Person:Adonija Dunbar (1)

Adonijah and Nancy Dunbar were married around 1813, and migrated to Kentucky shortly thereafter. They were in Mississippi in 1825, in Tennessee from 1828 to 1830 and in Mississippi again in 1835. They were listed as residents in Tippah County from 1837 through 1870. Adonijah became a Mississippi planter of substance prior to the Civil War, but the census report of 1870 indicates that his holdings had been drastically reduced in value.

The first Dunbar of record in Virginia (Prince William County) was listed in 1744, and the earliest listed in American Colonies was Robert Dunbar of Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1657. The parentage of Adonijah has not been determined; he could have been the son of Andrew Dunbar, of Fredrick County, Virginia, or of John Dunbar, Jr., of Greenbrair County (now West Virginia), both of whom were listed as residents of those counties in 1782. Hamilton Dunbar, father of the aforementioned Andrew, served as a sergeant in the Continental Line during the Revolution. It is believed that both John and Andrew came to Virginia from Pennsylvania.

"Daniel White MeGee married Mahala, one of Adonijah's twin daughters, in 1848. Until her death, around 1855, they lived near her parents, probably on the home plantation. Her, maternal grandparents reared Sarah, infant daughter of Daniel and Mahala. William W. Dunbar, eldest son of Adonijah and Nancy Dunbar, migrated to Marion Co., Arkansas, about 1848, and reared his family there. Connection was maintained with the Megee family of Ozark Co., Missouri, until 1919, at least, when there was known to be living near Henryetta, Oklahoma, a William Dunbar, who was probably the grandson of William W., above noted. It is believed the Daniel W. MeGee and his bride, Mahala, accompanied William W. Dunbar and his wife Sarah M., on their move to Arkansas in 1848, returning to Tippah Co., Mississippi, in 1850."