Notes:

NOTE 1./ taken from JOHN DUNNAM (This is a work in progress...not yet complete)
at <> Unknown author of website

THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF JOHN DUNHAM BUNDLE MM NO 4

IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN John Dunham of South Carolina , Planter , being of sound & disposing mind, memory, & understanding, do make this my last will and testament in manner & form following (that is to say) Imprimis, I do hereby declare my will and mind to be that my body be buried decently at the discretion of my Exors. hereafter named, and as touching the Disposition of all my Temporal Estate, I give and dispose thereof as Followeth:

IMPRIMIS I will that my debts and funeral charges shall be paid

ITEM I give and bequeath to my Dear and loving Wife Hannah Dunham, two Negros by name Jack and Jenny & my household goods & cattle at her Disposal

ITEM I give and bequeath to my loving son John Dunham, six hundred acres of land in the Pine Barrony, one negro man name Hector & two negro boys, Adam & Glouster.

ITEM I give and bequeath to my loving Daughter Hannah Dunham one Negro man by name Scipio and one Negro Woman Dina.

ITEM I give and bequeath to my loving Daughter Sarah Dunham one Negro man by name Mingo & one Negro woman Flora.

ITEM I give and bequeath to my loving son Ebenezer Dunham one Negro man by name Prince & two Negro boys George and Pompey & and the house & Plantation I dwell in , the Plantation consisting of two hundred and twelve acres with outhouses &

ALL the rest of my personal Estate, goods, and chattells whatsoever. I give and bequeath unto my Dear and loving Wife Hannah Dunham whom I do make Executrix & David Russ Executor, & I do hereby revoke all former wills by me heretofore made and do declare this to be my last will & Testament contained in one sheet of paper in Witness whereof, I have to the top of this sheet set my hand & seal & to the bottom of this sheet my hand and Seal this Twenty Eight Day of April one thousand Seven Hundred & Twenty Five.

Signed Sealed Published & declared by the said John Dunnam (LS)

Testator as his last will and Testament in the presence

of us who subscribed our names in the presence of the

said Testator

David Russ, Executor

Experience Howard (his Mark)

John Johnson

South Carolina

By the Honorable Arthur Middleton, Esq. President, Commander in Chief & Ordinary of this Province----- February 24, 1727------------

Personally appeared before one Experience Howard & John Johnson, who being duely sworn on the holy Evangelist of Almighty God declare they were present and did see the above named Testator John Dunnam signed seal publish and declare the above Instrument to be his last will and Testament & that the said John Dunnam was at the same time of sound and disproving mind memory and understanding to the best of these Deponants, Judgments, & that these Deponants subscribed their names as Witnesses in the said Testators Presence.

Ar Middleton

South Carolina

By the Hon'ble Arthur Middleton, Esq. President, Commander, in Chief in and over this his Majestys Province of South Carolina & Ordinary of the same

To all to whom these presents shall come greeting------

KNOW ye that on the twenty fourth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred twenty and seven the last will and Testament of John Dunnam, deceased was proved, approved and allowed of the said deceased having while he lived and at the time of his death diverse goods, rights & credditts within the province aforesaid by means where of the approbation and allowing of his Testament the power of of granting the adincon of all and singular the goods rights and credditts of the said dec'd and also the auditing the accounts, calculations and recordings of the said adincon & the final dismission and discharge for the same to me is manifestly known to belong and that the adincon of all & singular the goods, rights and creddits of the said deceased and their Testaments any manner of way concerning was committed unto Hannah Dunham widdow named Executrix & David Russ named Executor in the said last will and Testament , being sworn on the holy Evangelists of Almighty God well and faithfully to admin the same and to make a full and perfect Inventory of all and singular the goods, rights, and credditts of the said deceased and to Exhibit the same into the Secretarys Office in Charles Town in order to be recorded at or before the first day of July next ensuing and to render a just & true accompt calculation and reconing there of when thereunto required.

IN TESTIMONY whereof I have hereunto set my hand &

seal this seventh day of March Anno Domini 1727 and in the

first year of the reign of our Soveraign Lord George the Second

by the grace of God of Great Brittain, France, & Ireland King

Defender of the faith.

Ar Middleton

South Carolina

By the Honorable Arthur Middleton , Esq President & Commander & Chief

in and over this his Magestys Province of South Carolina

These are to authorize and impower you or any three or four of you whose names are here under written, to repair to all such parts and places within the Province as you shall be directed unto by Hannah Dunham & David Russ Exors of the last will and Testament of John Dunnam late of this Province, deceased, wheresoever any of the goods of said deceased are or do remain written the said parts and places which shall be shewn to you by the said Hannah Dunham & David Russ and there view and appraise all and every of the said goods being first sworn on the holy Evangelists to make a full and perfect inventory & Aappraisment & cause the same be returned under the hands of any three or four of you into the Secretarys Office in Charles Town in order to be recorded on or before the first day of July next ensuing.

Dated the seventh day of March in the first year of his Majestys

reigh Anno Domini 1727---------Ar Middleton

Recorded 7 March 1727 Char: Hart Seity

INVENTORY of JOHN DUNHAM Bundle 0: 0: N 13

South Carolina

Persuant to a warrant directed to us by the Honorable Arthur Middleton, Esq. President & Commander in Chief over this Province on Satturday the 15 th of this ins't February 1728 at the dwelling house of Hannah Dunham Widdow & Executrix of the dec'ed John Dunham wee appraized all & singular the goods & chattles the said Executrix brought to our view belonging to rhe dec'ed the exact inventory whereof wee have here denoted in the following part of this schedule.

One Negro man named Scipio------------------------200 0 0
One Negro man named Prince------------------------220 0 0
One Negro man named Jack--------------------------200 0 0
One Negro man named Hector-----------------------180 0 0
One Negro man named Mingo-----------------------150 0 0
One Negro boy named Adam--------------------------90 0 0
One Negro boy named George------------------------75 0 0
One Negro woman Diana & Rose her child------150 0 0
One Negro woman called Jenny--------------------100 0 0
One Negro boy called Pompey------------------=--- 50 0 0
One Negro boy called Gloster------------------------ 40 0 0
One Negro girl called Maria--------------------------- 30 0 0
One Negro Wench called Flora----------------------110 0 0
Seventy head of cattle 3. pr head--------------------210 0 0
Six head of Horses, Mares & Colts------------------ 45 0 0
One Horse sold--------------------------------------------30 0 0
Four Oxen Sold--------------------------------------------40 0 0
The Deced wearing apparell----------------------------30 0 0
One Woole bed--------------------------------------------- 2 0 0
Two jugs-----------------------------------------------------1 10 0
Two boxes & a trunk---------------------------------------3 0 0
Brought over---------------------------------------------------1956 10 0
A large trunk--------------------------------------------------------1 10 0
Bed covering & bed stead-----------------------------------7 0 0
One spinning wheel---------------------------------------------1 10 0
Seven chairs & an old table---------------------------------2 5 0
Seven Reap hooks-----------------------------------------------1 0 0
One whip saw-------------------------------------------------------5 0 0
Two old saws-------------------------------------------------------1 10 0
Three old chairs---------------------------------------------------4 0 0
A p r cell of old pewter------------------------------------------7 10 0
A p r cell of old iron-----------------------------------------------7 5 0
Wedges of old Iron-----------------------------------------------3 0 0
One steel corn mill------------------------------------------------5 0 0
One plough iron-----------------------------------------------------6 0 0
Three hoes and a frying pan-------------------------------- 1 10 0
Two yoake Irons------------------------------------------------------ 15 0
One cart boxes & ring--------------------------------------------7 10 0
Three iron potts tongs & hanger----------------------------9 0 0
A p r cell of Hogs---------------------------------------------------15 0 0
SUM TOTAL------------------------------------------------------2042 14 0

___________________________________

Wee the sworne appraizers of the goods & chattels of John Dunham, dec'ed do certify that the above written is a true and perfect inventory of our apparaisment in testimony where of wee hereuntoo sett our hands this twenty eight of February 1728/9

Rich. Harris Isaac Lesene John Stewart

James Stewart David Russ

South Carolina

MEMORANDUM that on this present Saturday being the fifteenth day of February Anno Domini 1728 -- personally came & appeared before me robt Daniel, Esq. one of his Majesties Justices of the Peace for Berkly County Rich Harris, Isaac Lesene, John Stewart, David Russ & james Stewart being five of the appraisers appointed & by the within Warrant of Appraizem't were sworn on the holy Evangelists of Almighty God to make full & perfect inventory and Apppraizme't of all such goods of John Dunham late deced as should be shewn to them by Hannah Dunham his Execurtrix of all & singular the goods, rights & credits of the said deced & to cause due return to be made of the same.

