Thomas Dunsmoor. Four decades have passed since Mr. Dunsmoor came to Clayton County and settled upon the property in Cass Township which he still owns and occupies. He has added to the original acreage, cleared much of the land and erected the buildings that meet the eyes of the visitor. At one time his landed possessions aggregated three hundred acres, but a portion of this he has sold, still retaining the ownership of one hundred and eighty well improved acres. He rents his farm, and of late years has lived practically retired from active business cares, though still maintaining a general oversight of his property.

From the earliest record of the Dunsmoor family in America we find that the great grand-father of our subject, John Dunsmoor, M. D., was born near Boston, Mass., in 1720 and in early manhood settled on a tract of Government land at Lunenburg, Mass., where he remained until his death November 22, 1794. His wife, Ruth, died January 5, 1787 at the age of seventy years. He was a man of quick, nervous temperament, whose anger was easily aroused. An incident illustrating his temper has been handed down to the present generation. One night when visiting a patient he left his horse unhitched outside the door and on leaving the house found that the animal had started off. He called to him to stop, but the horse not doing so he drew his gun and shot him dead.

The Lunenburg farm remained in the family until a few years ago. The Doctor s son, Ebenezer, was born there and spent his entire life upon the place, dying there August 24, 1827, at the age of seventy years. Suzannah, wife of Ebenezer, died in 1840, aged eighty-three. Hannah, a daughter of Dr. John Dunsmoor, died April 21, 1770, at the age of fourteen years, and was the first person buried in the new graveyard at Lunenburg. Our subject s father, William, was born on the old homestead in 1787 and died November 19, 1836 aged forty-nine years. His only sister, Sukey, died unmarried at the age of fifty years. She was quite wealthy, owning two valuable farms. William Dunsmoor was one of several brothers, the others being, Ebenezer, a farmer, who died in Vermont; Abram, who died in the Green Mountain State; John, formerly a resident of Grafton, Vt., who died in Massachusetts; Samuel, an agriculturist, who died in the old Bay State; Thomas, Captain of the militia, who died on the old homestead, September 4, 1853; and Joseph, a farmer, who died near Boston.

The family of which our subject is a member consisted of four sons and one daughter that attained years of maturity. The daughter, Parnell, was born in Massachusetts April 14, 1814, married Silas Ross, by whom she had three sons and two daughters, and was the first of the family to come west, the year 1851 witnessing her arrival in Buchanan County, Iowa. The eldest son, William, was born in Ludlow, Vt., July 1, 1818, and married Lucinda Litchfield, a native of Massachusetts, who died in 1874. They had six children, of whom five are now living, as follows: Ellen, wife of Daniel Perry, a wealthy resident of Florida; William, a carpenter; Herbert, a farmer in Clayton County; Miles, an agriculturist in Delaware County; and Abby, wife of Martin Sager, a merchant of Lamont, Iowa. William Dunsmoor came west in 1853 and settled on a farm in Delaware County just across the Clayton County line, where he has since retired. The other living brother of our subject is Joseph, whose home is on a farm in Delaware County south of his brother William s estate.

When the family left Vermont the subject of this sketch was a child of four years. He was reared to manhood on the home place in Massachusetts, and was only eight years of age when he was orphaned by his father s death. His education was such as a common schools afforded, and to the information there gained he has since added by self-culture. On Thanksgiving Day in 1850 he was united in marriage with Miss Nancy L. Wetherbee, a native of Lunenburg, Mass. She was but a small child when her father died, and her mother, whose family name was Hudson, afterward became the wife of a Mr. Litchfield.

In May, 1854, our subject came to Iowa and bought a portion of his present farm, which is located in the southwest corner of Clayton County and directly north of the farms belonging to his brothers William and Joseph. At the time of settling here there was not a single neighbor on the west for a distance of ten miles, and indeed settlers were comparatively few through all portions of the township. He has lived to witness the vast improvement of the county and the development of agricultural resources, and to this has himself largely contributed. He has gained wealth through exercise of energy and prudence, and is one of the most prosperous agriculturists of the county.

For seven generations in the Dunsmoor family there has been one daughter and seven sons, through not all have attained years of maturity. Our subject s family is no exception to the usual rule, for he has seven sons and one daughter. At present, however, but four sons and the daughter are living. They are: Charles, a railroad engineer residing in Cherokee, Iowa, who is married and has six children; Frederick M., born May 26, 1855, who is married, has five living children and resides at Strawberry Point; Ellis, who was born in 1858 and is married, has five living children and died in infancy; James P., born December 16, 1862, who was educated at Upper Iowa University, is married and has two children, and makes his home at Strawberry Point; Myron W., who was born in 1864 and died at the age of eighteen months; Orin W., who was born December 5, 1869, and died in 1877; Mary E., born in 1871, now the wife of Samuel B. Teesdel, a farmer residing in Fayette County, Iowa; and Judge T., born August 17, 1873, and educated at Upper Iowa University.

In local affairs Mr. Dunsmoor is quite prominent, and, as every loyal citizen should, gives his support to enterprises for the promotion of the interests of the county and the welfare of the people. For several years he served as Trustee, and has also filled the position of School Director. Socially he is identified with the Masonic fraternity. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Dunsmoor is a Trustee.

~source: Portrait and Biographical Record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton Counties; Chicago: Chapman Pub. Co., 1894; pg 442-443
~transcribed by Suzanne Terrell