John Dunham

1588-1668 

Deacon John Dunham was born in the year 1588, in Scrooby, Nottinghamshir, England. John Dunham was among the religious separatists who escaped from England to Holland after King James proclaimed an official state religion of England. They lived in Leiden Holland for several years and in 1620 the Mayflower brought a group of these Pilgrims to America. Some stayed behind in Holland to depart at a later date. Some authors such as Isaac Dunham in his book * Dunham Genealogy, 1907, speculate that John Dunham sailed aboard the Mayflower in 1620 under the name John Goodman while others such as Charles E. Banks M. D. in his work * The History of Martha's Vineyard Volumes 1-3 disputes this claiming a lack of evidence. I take no side on this debate. The earliest record I have seen concerning Deacon John Dunham is in Plymouth Colony puts him in America by at least the early  1630's. John married his first wife Susanna Keno (sometimes spelled Kennedy) in Holland. They had at least one child, John, and some authors say 3 children, John, Humility and Thomas. Susanna  died in Holland, after which John married Abigail Balliou (sometimes spelled Barlow). Together they had 9 children, all born at Plymouth Colony, America, Abigail, Samuel, Hannah, Jonathan, Persis, Jeptha, Benjamin, Daniel and Benajah. John was a weaver by trade and became a Deacon in the Church of Plymouth in 1633. He was a land owner and held various positions in the court at Plymouth throughout his lifetime. Though he may or may not have arrived on the Mayflower, he was one of the earliest Americans and lived his life here among the Pilgrims in Plymouth Colony. He died 1 March 1668/69. Deacon John Dunham is written about in many historical books and information concerning his life and family is plentiful. It is not my intent to include his life story here but instead I will suggest a few books containing accounts about him and other Dunham history. The books listed below can be freely downloaded from the internet.

DUNHAM, JOHN – John Dunham was born ca. 1589 (age at time of death 1668/69 was given as eighty). He was a Leiden Separatist who came to Plymouth between 1628 and 1632, probably with those who arrived from Holland in 1629 and 1630. A deacon in the Plymouth Church, he had married (1) Susan Kennedy, who died in Holland, and (2) Abigail Barlow, daughter of Thomas in Leiden on 22 October 1622. He had three children by his first wife: John, Humility and Thomas, and eight by his second wife: Samuel, Abigail, Persis, Jonathan, Hannah, Joseph, Benajah and Daniel. All the children are mentioned by Mrs. John E. Barclay, “Notes on the Dunham Family of Plymouth, Mass.,” TAG 30:143, and she carries four of them forward: John, who married a Mary; Thomas, who Mrs. Barclay believed never married, in spite of what savage and others wrote; Samuel who married (1) Martha (Beal) Fallaway and (2) the widow Sarah Watson; and Joseph, who married (1) Mercy Morton and (2) Hester Wormell. Of the other children, Abigail married Stephen Wood; Persis married (1) Benaja Pratt and (2) Jonathan Snow; Jonathan married (1) Mary Delano, and (2) Mary Cobb; Hannah married Giles Richard; Benajah married Elizabeth Tilson; and Daniel married Hannah. pp.285-286, Plymouth Colony, Its History & People, 1620-1691 by Eugene Aubrey Stratton 1986. (this book is still in print, see Google Books)

This author goes on to state, "Isaac Walton Dunham's Deacon John Dunham of Plymouth Mass., 1589-1669, and his Descendants is a very poorly written book, confusing, difficult to use and often erroneous." This is also the opinion of Charles Edward Banks, author of The History of Martha's Vineyard.

* Dunham Genealogy, by Isaac Dunham, 1907.

* History of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts Volumes 1-2-3 , by Charles Edward Banks, 1911.

* Representative Men and Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts Volumes 1-2-3, J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1912.

* These books are available for free download at American Libraries