Jur Cor Me Robt Daniell

John married Hannah SINGLETARY about 1713 in St.Thomas & St.Denis Parish, SC. Hannah (daughter of Benjamin SINGLETARY and Mary STOCKBRIDGE) was born on 18 Oct 1696 in South Carolina; died in in St Thomas St Denis Parish, South Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Hannah RUSS. Hannah (daughter of John RUSS and Hannah ROSS) was born on 20 Feb 1695 in Andover Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Elizabeth CUTTINO before 1739. Elizabeth (daughter of PeterJr CUTTINO) was born in in South Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Hannah married Joseph SINGLETARY on 30 Mar 1745 in St Philips Parish, South Carolina. Joseph (son of Richard SINGLETARY and Sarah STEWART) was born on 14 Jun 1721 in St. Thomas Parish, South Carolina; died in in South Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ebenezer married Frances COMMANDER on 20 Feb 1745 in Prince Fredrick Parish, South Carolina. Frances (daughter of Samuel COMMANDER and Elizabeth SCREVEN) was born after 1726 in South Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Robert Dunnam and Susan Burn(e) migrated to Georgetown then up the Great Pee Dee River to Marion District where he developed a Plantation on the Pee Dee River, near Snow Island, at a place known to this day as Dunham's Bluff. During the American Revolution, Robert, John, and Ebenezer Dunnam, along with his brother in law, Andrew Burn(e), brother to Susan, gathered supplies for General Francis Marion, who quartered his troops during the Winter, on Snow Island. There are many Indents, dated around 1780-85, a form of receipt in the South Carolina Archives, giving evidence of their work. There are Indents for hogs, sheep beef, corn and other supplies.

Robert Dunnam is said to have lost his life trying to fly with a large pair of wings he had constructed. He jumped from a tall tree on his plantation at Dunham's Bluff into "Nigger Lake" and drowned. He was buried at the family plot on his plantation.

Robert married Susan BURNE in 1746 in Dorchester, South Carolina. Susan was born in 1730; died in 1800 in Marion County, South Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

NOTE 1./
John Peter Dunnam probably moved from Berkely County area to Georgetown where he lived for some time. While there in 1801 he signed the incorporation papers of the Baptist Church there. He married Elizabeth Cuttino. The Cuttino's were active Baptist there.

He is said to be a Doctor and in the sale of his property in 1815 after his death there medicines and equipment was sold. An the sale of items show that he had considerable Slaves and possessions. He move to Marion County S C where he received land and later to the county line between Marion and Marlborough County. His name appears on the 1820 Mills Atlas as owning a plantation on the county line. Both he and his wife died in October of 1815, perhaps in an epidemic of some sort.

His will is probated in in the County Court of Marlborough County, with his son John serving as Administrator. His son William lived in the area and died about 1817. Two of his sons, Ebenezer and John, left S C and came to Mississippi Territory, first to Monroe County, Al., then to Greene County, Ms around 1838.

NOTE 2./ Historical Note: The Year Was 1789

The year was 1789 and in the U.S. a young government was beginning to take shape. In its first nationwide election, the popular Revolutionary War general, George Washington, became the country's first president and was sworn in at the first capitol of the United States, Federal Hall in New York City.

In France, a rebellion was underway and with the storming of the Bastille prison, the French Revolution began. In its reporting on the subject, The Times of London, England had the following to say of the conflict:

The spirit of liberty which so long lay in a state of death, oppressed by the hand of power, received its first spark of returning animation, by the incautious and impolitic assistance afforded to America. The French soldier on his return from that emancipated continent, told a glorious tale to his countrymen--"That the arms of France had given freedome to thirteen United States, and planted the standard of liberty on the battlements of New York and Philadelphia." The idea of such a noble deed became a general object of admiration, the [facets?] of a similar state were eagerly longed for by all ranks of people, and the vox populi had this force of argument--"If France gave freedom to America, why should she not unchain the arbitrary fetters which bind her own people.

Later that year, the Marquis de Lafayette, with the advice of Thomas Jefferson who was at the time the American ambassador to France, drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. It was adopted by France's National Assembly in August and ratified by Louis XVI in October.

There was unrest in other parts of the world as well. Sweden and Russia were at war, and briefly, Norway had joined the conflict, although a peace treaty was signed in July 1789.

In a smaller, but well-known conflict, the mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty was also in the year 1789. On April 28, part of the crew of the Bounty, led by Fletcher Christian, mutinied and set Captain William Bligh and eighteen crewmembers adrift. Bligh managed to get the boat some 3,600 miles to Timor. Some of the mutineers were captured and prosecuted--three were hanged, while others, including Fletcher Christian ended up on Pitcairn Island, where some of their descendants live to this day.

In 1789, there was an epidemic of influenza in New England, New York, and Nova Scotia, which resulted in many deaths due to secondary cases of pneumonia. The new president was among those who fell ill. He caught a cold while visiting Boston, and later, was affected more seriously with influenza, which was dubbed Washington Influenza.

