Person:Purley Dunkle (1)

A Brief History of Vinton County, pg. 168: "In 1875, Purley B. Dunkle, Farmer, General Dealer and Wool Grower, New Mt. Pleasant."

I post the following biography to highlight the known errors it contains: Hanging Rock Iron Region Vol. II, pg. 1173: Purley B. Dunkle. From the time of his birth to the present Mr. Dunkle has maintained his home in Vinton County, Ohio, which he represented as a gallant soldier and officer of the Union in the Civil war, and here he has stood for many years as one of the prosperous agriculturists and influential citizens of Swan Township, with inviolable place in popular confidence and good will. He is a scion of a sterling pioneer family of Ohio, with whose history the name of Dunkle has been worthily linked for more than a century, so that there are many points which make specially consistent his recognition in this history of the Hanging Rock iron region, his father having been one of the pioneers who aided materially in the initial development and upbuilding of Vinton County. Mr. Dunkle was born in Swan Township, Vinton County (until 1850 Swan Twp. was part of Hocking County), on the 14th of May, 1844. and such were the exigencies of time and place that in his youth he received only the limited advantages afforded in the primitive pioneer schools, his broader fund of knowledge having been that gained through self-discipline and through association with the active duties and responsibilities of life. His father, John Dunkle, Jr., was a son of John, Sr., who was born in Pennsylvania, a representative of the staunch old German stock that has been most prominent in the history of that commonwealth. He married in Pennsylvania and in the early part of the nineteenth century he came to Ohio and numbered him self among the pioneers of Pickaway County, which at that time was little more than a wilderness, with sparse settlement. There he gave himself earnestly to the reclaiming of a farm and there he continued his residence for many years, a substantial and honored citizen. Finally he sold his property in that county and removed to Vinton County (at that time it was Athens and Hocking County - Vinton County was formed in 1850), where both he and his wife passed the residue of their lives. Each attained to advanced age and the remains of both rest in the old Elk Township Cemetery at McArthur. (There is a marker still existing in 2013 for John Dunkle under the biggest treet in the Old McArthur Cemetery.) All of their children who attained to maturity were born in Ohio and all married and reared children, the sons having been John, Jr., Eli, Samuel, Jacob, Benjamin and Isaac, and the daughters, Phoebe and Polly. (Evidence has been uncovered through the years that indicates there MAY also be daughters named Margaret, Mary, Christiana and Charlotte.) All of these children are now deceased.

John Dunkle, Jr., was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, about the year 1812 (he was born about 1802), and he was still young at the time of the family removal to what is now Vinton County. Here he was reared to manhood under the conditions of the pioneer days and here he eventually became one of the representative farmers of this section of the state. He improved a good farm of 360 acres in Swan Township and there he maintained his home until his death, which occurred September 6, 1868. (This is not the correct death date. Documents found in the probate records indicate his death date was in September 1873.) He was a man of energy, industry and mature judgment, loyal and steadfast in all of the relations of life, and an honored and influential citizen who took much interest in community affairs. He united with the republican party at the time of its organization and he served for many years in local offices of trust, including those of township trustee and assessor. His land he obtained in large part directly from the government, and thus it was his to figure as one of the founders and builders of the County of Vinton as it stands today. In Elk Township was solemnized the marriage of John Dunkle. Jr., to Miss Nancy Pilcher, who was born in Elk Township, Vinton County, about the year 1815 (about 1809), and who passed her entire life in this county, where her parents were numbered among the very early settlers. Adequate data concerning the family appear on other pages of this publication, in the sketch dedicated to Otto Pilcher. Mrs. Dunkle preceded her husband to eternal rest, her death having occurred in the late '50s. (Nancy Pilcher Dunkle probably died in November 1849, as indicated in the Mortality Index of 1850.) Of their children the eldest was James, who was a prosperous farmer of Vinton County at the time of his death and who is survived by two daughters. Lafayette likewise died in this county and was survived by children. John P. was a resident of the State of Oregon at the time of his death and he left a family. Benjamin (name is Benson) was the owner of his father's old home stead at the time of his demise and he likewise left children. Isaac served during the Civil war as a member of the 114th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he now resides in the State of Colorado, his wife being deceased. George was a valiant soldier during the Civil war, in which he served as first lieutenant of Company B, Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he was survived by his wife, who later became the wife of Wm. Croy. Linnie became the wife of Isaiah Sane and both died at Mount Pleasant, Vinton County, leaving one son and one daughter. The subject of this sketch was the next in order of birth. Columbus was a member of the 144th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and after the close of the war he married and established himself as a farmer of Vinton County. His first wife died and was survived by two daughters and three sons: Cynthia, who is now the wife of Levert Pearce of Mc Arthur, judicial center of Vinton County, and Nancy, who is the wife of Harvey Karns, their home being in the State of Iowa and their only child being a daughter. For his second wife John Dunkle, Sr., wedded Miss Margaret Hill, and concerning their children it may be recorded that Mrs. Alice Mains now resides with her daughter in the City of Chicago; Henry is a resident of Madison County, Ohio, and has a family; Eli resides near the City of Seattle, Washington, after having passed ten years in Alaska, and he is still a bachelor; and Fannie and her husband reside in the State of Texas.

