BIOGRAPHY: Charles T. Dunning; Minisink, Orange co., New York

transcribed by W. David Samuelsen for USGenWeb Archives

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Portrait and Biographical Record of Rockland and Orange Counties New York
Containing Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative
Citizens of the Counties.
Together with Biographies and Portraits of all the Presidents of the United
States.
New York and Chicago; Chapman Publishing Co., 1895

HON. CHARLES T. DUNNING, ex-Clerk of the New York Senate, is a man of quick
perceptions, keen judgment and excellent business qualifications, and at the
present is a member of the Board of Commissioners of Appraisal of Carmel,
Putnam County, and vicinity, a position which requires just the traits of
character and business habits which have made him so successful in all his
undertakings. This commission has in charge the appraising of property removed
for the purpose of preventing the pollution of the water supply of New York
City.

Our subject was born in Minisink November 2, 1843, and is a son of Braddock R.
Dunning, whose birth occurred in Goshen. His grandfather, Jacob Dunning, was
also born in Goshen, and was a blacksmith by trade, his shop being about two
miles from his native town, on the main road. He later removed to Ridgebury,
in the town of Minisink, where his death occurred when he was fifty years of
age. He participated in the War of 1812, serving faithfully in that great
struggle.

The great-grandfather of our subject, also named Jacob, was a native of Long
Island. He served in a militia company which was organized in Goshen, and lost
his life in the service, being killed in a massacre by the Indians at the
battle of Minisink in 1779. The father of our subject was a cooper by trade,
and later in life was engaged in cultivating the soil, being located on a farm
in Minisink. Subsequently he moved to Goshen, where he remained until he
retired from active duties, when he removed to Middletown. His death occurred
in 1881, when he was about seventy-seven years of age. In his religious faith
he was a Presbyterian, and politically he affiliated with the Democratic
party.

The maiden name of our subject's mother was Harriet L. Walsh. She was born in
Lansingburg, N. Y., and passed away at the age of seventy-five. She was the
daughter of John Walsh, who was of English birth. The lady whom he married was
a native of Ireland, and they emigrated to the United States, locating in New
York City. There he dealt in grain and other merchandise, but was burned out
in the great fire in that city in 1836. Subsequently he became interested in
whaling expeditions, and later purchased a farm near Ridgebury, this county,
spending some time in agricultural pursuits. It was in the year 1825 that he
located on the farm near Ridgebury, where he remained until retiring from
active business cares, when he returned to New York City, where his death
occurred.

Of the eight children born to B. R. Dunning, six survive. Charles T. is the
youngest son in the family, and the next to the youngest child. Reared to
manhood near Unionville, he received his primary education in the common
schools of the Unionville district, attending the public schools of
Middletown, and afterward receiving private instruction. Having completed his
education, he began clerking in a store in Jersey City, in the year 1867,
however, coming to Goshen with his father, who purchased the Phineas Rumsey
Farm near this city.

In 1872 he was elected by the Board of Supervisors to the position of Clerk,
remaining in that capacity seventeen years altogether, and resigning when he
was chosen Clerk of the Senate. He was elected to this responsible position in
1892, and served for two years, in the sessions of '92 and '93. The duties of
the office were very arduous, but were always well and faithfully performed.
The Clerk is the principal administrative officer of the Senate, and it was
his duty to see that all orders relating to the daily business of the body
were executed. On him also devolved the duty of defining and directing the
work of his assist-ants, who numbered about thirty. That his services were
appreciated, the following resolution will testify:

"Resolved, That the thanks of the Senators are due, and are hereby tendered,
to Charles T. Dunning, Clerk of this body, for the able and conscientious
manner in which he has performed his duties, and for the uniform courtesy
which he has displayed throughout the session." It is needless to say the
resolution was adopted unanimously. December 6, 1893, he was appointed a
member of the Board of Commissioners of Appraisal, receiving his appointment
from Judge Dykeman, of the Supreme Court, and entering immediately upon his
duties.

The marriage of our subject occurred in Goshen and united him with Miss
Georgia Thompson, a daughter of the late Martin L. Thompson, who was a
prominent hotelman of this village. Her death occurred in 1888. Mr. Dunning's
residence is on Murray Avenue and is a beautiful and comfortable home. In
politics he is a Democrat and has been a member of the Democratic County
Committee of Orange County for some years, serving as its Chairman in 1887-88.
He has also been a delegate to the state conventions quite frequently, and is
a prominent and active worker in state politics.