DT-3-John-2

DUNHAM FAMILIES of TENNESSEE

SECOND GENERATION IN AMERICA

3. JOHN 2 DUNHAM (Joseph 1 Dunham) born say 1732; died near present day Nashville, Tennessee 20 January 1789. [1] He was killed by Creek Indians while in his cornfield near Richland Creek. He married a woman known only as JANE or JENNY.

This John 2 Dunham probably resided in Greene County, Tennessee in 1765. John was a signer of the petition to annex the Watauga area to the Province of North Carolina in 1776. [2] In May 1780 he signed the Cumberland Compact which laid out a proposal for protection and self government of the Cumberland colony. [3]

John 2 Dunham was elected Ensign at Freeland’s Station. John 2 Dunham is listed in the North Carolina Preemption Act of 1784 as one of the settlers on the Cumberland River in 1780 who stayed and defended the settlements. For this service he was entitled to 640 acres of land. From Davidson County, Tennessee Land Grant No. 77, dated 17 April 1786, is written: “granted unto John Dunham six hundred and forty acres land in Davidson county...near the East fork of Richland Creek…” A Joseph Dunham, probably his nephew, was a witness to this land grant.

On 10 July 1792 Jane Dunham returned the inventory of the estate of John 2 Dunham. His 640 acres of land was to be divided equally between John 3 and Henry 3 Dunham, orphans of John Dunham, deceased. [4]

From the Early History of Tennessee, Chapter 24: William, Joseph, and Daniel Dunham were all killed by Indians in 1787 while prospecting on Richland Creek. Daniel was probably a son of John 2 Dunham. William and Joseph may have been sons of Daniel 2 Dunham.

Children of John 2 and Jane/Jenny (unknown) Dunham: 11. i. JOHN 3 DUNHAM, b. say 1757-9 12. ii. HENRY 3 DUNHAM, b. say 1760 13. iii. DANIEL 3 DUNHAM, b. say 1762-65 14. iv. POLLY 3 DUNHAM, b. say 1770 in Williamson Co., TN 15. v. SARAH REBECCA 3 DUNHAM, b. 11 June 1776

References:

1. Inventory of estate of John 2 Dunham. 2. 1776 Petition of the Inhabitants of Washington District to the Provincial Congress of North Carolina. 3. Henderson, Archibald, Conquest of the Old Southwest, The Century Co., 1920, Chapter XII-XIV. 4. Fischer, Marjorie Hood, Tennessee Tidbits 1778-1914, Vol. 1, p. 107, Davidson Co., TN Court Minutes, A/334.