Happy December to you all! Today’s picture from the album comes from 1915 when my grandmother (Marjorie) visited with 76-year old great uncle William. Like may of my ancestors, I only really know of him what the obituary tells, in this case just a year after this picture was taken.
Rev. William Arnot Dunning, brother of the late Horace Dunning, whose death was announced Friday, was born in this vicinity and grew up on the Dunning homestead, near Mechanicstown, where his nephew, M. E. Dunning now resides. He was educated at Williams College and preached at Gilbertsville, N.Y., for a long time.
He was an active Presbyterian minister for 28 years up in Ostego County, NY before his retirement in 1895.
Later he resided at Binghamton, where three years ago his wife, who was Marcia Hurd, died. Since, he had made his home at Tompkinsville, Staten Island, where he died.
I found out from a second obituary published for him in The Brooklyn Citizen that his last address in Tompkinsville was ” 119 Frelinghysen Road” . The road was renamed “Silver Lake Road” at some point but I looked up the address on Google maps and the house can still be seen there!
Funeral services were held this afternoon at the late home and the body was brought to this city at 2 o’clock over the Erie. Internment was in Hillside Cemetery, Rev. B. E. Smith officiating at the grave.
-July 22, 1916
So Uncle William’s remains took a ride on the Erie Railroad, up to Hillside Cemetery to rest among his next of kin.
This picture, William’s history as a Presbyterian minister and seeing my grandmother as a little girl (which still makes me smile) made me want to share a nice quote from Gilead by Marilynne Robinson with you:
I might seem to be comparing something great and holy with a minor or ordinary thing, that is, love of God with mortal love. But I just don’t see them as separate at all. If we can be divinely fed with a morsel and divinely blessed with a touch, then the terrible pleasure we find in a particular face can certainly instruct us in the nature of the grandest love.
May you enjoy your loved ones this holiday season and sending you a hug, as always.
Just beautiful, Martha. If your poignant memories of that time didn’t pull the heartstrings, Robinson’s quote certainly did.
Great research. I always thought Merritt and Horace were brothers. We need to take a closer look at the Hillside Cemetery Plot.