Berkeley County, West Virginia Biography of FRANK CAMPBELL DUNHAM This biography was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. 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 WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 429-430 Berkeley FRANK CAMPBELL DUNHAM. One of the valued business men and highly respected citizens of Berkeley Springs, whose energies have resulted in the concentration of an important business at that point and whose name men tioned in connection with an enterprise is sufficient guaranty of its solidity is Frank Campbell Dunham, office manager for the E. F. Millard Sand Works. During his residence at Berkeley Springs he has impressed his personality upon the people of this thriving community and has been identi- fied with a number of movements which have contributed tc> the general progress and welfare. Mr. Dunham was born at Darkesville, Berkeley County, West Virginia, a son of Washington Taylor and Mary Kester (Pine) Dunham. Washington Taylor Dunham was born at Darkesville, and as a young man learned the trade of tailor. This was the period before the day of large factories, and Mr. Dunham's grandfather, Francis Campbell Dunham, established himself in business as a tailor at Darkesville, where the farmers from all over the surrounding country would bring him their homespun cloth, from which he would make the clothes for all the men in the family, including the slaves. Both he and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Henrietta Crout, lived to advanced age and were highly esteemed in their community, where they performed many deeds of kindness. Washington Taylor Dunham assisted his father in his little shop at Darkesville, but was more inclined toward the shoemaker's trade, to which he served an apprenticeship prior to the invention of modern shoemaking machinery. Shoes were then all hand-made, the soles being attached to the upper by the means of wooden pegs, and all shoes, of course, were made to order. Mr. Dunham was a master of his trade, which he followed for many years, and lived to see shoemaking methods revolutionized and the skill of machinery succeed the skill of the old-time artisan, whose occupation, like Hamlet's, is gone. He is still a resident of Darkesville, where everyone holds him in good will and esteem, as they do also his worthy wife, Mary Kester (Pine) Dunham, who was born near Gerrardstown, Berkeley County, a daughter of John Pine. Mr. and Mrs. Dunham reared five children, namely: Daisy, Claude F., Frank Campbell, J. Pine and Virginia M. Frank C. Dunham attended the public schools of Darkes- ville, and upon completing his education began to work in the Crawford Woolen Mills of Martinsburg, remaining in the carding department for a period of nine years. He was then advanced to the post of shipping clerk for the same concern, but after three years resigned to embark in busi- ness on his own account at the Baker Quarry, where he remained in the mercantile trade three years. Coming then to Berkeley Springs, he established a general merchandise store at this place and conducted it successfully for five years, but eventually disposed of his interests therein to accept the post of office manager for the E. F. Millard Sand Works, a position which he still retains. He has con- tinued to contribute materially to the success of this con- cern, and his solid business connections are of such a nature as to materially assist him in the transaction of his every- day affairs. Mr. Dunham was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Millard, who was born in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Edward F. and Sarah J. (Crook) Millard, a sketch of whose careers appears elsewhere in this volume. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dunham: Everett Millard, Dorothy Virginia, Anna Jane, Frank Taylor and Robert L., of whom Dorothy Virginia died at the age of six years, the others all residing with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Dunham are members of the United Brethren Church, and Mr. Dunham belongs to Rev. George P. Hott's Bible Class. As a fraternalist he holds member- ship in Washington Lodge No. 1, Knights of Pythias, and as a skilled musician is the leader of the Berkeley Springs Brass Band. His acquaintance is wide and his friendships numerous.