Jonathan Niles Dunham Biography


	This biography appears on pages 191-192 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.

	This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside
	a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at

	http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm


				JONATHAN NILES DUNHAM. 

	Jonathan Niles Dunham, lawyer and journalist of Mitchell, was 
born at Orland, Indiana, October 18, 1854. His father, Daniel Dunham, 
removed to the vicinity of Orland with his parents in 1836. His 
ancestors had settled amid the Catskill mountains in New York long 
prior to the Revolutionary war. The mother of J. N. Dunham bore the 
maiden name of Mary A. Niles and was born in Lorain county, Ohio. Her 
ancestors were early settlers of Massachusetts, and one of them was at 
Deerfield, Massachusetts, at the time of the memorable Indian massacre 
there. Her grandfather, Jonathan Niles, participated in the battle of 
Bunker Hill. About the year 1845 her parents removed with their family 
from Ohio to Indiana, settling near Orland, and it was in that locality 
that she formed the acquaintance of Daniel Dunham, who sought her hand 
in marriage. 

	J. N. Dunham, whose name introduces this review, attended the 
common schools of Lagrange county, Indiana, and also the collegiate 
institute at Ontario, Indiana. He pursued the study of law in DeWitt, 
Iowa, and was admitted to the bar in 1877. He was a young man of 
nineteen years when he went to Iowa, remaining a resident of Clinton 
and Delaware counties from 1873 until 1883. In October of the latter 
year he removed to Jerauld county, Dakota territory, where he has since 
made his home. Throughout the intervening period he has been active at 
the bar and in journalism and is an able lawyer, well versed in the 
principles of jurisprudence. In 1889, when the state was admitted to 
the Union, he was serving by appointment as clerk of the courts of 
Jerauld county. 

	At Wheatland, Iowa, on the 18th of September, 1877, Mr. Dunham 
was united in marriage to Miss Clara A. Rogers, a daughter of S. H. 
Rogers. Her ancestors were among the early Puritans of New England, and 
later were among the prominent families of the state of New York. Mr. 
and Mrs. Dunham have two children. Grace E. gave her hand in marriage 
to Professor A, H. Avery, at Woonsocket, South Dakota, her husband 
being now superintendent of the city schools of Spencer, Iowa. Fred N. 
Dunham, who wedded Miss Rachel Allison, of White, South Dakota, is now 
serving as postmaster at Wessington Springs, this state. 

	Mr. Dunham has always been a republican in his political views 
since age conferred upon him the right of franchise, but has never 
sought the honors and emoluments of office as a reward for party 
fealty. His long residence in the state, covering a period of almost a 
third of a century, has made him largely familiar with the events which 
figure most prominently in its annals. Moreover, he is the author of a 
history of Jerauld county, which was published in 1910, and now has in 
preparation a history of Davison county, South Dakota. Always 
interested in matters of historical research, there are few so well 
prepared to speak of the early days and of the later period of 
development and progress.