Purley B. Dunkle, the eleventh in order of birth in the family of fourteen children, was reared to adult age on the old homestead farm which was the place of his birth and he continued to be associated with its operation until there came the call of higher duty, when the Civil war was precipitated on the nation. In April, 1861, a short time prior to his seventeenth birthday anniversary, he enlisted in Company D, Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers. He served with his command in guard duty until the expiration of his three months' term of enlistment, and he then re-enlisted, as a member of the Second Virginia Cavalry, which was made up largely of Ohio men but which completed its organization in Virginia, where its officers received their commissions. With this gallant cavalry regiment Mr. Dunkle continued in service until the close of the war, having re-enlisted, as a veteran, in Virginia, in December, 1863. His original service was in the command of General Custer, in the Army of the Potomac, and thereafter he was for the greater part of the time in service under General Sheridan, He was promoted to Hie office of sergeant in the early part of the war, and he participated in many engagements marking the progress of the great conflict between the North and the South. Among the engagements in which he took part were those of Cedar Creek, Fisher's Hill, Savlor's Creck, Gravelly Run and Five Forks, all in Virginia, as well as other conflicts in the rear of the City of Richmond, that state. Sergeant Dunkle was fortunate in that he was never captured and in that he escaped wounds during the course of his long and gallant service. His continued interest in his old comrades is indicated by his active affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic. It may further be stated that he is a republican in politics and that he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. After the close of the war Mr. Dunkle returned to Vinton County and resumed his active association with the basic industry of agriculture, of which he has since continued a successful representative in Swan Township. For the past thirty years he has resided on his well improved homestead farm, and in addition to the returns from the same, he receives from the government a pension of $30 a month, as a veteran of the Civil war. In October, 1867, Mr. Dunkle wedded Miss Nancy Bray, who was born in Swan Township on the 6th of February, 1847, and who continued her residence until her death, which occurred on the 27th of February, 1912. She was a daughter of John and Catherine (Birley) Bray, who were pioneer settlers of Swan Township, where they resided until their death, both having been members of the Methodist Church and Mr. Bray having been a republican in his political adherency. Mrs. Dunkle is survived by one son, Carney C., who is now engaged in business as a teamster in the City of Chicago: he married Miss Catherine Smallwood and they have two daughters, Nancy M. and Daisy M., both of whom are capable bookkeepers and employed in Chicago business establishments. On the 21st of August, 1912, Mr. Dunkle contracted a second marriage, when Mrs. Mary E. (Smallwood) Hoffman, widow of John S. Hoffman, became his wife, no children having been born of her first marriage. Mrs. Dunkle was born in Harrison Township, Ross County, Ohio, on the 19th of March, 1852, and is a daughter of Gabriel and Rosanna (Trainer) Smallwood, the former of whom was born in that county and the latter of whom was born in Ireland, whence her parents emigrated to the United States when she was a child of five years, her father having died in Maryland and she having later come to Ohio in company with one of her uncles. Mr. and Mrs. Smallwood continued their residence in Ross County until their death, he having attained to the venerable age of eighty-three years and she having passed away at the age of seventy-six years. Mr. Smallwood was a republican in politics and his religious faith was that of the Universalist Church, his wife having been a communicant of the Catholic Church.

1.   Find A Grave.

   Pearly B. Dunkle