Thomas Dunlap

DUNLAP, LEIDIG, FREISINGER, HAY, WELLS, BELL, HALL, WALLEN, GOODIN, HUTSON, AXFORD, MOOD, MATTHEWS, SHOW, HARVEY, MERITT, MODLIN, EATWELL, GARDNER, BRUNK, KIMBERLEY, TOMLINSON, BOITNOTT, ELLIS, PAYNE, GIFFORD

Posted By: Deborah Gilbert (email)
Date: 9/11/2016 at 18:20:35

Maxwell Book: 1883-1983

Thomas and Hannah Leidig Dunlap were early settlers in the Peoria neighborhood, arriving in 1854. Both were natives of Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Thomas was the son of Charles and Christiana Dunlap, and one of seven children. Hannah's parents were Joseph and Hannah Freisinger Leidig, who had a family of eleven children. Beginning about 1830, a number of residents from Bedford County, Pennsylvania migrated to Coshocton County, Ohio. After another ten years, many of these same people made a second move to Hardin County, Ohio. The Dunlaps, along with many related families, following this migration pattern. When the final move to Story County was made, only their children, including several who were married, came with Thomas and Hannah Dunlap. Their children were as follows:

Caroline, who first married Brice Harvey, then John Meritt.
Sylvinia, who first married Jonathan Show and then William Matthews.
Mary, who married William Mood.
Rachel, who married Henry Axford.
George, who married Elizabeth Hutson.
Elizabeth, who married Smith Goodin.
Hiram, who married Charlotte Wallen.
Hannah, who married James Hall.
John, who married Idress Bell.
Druscilla, who married Joseph Wells.
Samuel, who died at the age of one years-old.
Sarah, who died at the age of two years-old.
Cordelia, who married Orlando Hay.

A number of letters written by Hannah Dunlap over one hundred years ago have been preserved. In these letters, she tells of the coming of the railroad to Maxwell, of her daily life as a farm wife and of her children who moved to nearby states and one daughter who lived in the 'Washington Territory.' Both John and Hiram left this area long ago, so for the past one hundred years, the descendants named Dunlap who lived in the Maxwell vicinity were all descendants of George who married Elizabeth Hutson whose parents were Rev. James and Mary Modlin Hutson.

George Dunlap was a Civil War casualty and is buried in the National Cemetery at Memphis, Tennessee. He had one child, James T. Dunlap, who was reared by his widowed mother whose Widow's Pension was $10 per month. In 1883, James T. Dunlap married Emma Eatwell. Her parents, John and Helen Gardner Eatwell had moved from Dane County, Wisconsin, in a covered wagon soon after the Civil War days. The children of James and Emma Eatwell Dunlap are as follows: Elizabeth (married Alva Gifford), George (married Susan Gifford), Mary (married Simeon Payne), Albert (married Minnie Ellis), Frank (married Gwendolyn Boitnott), Mildred (married Alonzo Tomlinson), Carrie (married John Kimberley), and Loren (married Viola Brunk). Most of this family lived in the Maxwell-Farrar area where they were active in church and school affairs and were a part of the farm community.

Mildred Dunlap Tomlinson and Albert 'Bert' Dunlap are the only living members of the James Dunlap family. The location of many of the descendants has been lost through the years but a large number still live in the Maxwell community.