Samuel Dunn (1724 - 1790)

Born 11 Feb 1724 in Rhode Island

Ancestors

Husband of Esther Tourtellot — married 12 Sep 1746 in Glocester, Providence, Rhode Island

Descendants

Died 1790 at about age 65 in Cap Francois, West Indies

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Biography

Capt Samuel Dunn was born in 1724 at Newport, Rhode Island, the son of Samuel and Ann Dunn^[1][2] He married Esther Tourtellot in 1746, and they had children

1. Samuel Dunn Jr. (1747 - 1815) m. Sarah Cutler (m.1779)
2. Benjamin Dunn (1749 - 1779)
3. Bernon Dunn (1751 - 1752)
4. Cary Dunn (1754 - 1775)
5. Esther Dunn (1756 - 1835) m. Thomas Jones (1746 - 1815)
6. Capt. Bernon Dunn (1758 - 1823) m. Amey Jackson (1769 - 1848)
7. Anne Dunn (1765 - 1852) m. Gov. Capt. William Jones (1753 - 1852)

Death 20 May 1790 aged 66 in RI ^[3] He is buried in Saint Johns Cemetery, Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island. FAG Memorial ID 21383483 ^[4] The headstone says that he died in Cape Francois, Haiti. This is corroborated by a notice from May 20, 1790 in the United States Chronicle announcing his death: "Capt. Samuel Dunn, a nautical commander from this port, at Cape St. Francois, W. I. in 66th year."^[5]. A notice in the Providence Gazette and Country Journal on 6 November 1790 requests claimants against the estate of Samuel Dunn to make themselves known to the executor and executrix of the estate, Bernon Dunn and Esther Dunn.^[6]

Research Notes

A Samuel Dunn was reported to have been involved in the notorious Gaspee Affair in which the British ship Gaspee, after running aground in Narragansett Bay, was burned to the waterline and then exploded. The identities of the perpetrators were kept secret, leaving some uncertainty about their identities.

It is not clear exactly which Samuel participated, but there is fairly broad agreement that it was Samuel Dunn.^[7]

Some researchers have assumed the present Samuel was the same man as Samuel Dunn. This Samuel Dunn and the other mentioned above were definitely two different men, since they married two different women and were having children during an overlapping period from 1747 into the 1750s. It is unfortunate that the New Shoreham census records for the 1774 Census of Rhode Island do not show names, since we could expect both Samuel Dunn and his son Samuel Jr. to appear in those records.

This Samuel appears in the 1774 census of Rhode Island^[8] in Providence. His household tallies and inferred attributions are

• four white males over 16, Samuel and sons Samuel, Benjamin, and Carey
• one white male under 16, son Bernon
• two white females over 16, Esther and daughter Esther
• one white female under 16, daughter Ann

This data aligns perfectly with Samuel's known children.

Sources

1. ↑ Arnold: Vol. 4, Newport Births, Page 94 -- no name is given, only the birth date of Feb. 11 1723-4
2. ↑ Chapin, page 12
3. ↑ Rhode Island, Vital Extracts, 1636-1899
4. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21383483#
5. ↑ Arnold, Vital Records of Rhode Island, v. 15, p.498
6. ↑ Providence Gazette and Country Journal, 6 November 1790; image online
7. ↑ The website gaspee.org has an analysis of genealogical records, while the website gaspee.info takes a more critical view, asking some good questions to cast doubt on Samuel's identity.
8. ↑ 1774 Census

• Arnold, James N. Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636-1850 (Providence, R.I., Narragansett Historical Pub. Co., 1891)

• Chapin, William W. Descendants of Samuel Dunn (1699-1740) of Newport, Including Descendants of William Jones (1691-1740), self-published in Providence, 1915; in the collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society.

• 1774 Rhode Island Census, Providence, Page 7, Entry 33 -- Samuel Dunn; citing transcription by Cherry Fletcher Bamberg in Rhode Island Roots 31 p.76, June 2005.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Skip Locke for creating WikiTree profile Dunn-2413 through the import of LockeGedcom.ged on Feb 17, 2013. User ID 25212AD5561E4337B49632F0D7F659C88D89 Prior to import, this record was last changed 7 AUG 2011.

Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Skip and others.