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S. W. DUNN is numbered among the large landowners of the county, and is one of the shrewdest business men Curran Township has ever known. His home is on section 33, where he has four hundred acres of land which is so improved as to make four farms, each watered by Lick Creek and therefore well adapted for both grain and stock purposes. In Christian County Mr. Dunn has one thousand acres in six farms, finely improved, and this, like that in Sangamon County, is operated by renters. Some sixty acres on section 34, Curran Township, together with a house and lot in Curran, also belong to Mr. Dunn and he is interested in other lands in this vicinity.

The Dunns are of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Grandfather Dunn, whose given name was Edmond, was born in Virginia and was one of the early settlers in Kentucky, where with others he first located near Lexington. The Colonists were driven back by the Indians and finally established themselves in a more hilly region in Harrison County. There Elijah Dunn, the father of our subject, grew from boy to man and became a farmer. He owned a large plantation and distillery and was the wealthiest man in that section until he was forced to give up some of his property to pay notes which he had signed as security. Politically he was an old line Whig, and religiously a Methodist, being Class-Leader and Steward in the church and one of its chief pillars.

The wife of Elijah Dunn was known in her maidenhood as Sarah Foster, was born in Harrison County, Ky., and in her native State grew to womanhood. Her father, Samuel Foster, was born in the Old Dominion and breathed his last in Indiana. Her mother, Mary (Veatch) Foster, belonged to a wealthy and influential Virginia family. Mrs. Dunn died in this county while on a visit to her son S. W., when fifty years old. Her children, ten in number, are now represented on earth by Wilson, captain of a boat and living in Nashville, Tenn.; S. W., the subject of this notice; and James M., whose home is near Ft. Scott, Mo.

The natal day of S. W. Dunn was October 10, 1823, and his birthplace a farm near Cynthiana, Harrison County, Ky. During his boyhood the schools in that section were conducted according to the subscription method, $3 being paid for three months' tuition. The nearest schoolhouse was four or five miles from his home and it was built of logs, with a writing desk supported by wooden pins projecting from the side walls, slab benches, and a large fireplace. A favorite recreation was a coon or fox hunt, and so rugged were the lads and lassies that they thought little of a long walk to and from school, or a hard tramp after a day's work had been done. Young Dunn remained with his parents until after he had become of age and a few years later came to this State with his oldest brother.

The Dunn boys made their journey with a two-horse wagon, fording creeks and rivers and camping out at night. When they reached this county, which was in 1848, they found much raw land infested with deer, wolves and other animals, and presenting an appearance that gave little promise of its present condition. Our subject had seventy-five cents when he reached here, and at once set about to find work. Rail splitting offered the best opportunity, and during the first winter he split seventeen thousand rails at forty-four cents per hundred and cut fifty cords of wood at thirty-seven and one-half cents a cord. He then farmed with his brother for one-fourth of the crop and in the fall went to Jefferson County, where he invested all his money in buying claims and improvements.

Returning to this county during the winter Mr. Dunn decided to let the claims go and to begin anew here. He began farming on shares, working thus two years and then renting land until 1853, when he bought one hundred and fifty acres of his present estate. For this he paid $10 per acre and on it he began the work which has resulted in giving him so large a fortune. He moved into a log house which was destroyed by fire within a few months, and he then moved a cabin on the land, which afforded him shelter until a hewed log dwelling could be erected. Year by year the place grew in beauty and in extent, as the diligence and thrift of its owner met with their legitimate reward. Mr. Dunn got his real start in life by raising corn and hogs, and subsequently made considerable money feeding sheep, clearing $1,000 per year for seven years, by this means. This was during and immediately after the war, when prices were high.