Nicholas Dunagan (1787 - aft. 1871)

Born 1787 in Amherst, Virginia, United States

Husband of Rebekah (Wright) Dunagan — married 7 Aug 1811 in Greene, Tennessee, United States

Descendants

Died after 31 May 1871 after age 84 in Iowa, United States [uncertain]

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Biography

Served in War of 1812--Co 2 Tennessee Volunteers--was a farmer. His will was probated in Green, TN May 30, 1871. We have a photo that is possibly him.

Nicholas Dunagan

The son of Revolutionary War Veteran Daniel Dunagan (Dunikin), Nichoals was born in Amherst Co, Virginia about 1787. After migrating to Greene Co. Tennessee, Nicholas married Rebekah Wright in 1811. They had 9 children. In 1853, Nicholas, Rebekah and several of their children migrated to Mills Co., Iowa. A Veteran of the War of 1812, Company 2, Tennessee Volunteers, Nicholas filed for bounty land that year in Mills Co. (photo of Nicholas Dunagan in original artical not replicated here)

The 1856 Census for White Cloud Twp. lists Nicholas, 68, Rebekah, 65, sons Nicholas, 25, Patrick, 22, son-in-law Charles Kesterson, 36, with his children Thomas, 13, Catherine, 10, James, 9, Elizabeth, 7 and Charles, 2. The mother, Mary Dunagan Kesteron, had died on the river trip to Iowa, In Silver Creek Twp. were son Benjamin Dunagan, 44, wife Elizabeth and children Martha A., James H., Rebecca S. and Mary E. Other sons in White Cloud Twp. were Daniel 31, his wife Verlinda and children George H. and Elizabeth. Son Jesse J. Dunagan, 42, wife Jemima and Chidren Mary J., Lucinda, Rebecca A., John A., Elizabeth Jane, Susana and William. Daughter Elizabeth Dunagan Witt, her husband Enoch Witt and children Loweza and Martha lived near Malvern. Son John Dunagan had migrated to Missouri where he and 4 duaghters died. His widow, Margaret and surviving children Martha C. "Mittie", William A. and Benjamin F. moved to Mills Co. in 1852. Margaret remarried William Griffin. They lived in West Liberty Twp. Margaret is buried in East Liberty Cemetery. A number of the grandchildren of Nicholas and Rebkah married in Mills Co. and spent their lives there. Jesse J., Benjamin and Enoch Witt all tried their hands in the mines in Colorado Territory around 1860-1880. Jesse and Benjamin eventually settled in Nebraska; Enoch Witt returned to Iowa. No trace of Daniel, Nicholas or Patrick has been found. Rebekah died in 1859 and is buried in Hillsdale Cemetery beside her daughter, Elizabeth, her husband Enoch Witt and their children Louisa E, Martha C. and William H. Enoch and Elizabeth were among the original members of the First Baptist Church of Malvern, organized in 1870. Following Rebekah's death, Nicholas returned to East Tennessee and remarried Caroline Varner. He drew a veteran's pension, $8 per month, starting in 1871. He did return to Mills Co, in 1856 where he made out his will and left it in the possession of Leroy Britt. Of the nine children, only one, Lucinda, remarried in Tennessee where she married William R. Bryan and reared a family. An 1869 letter from Lucinda to her brother-in-law Charles Kesterson in Mills Co. relates her seeing father (Nicholas) and that 2 of her children had died of typhoid fever during the War. It is one of the ironies of the Civil War that one of Nicholas and Rebekah's grandsons, Thomas Kesterson, served in the Union Army in Company B, 29th Iowa Infantry and their son-in-law, Reuben Justus, served in the Army of the Confedracy from East Tennessee. Submitted by Wm H. Beckenhauer. This story was taken from History of Mills County Iowa 1985 published by Mills County History Book Committee; printed in USA by Taylor Publishing Co., Dallas, TX; Library of Congress No. 85-63076

Sources

• Ancestry.com family tree. censuses seem to verify the information.
• "Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VNZG-G75 : 4 December 2014), Nicholas Dunnakon and Rebeckah Wright, 07 Aug 1811; from "Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2008); citing p. 204, Greene, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee.
• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCDF-GXQ : 23 December 2020), Nicholas Dunegan, Greene, Tennessee, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDD9-W8R : 3 January 2021), Nicholas Dunnagan, 1870.

application for War of 1812 pension by wife Caroline Varner--from ancestry library.com/1133/miusa1814__1141131........