BIOGRAPHY: David Montgomery Dunning, Auburn, Cayuga co., New York transcribed and submitted by: Ann Anderson (ann.g.anderson at gmail.com) ========================================================= Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ny/nyfiles.htm ========================================================= BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW THIS VOLUME CONTAINS BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE LEADING CITIZENS OF CAYUGA COUNTY NEW YORK BOSTON BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW PUBLISHING COMPANY 1894 DAVID MONTGOMERY DUNNING, Superintendent and Treasurer of the Auburn Gas Light Company, is one of the most prominent and respected citizens of Auburn, N.Y. He was born December 30, 1844, in what is now the Seventh Ward of Auburn, then a part of Aurelius, son of Henry Silas and Jane (Wadsworth) Dunning. His father, who was born at Aurelius, September 6, 1816, was a farmer for several years, and held the office of Justice of the Peace for the town. He was also Superintendent of the gas company from 1864 to 1868, and Supervisor and President of the Cayuga County Agricultural Society. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Auburn. He died April 22, 1871. His wife, Jane, who was the daughter of Joseph Wadsworth, one of the early scythe manufacturers of Auburn, died in 1869. Ira Dunning, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this brief biography, was born at Salem, N.Y., March 23, 1789, and came with his father to the town of Aurelius in the winter of 1795-96. He was a farmer and manufacturer, and was one of the builders of Sing-Sing prison, with which he was officially connected for many years. He married April 2, 1809, Susannah, daughter of Henry Montgomery, who came from Vermont and settled in Aurelius in 1796. His father, Silas, was born at Brookfield, Conn., May 6, 1755, and died at Aurelius, September 25, 1830. He married Jerusha, daughter of Enos Bristol, of Newtown, Conn. David Dunning, father of Silas born at Bridgeport, Conn., September 6, 1711, died at Brookfield in 1783 married in 1738 Hannah, daughter of John and Abigail (Allen) Sheppard. David was a son of Sergeant Benjamin, of Newtown, Conn., born at Jamaica, L.I., about 1680, who was son of Benjamin, of Jamaica, L.I., supposed to have come from Devonshire, England. A well-kept line of worthy ancestry. David M. Dunning was first educated at the Auburn Academy, afterward attending Union College, graduating from there as civil engineer in 1868. He returned to Auburn at the completion of his college course, and, during the construction of the Southern Central Railroad, was engaged in the engineering work of that road. Previous to his advent at college he had been appointed City Surveyor, which office he held during the year 1865. He left the employ of the Southern Central Road to accept the position of Treasurer of the Auburn Gas Light Company; and, on the failure of his father's health, he took the office of Superintendent as well. Mr. Dunning and his father owned the largest interests in the Gas Light Company, being Directors and Trustees of the concern. At the time of Mr. Dunning's first connection with the company they had about one-fifth of the territory now covered, and not more than a fifth part of the present amount of gas was consumed. The Gas Light Company was established in 1850 as a private corporation, under an act of the legislature passed February 16, 1848, with the following named as directors: George B. Chase, P. R. Freeoff, H. G. Ellsworth, Paul D. Cornell, Z. M. Mason, Adam Miller, Roland F. Russell, W. H. Van Tuyl, and Benjamin F. Hall. The first officers of the company were George B. Chase, President; B. F. Hall, Secretary; Z. M. Mason, Treasurer; Thomas Hoadley, Engineer and Superintendent. The works were located where they now stand, near the prison. A limited number of mains were laid that-year, and the company produced the first public gas ever made in Auburn. In 1868 the business had increased to such an extent that they had about eight or ten miles of mains, and were making from six to eight million feet of gas per year. The company at the present time has thirty-five miles of mains, with an output of forty-five million feet of gas per year, used by one thousand families, and giving employment to about thirty people. Of late years the company has manufactured tar and ammonia, the income from which forms a very important part of their revenue. The capital of the company is one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Dunning is the President of the Auburn Manufacturing Company, a large agricultural implement manufactory, and with which he became connected to close out the business. In addition to his other interests, he is also Vice-President of the Auburn Savings Bank, and has been a Trustee of the same for over ten years. He takes a great interest in the Cayuga County Historical Society, of which he is an active and honored member. For the past five years he has been one of the Trustees of the City Hospital, and is also a prominent member and Trustee of the Second Presbyterian Church. He has served the city as Alderman for the Seventh Ward, an office also held by his father after it was taken into the city. Mr. Dunning was married March 22, 1871, to Miss Alice J., daughter of Charles B. Hutchinson, of Auburn. Mrs. Dunning is a native of Seneca Falls, her father coming to Auburn in 1852. Of this marriage seven children have been born; namely, Alice M., Charlotte E., Mary G., David M., Jr., Edith E., Amy L., Charles H. By reason of his upright life and long-continued, useful, and varied activity in the city of his birth, Mr. David M. Dunning is accorded most heartily that respect which is paid to those who have helped to bring it to its present state of development.