Samuel Washington Dunaway was the son of Samuel McNight Dunaway (1809 – 1876) and Julia Tarpley (1817 – 1893). Sam, the father, was an early pioneer in Williamson County and helped settle the village of Bainbridge. He was a merchant, railroad president and he bought and sold much land in Williamson County’s early period.
Samuel W. was the fourth child of 14 or 15 children of Sam and Julia born on August 2, 1841 in Bainbridge. In 1850, Samuel W. was eight years old and the family was living in Bainbridge, just west of Marion in section 16, township 9 range 2E. By 1860, Samuel W. was just 18 years old but had personal property valued at $400, which may have been his own horse. His father, Samuel, had acquired quite a bit of real estate and personal property by this time. Samuel W. seemed destined to follow in his father’s footsteps.
He acquired much of his land by buying land that early buyers from the government land office had purchased but were losing because they could not pay the taxes. Both Samuel W. and his brother Thomas bought up much of this land. They then resold it to migrants moving in from the east and south. The population in Williamson County was expanding rapidly.
On April 8, 1863, Samuel W. Dunaway and Virginia “Jennie” Thorne were married. Virginia was the only surviving child of Saran Ann Gannaway Scates and James Patten Thorne. (In the late 1840’s, after marrying on January 19, 1846 in Smyth County, Virginia, James P. Thorne and Sarah Ann Scates Thorne arrived in Marion. In 1849, James got gold rush fever and left for California, leaving Sarah Ann and three children alone in Marion. In 1850, at census time, Sarah Ann and her three children were living in a hotel. The two younger children died on the same day while James was gone. James returned but died in Marion on Sep 15, 1852. Before he died he asked John Goodall to assist his wife in settling his estate and helping her and Virginia S. return to Virginia where they came from. Four years later John returned to Virginia to court Sarah. They were married in Virginia and returned to Illinois. John Goodall and Sarah raised Virginia along with their own children. At the 1860 census Virginia had $3700 in real estate and $1000 in personal property. This was probably from her father’s estate. Sarah died April 22, 1897. She had been in her room for 3 years after a stroke. She was the daughter of Zebulon B and Eliza Brownlaw Scates.)
Dunaway served as Trustee of Marion for four terms in 1868,1870, 1871 and 1873.
In 1870 Samuel W. and his wife Virginia had two children, Ada 6 and Edgar 3 and were living in Marion. During this period he was in business with his father in Dunaway and Son. In 1874 S.W. Dunaway became a partner in Goodall and Campbell selling general merchandise. He also carried on his real estate interests and was often at the court house dealing with foreclosures, settling deeds, clearing titles and dealing with injunctions.
By 1880 Sam and Jennie had moved to Carbondale where he actively continued his investment and real estate businesses. In the census he lists his occupation as merchant. His brother George, a grocer, and a domestic servant and their two children were living with them.
In January of this same year a fire on the west side of the square in Marion that started in J.M. Cline’s drug store burned down three additional two story buildings, one of which belonged to Dunaway.
A relatively late use of the Bracketed Italianate style of architecture can be seen in the home Samuel W. built in 1881 at 409 W. Main Street in Carbondale. It is an apartment house now, but in its day must have been spectacular. It is said that silver dollars had been implanted in the hearth of one of the fire places.
During the administration of Governor Altgeld, from 1893-1897, Samuel served as a resident trustee of the Southern Illinois Normal University.
Their son Ed died on February 12, 1896. After this time, Samuel W. semi-retired, only taking care of his real estate in Carbondale and elsewhere.
In 1899 Samuel W. and his son-in-law, Judge A. S. Caldwell, sold their stock in the Jackson State Bank and it was consolidated with the Bank of Carbondale. They had been instrumental in establishing the Jackson State Bank. S.W. was President, Frank T. Joyner was cashier and William W. Clemens from Marion was Vice-president. Joyner was Clemens’s son-in-law.
In the 1900 census Samuel, 55, and Virginia were living on a farm and Samuel listed his occupation as farmer. They had two servants living with them, Essie Tucker, 17, and Harman Valentine 14. Essie was a domestic servant and Harman probably helped out with the farm. It appears that after the death of their son that Samuel W. and Virginia were seeking a simpler life.
Also in 1900, Amzi F. White rode over to Carbondale from Marion to purchase a business block on the Marion square from Dunaway. White paid $7,000 for the 800 block on the public square and proceeded to build a two story brick building on the corner of the square and S. Market which stood until the block was leveled in the 1990’s to make way for the Marion Civic Center.
In 1902 the Ayer and Lord Tie Company (railroad ties) took an option, at $40 per acre, on the 240 acre farm of Samuel Dunaway, a cost of $9600 ($260,000 in today’s currency.) Dunaway had also established a couple of pieces of annexed property in Carbondale that still bear his name.
Samuel had had several recurrences of serious rheumatic trouble, but he had only been ill two weeks when he died. They had planned to take him on the next day by train to Hot Springs, Arkansas but he died October 15, 1905 at the age of 64. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Carbondale. They had been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
After his death, his estate was paid $11,200 in insurance. His obituary stated that “his many years of business activity and his superior business abilities enabled him to acquire a large estate and for a number of years has been regarded as one of Carbondale’s wealthiest citizens.” He was survived by his wife and daughter and sisters Sarah and Elizabeth and his brother Thomas Dunaway of Marion.
Virginia Dunaway and her daughter were issued letters of administration in the estate of Samuel W. They furnished bond of $20,000. The personal property of the estate was valued at $10,000 by estimation. The Dunaway estate was valued at $100,000 ($2,631,579 in today’s currency), most of which was invested in real estate. They brought suit and won against W. R. and B. A. Winchester for $883.27 in 1906.
In 1910, Virginia was living with her daughter, Ada, and her husband, Andrew S. Caldwell. The Caldwell’s had one daughter, Virginia S., 9 years old. It was stated in the census that Virginia Dunaway had her own income.
Mrs. Jennie Thorn Dunaway died in Carbondale on October 13, 1918 after an illness of several years. She was the daughter of Dr. James Patten Thorne.
Notes on the Children:
Ada Dunaway. Her husband Andrew S. Caldwell was an attorney who became a Judge. He was also a principal in establishing the Jackson State Bank. They had one daughter, Virginia S. Caldwell. Andrew S. was associated with his father-in-law, Samuel W. Dunaway, in his real estate and financial businesses. He did not appear after the 1920 census. Ada, a widow, was living with her daughter in the 1930 census. She died Oct 8, 1938 at the age of 54.
Andrew and Ada’s daughter, Virginia S., married Brig. Gen William McAndrews, coach at Carbondale Normal University until his death on February 11, 1943.
Edward Thorne Dunaway was born in Williamson County about Oct 9, 1867 and died in Feb. 9, 1896 at the age of 28. Samuel W. was much affected by his son’s death and retired from his active business life after Edward’s passing.
(Sources: US Census, History of Southern Illinois by G.W. Smith, Events in Egypt, Illinois land records, Carbondale Free Press, family history information by Nannie Parks, Carbondale Free Press, Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths Index. Compiled by Colleen Norman)