful and fertile land, just as Cornelius intended.

I hope that I can provide you not only with the history and geneaology of our family, but also put a human face on our ancestors. In my mind, people want so badly to be related to this or that European royal family, that they overlook their more recent, but equally extraordinary, ancestors. But remember: matching a personality to a face doesn't necessarily mean something positive: I have more than a hundred photos of my great-grandfather, R.W. Dunham, and he has a sour expression on his face in every last one of them. I've been told those images reflect his personality perfectly.

But don't worry; this site isn't dedicated to exposing family secrets or digging up old grudges. I do hope the photographs I display on the site will spark happy or even bittersweet memories for some of you, and for those descendants who have never been to the homesite, I hope it will leave you with a sense that these people were not just names on a family tree chart.

If you haven't ever had  the pleasure of visiting Cornelius' farm in person, please click here to see a map of the area. The farm is located about one mile northwest of Dunlap on State Highway 37 at 130th Street, and is Cornelius' original farmhouse (although there have been additions and improvements). The Z.T. Dunham Pioneer Stock Farm Barn, a historically important piece of achitecture that is listed on the National Registor of Historic Places, is across the road from the farmhouse. The farm is part of the Century Farms Program.  It's worth going out there - you can get some great photos from here, especially at dusk!
Please click here to see "The Z.T. Dunham Pioneer Stock Farm and Late 19th Century Agriculture," which was compiled by Doris Bingham of the Dunlap Historical Society.  This is an invaluable text with lots of great stories!
Please click here to learn more about the brave Pioneers of Crawford County, Iowa.
The State Association to Preserve Iowa Cemeteries is a great organization that needs everyone's  support! 

I also set up a page on Facebook so that we all can discuss our family heritage, share information, and maybe get to know some long-lost relatives. People send me invaluable information all the time, but I am not always able to add it right away. You'll have to open an account and become a "friend," but it is a simple process.

Alert!  There is currently for sale online an embroidered sampler made by Lydia Chase Dunham of Martha's Vineyard.  This Lydia was our Iowa Cornelius' first cousin.  It's pretty expensive - $5,000 -  but if a member of our family were able to purchase it and keep it in the family, that would be fantastic!  Please direct any questions you may have about this sampler to its current owners, Stephen & Carol Huber. 

Lydia's  parents were Thomas Dunham and Polly Holmes (Dunham).  (You can read more about Thomas Dunham here - scroll down past the past and it is the first entry - under "Isaac Chase.") They lived in Holmes Hole.  If you have any information regarding  Lydia Chase Dunham, Thomas Dunham, or the Holmes family or Holmes Hole, please contact us - we always appreciate new information for our site!
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