William Dunn sailed from Wexford, Ireland aboard the Bark Wexford of Wexford (yes, that’s the name of the ship) captained by Captain English on October 16, 1851 at the age of 20 years old.  He arrived on the shores on Savannah, Georgia on November 22 1851.  He renounced forever all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign Prince, Potentate, State, or Sovereignty whatever; and particularly to the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland on the 18th day of July 1855.  He first appeared on the 1860 Federal Census for Chatham County, Savannah, Georgia residing with his brother, Patrick, and their sister, Margaret, and her husband, Bartley McCarthy. He listed his  occupation as a laborer.  In the city directories, in various years, his occupation was as a blacksmith for the railroad.  Cheap labor was needed at this time in America to build the railroads and the canals, and the Irish often fit the bill. 

I haven’t been able to find out what William did during the Civil War.  I do know his brother Patrick served in the Olmstead’s Georgia Infantry for six months. 

He was still living with his sister, Margaret, and her husband, Michael, on the 1870 Census.  On the September 15, 1872 he married Anne Martin Law at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.  This Cathedral still stands in Savannah, and from the pictures I have seen on the internet, it is beautiful.  Anne was a native of Mayo, Ireland.  Anne came to America around 1860 (US Federal Census 1910).  I hope to gather more information about her later.  I want to know the name of the ship she sailed on, where she embarked.  I do know that Anne was a widow when she married William Dunn. 

By the 1880 Census, William and Anne Dunn have three little girls and one son:  Anne 7 years old, Helen 5 years old, Margaret 2 years old, and William 6 months old.  Margaret Dunn, obviously named for William’s sister, was my Dad’s Grandma, Maggie Hearn. 

Life was hard for women in the 1800’s.  On the 1900 census, Anne stated that she was the mother of 9 children, 4 of whom were living.  

William Dunn died on October 23, 1899.  His death certificate lists cerebral apoplexy, which is a stroke caused by brain hemorrhage as the cause of death.  He was buried at the Cathedral Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia.  This was the same Cathedral in which he was married to Anne and where all his children were baptized.    He left Anne behind as a widow.  Anne died on  March 23, 1918 and was buried next to her husband in Cathedral Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia.