William Robert “Bob” Dunning 1870-1961

William Robert “Bob” Dunning was born August 29, 1870 in Silver Hill, Davidson, North Carolina.  His father was William Dunning  who was a farm laborer and his mother was Mary Rhodes Dunning who kept house.  Bob had two older brothers.  David was three years older than Bob and John was one year older.

This newspaper article from The Carolina Watchman, published the week after Bob Dunning’s birth lists the staples his family would have survived on:  Eggs were 10 to 12 cents per dozen and bacon was 16 to 18 cents per pound.

In the 1880 census, there is no longer a husband in the house.  Mary is the head of the house and she is listed as a widow or divorced.  The children in the house are David, age 13, John age 11,  Robert or “Bob”,age 9,  Washington or “Wash”, age 7, and Martha age 1.  They are living in Silver Hill in Davidson County.  Silver Hill was a mining town and the mine had just reopened in 1879.  This article is from  The Goldsboro Messenger on June 19, 1979, page 2.

Bob Dunning grew up poor in a family with no father.  Mother Mary and  youngest daughter Martha were put in the poor house and she died soon after.  Family historians say that Bob lived with Pinkney Redwine and that Mr. Redwine  gave him some farm land.    This apprenticeship bond found at the NC State Archives Davidson County Apprenticeship Bonds 1870-1918, page 75 shows that Bob was an orphan at age 13 years and two months when he became an apprentice to W P Redwine.   Mr. Redwine was supposed to teach him farming and otherwise provide for his basic needs.  Bob was to be his apprentice and servant until age 21.  At that time Mr. Redwine was to provide him with $100 and a Bible.

His brother “Wash” would have been twelve and baby sister, Martha Jane would have been seven when the children were orphaned.  Martha Jane was raised by the maternal side of the family (Rhodes).  Wash may have been bound out as well.

On September 8, 1891 “Bob” Dunning was wed to Cora Bell Doby.

In the first decade of their marriage, Cora Belle and “Bob” are blessed with six daughters. These were Ethel Lou born in 1892, Bertie Alice born in 1894, Minnie Irene born in 1896, Fannie, born in 1897, Marry A in 1898, and Lillie Beatrice was born in 1900.

Cora Belle and Bob continued to live in Healing Spring. They were living on a farm there in the 1900 census with their six daughters. Bob Dunning is a farmer there. Ethel Lou age 7, Bertie Alice age 6, and Minnie Irene, age 5 all attended school some months during the year. Fannie, Marry A, and Lillie Beatrice did not attend school as they were toddlers or babies.

Bob and Cora Belle have a son, Robert Lee Dunning, who was born sometime after 1900 who dies and is buried at Clear Springs Methodist Church in the Healing Springs Community in 1902. Two other sons are then born. William Adam was born in 1903 and Walter Goldsberry was born in 1905.

Bob Dunning appears to have been civic minded.  Articles from  The Lexington Dispatch  show him to be on the Healing Springs School Committee during this time period.

Daughter Carrie L Dunning is born to Cora Belle and William Robert in 1907. The Dunning family continues to live at Healing Springs.   Cora Belle and William Robert’s daughter, Cora May,  dies on February 4, 1909 and is buried at Clear Springs.

In 1910, Cora Belle and William Robert continue to live in the Healing Springs community on their rented farm. They have nine living children now. Ethel Lou, Bertie Alice, Minnie Irene, Fannie, Marry A, Lillie Beatrice, William Adam, Walter Goldsberry, and Carrie B. All of them are attending school except for Walter and Carrie who are too young.

Cora Belle’s final child and another daughter, Lola Pearle was born at Healing Springs on April 9, 1911. Daughter Minnie Irene sickens and passes away on October 18, 1915 at the age of 19. She had been ill since at least September when the Lexington Dispatch reported her very ill.

On January 16, 1918,  The Dispatch  reported that W R “Bob” Dunning served as a Juror in Healing Springs.

In the 1920 census, the four oldest girls have married and left home  (Ethel Lou, Bertie Alice, Fannie, and Mary Adaline).  Bob and Cora Belle are still living in Healing Springs.  Lilly Beatrice has married Edward Gallimore and they are living in the Dunning home as are Walter, Adam, Carrie, and Pearl.  Cora Belle is suffering from gall stones and in December of that year, she dies from complications from gallstones.

Pearl, the baby of the family is only nine years old when her mother dies in 1920.  This is a picture of Pearl with her pet dog from that time period.

More sadness comes to the family in 1923 when daughter Fannie sickens and dies from pulmonary tuberculosis.  Fannie married John Beck in 1920 and had lost several infants in the three-year period they were married, dying at the age of 25 leaving no living children.

On October 24, 1928, “Bob” Dunning remarried.  The fifty-eight year old widower married a thirty-five year old widow, Eva Bowers Charles.  She was the widow of Joe F. Charles and had two daughters, Eva Aleine aged 9 and Mary Audrey aged 7.  On June 18, 1929, “Bob” and Eva have a son together.  His name was Darrell Austin but he was called Austin.

In the 1930 census, the Dunning family are living in Thomasville in Davidson County in a house they own.  The household includes “Bob” and Eva and children Aleine, Mary, and Austin.  All of the older have left home and married.  The baby of the first family, Pearl is living in High Point with Charles and Lillie Perdue as a roomer.  She is working in a hosiery mill as a looper.

In the 1940 census, the Dunning family is still living in Thomasville in Davidson County.  The family now includes only “Bob”, age 69, Eva, age 47, and Austin, age 10.  “Bob” is still listed as a farmer and Eva does not work outside the home.  Eva dies the next year at age 48, leaving “Bob” to raise Austin alone.

William Robert Dunning lived to the ripe old age of ninety.  He outlived all of his sblings.  David died before 1930.  John wandered away from home in 1943 and died of exposure. “Wash” died in 1950 and sister Martha died in 1953.  “Bob” died in the rest home in Granite Quarry on February 28, 1961.  His obituary appeared in The Courier Tribune on March 2, 1961, page 12B.

William Robert “Bob” Dunning was buried by his wife Cora Belle Doby Dunning in the family plot at  Clear Springs Methodist Church in the Healing Springs Community of Davidson County, North Carolina.

Cora Belle Doby and William Robert Dunning’s children were:
1. Ethel Lou Dunning 1892-1969 married Oscar Lewis Brady Sr. 1888-1963
2. Bertie Alice Dunning 1894-1995 married James Harrison Cameron 1883-1971
3. Minnie Irene Dunning 1896-1915
4. Fannie Dunning 1897-1923 married John Everett Beck 1895-1959
5. Marry A Dunning 1898-1974 married Ernest Dexter Sexton 1893-1979
6. Lillie Beatrice Dunning 1900-1972 married Edmund Burch Gallimore 1896-1952
7. Robert Lee Dunning died 1902
8. William Adam Dunning 1903-1971 married Sadie Lee Everhart 1910-2002
9. Walter Goldsberry Dunning 1905-1988 married Mary Elizabeth Brady 1908-1982
10. Carrie L. Dunning 1907-1968 married Edward Emerson Rogers 1897-1956
11. Cora May Dunning died 1909
12. Lola Pearle Dunning 1911-2003 married Dewey E Rogers 1910-1934 and Martin E Cooper 1895-1987

William Robert Dunning also had one child with his second wife, Eva Bowers Charles Dunning.  That child is still living, inheriting his father’s proclivity for long life.  Below is the February 28, 1961 obituary from The Lexington Dispatch when William R Dunning passed away.

 

References available at Rogers Family Tree on Ancestry
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/34712803/family
and at Family Search https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LYWF-YKW