John married Elizabeth MCCANTS on 03 Feb 1770 in South Carolina. Elizabeth (daughter of Unknown MCCANTS and Rachel COMMANDER) was born on 12 Dec 1749 in South Carolina; died in Oct 1815 in South Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jacob married Elizabeth BLACKWELL on 04 Aug 1778 in South Carolina. Elizabeth was born about 1760 in Georgetown, Georgetown, SC. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Jonah WOODBURY. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Susan married WilliamSr DAVIS in 1768. WilliamSr (son of Benjamin DAVIS and Rachel PORT) was born in Mar 1750 in Craven County, S C; died in 1824 in Marion County, South Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ann married John Peter PORT in 1785. John was born in 1754. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Robert Commander Dunnam, Sr., the son of Robert Dunnam and Susan Burn(e) migrated through Georgia, with his wife Mary ann (Davis) where he settled in Baldwin District, Mississippi Territory, with his family. He probably made more than one trip from South Carolina to Baldwin County, for there are several land transactions in which he sold his property in Marion District, South Carolina.

His son, Robert Commander Dunnam, Jr., married Sarah Lewis March 22, 1910, in Randolph County, Georgia. He came on to Baldwin County, Mississippi Territory (now Baldwin County, AL.). Then to Monroe and Wilcox County, Alabama.

Along with Robert Commander Dunnam, Jr., came Rev. John Jenkins and Rev. James Jenkins. They married two of his sisters. Also some of the Lewises, related to Sarah Lewis, came and all settled in Wilcox County, Alabama, many are buried in the Jenkins Family Cemetery near Oak Hill, Wilcox County, Alabama.

In Baldwin County, Robert Commander Dunnam, Sr. wrote his will in which he lists all his children and names his "Trusty Friend", Samuel Ervin, as one of his Executors, along with his wife Ann; son, Robert Commander Dunnam, Jr.; and William Godfrey.

Some of Robert Commander Dunnam, Sr. children settled in Monroe County, Alabama. Others migrated to Shelby County, and one to Tippah County, Mississippi, and on to Texas. Some, however, settled in Wilcox County, and their descendants remain in the area to this day.

RobertSr married Mary Ann DAVIS in 1784 in South Carolina. Mary (daughter of Benjamin DAVIS and Rachel PORT) was born in 1762 in Marion District, S C; died before 1825. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: BenjaminJr DAVIS. BenjaminJr (son of Benjamin DAVIS and Rachel PORT) was born in 1754; died in 1802. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Frances married Rev John JENKINS about 1810. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Robert Commander Dunnam, Jr., married Sarah Lewis March 22, 1910, in Randolph County, Georgia. He came on to Baldwin County, Mississippi Territory (now Baldwin County, AL.). Then to Monroe and Wilcox County, Alabama.

Along with Robert Commander Dunnam, Jr., came Rev. John Jenkins and Rev. James Jenkins. They married two of his sisters. Also some of the Lewises, related to Sarah Lewis, came and all settled in Wilcox County, Alabama, many are buried in the Jenkins Family Cemetery near Oak Hill, Wilcox County, Alabama.

Robert Commander Dunnam, Jr., born about 1786, and his wife, Sarah Lewis, settled in the area around Oak Hill. Other relatives lived in McWilliams, Nadawa, Lower Peach Tree, and Rehobath. Rev. Robert Commander Dunnam, Jr. was a Methodist Protestant Clergyman. On December 15, 1834, he was granted the right, by the Orphans Court of Wilcox County, to Solemnize the Rites of Matrimony. Before 1844, Robert Commander Dunnam, Jr. died and his oldest son, Samuel Jenkins Dunnam, and Enoch Hooper Cook, are bonded as administrators for the his infant children, and heirs to his estate

RobertJr married Sarah LEWIS on 22 Mar 1810 in Randolph County, Georgia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Margaret married Rev James JENKINS in 1812. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: John FORD. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Agatha JAMES. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Martha WATSON. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Sarah PTITCHET. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Doctor Joseph LOCK on 13 Jan 1825 in Marion County, South Carolina. Doctor (son of John LOCK and Mary WILSON) was born on 15 Jan 1797 in Bladen County, North Carolina; died on 07 Aug 1850 in Monroe County, Alabama. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Note for: William Davis Dunnam, 1807 - AFT. 1857
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William Davis Dunnam left Monroe County, Alabama and went first to Coosa County, Alabama, then to Tippah County, Mississippi, where he reared a family and most likely died there. There are Dunnams in that area today who are his descendants.
William Davis Dunnam came to Mississippi about 1843. Children born before 1842 were born in Alabama, and children born after 1844 was born in MS.

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth UNKNOWN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]