Ezra Dunn's Obituary

Newspapers for Matawan (New Jersey) are online!  Searchable!  For free!  Here's the link through the Matawan Aberdeen Public Library.  The covered years are 1869-1973.

I happened upon the papers in a search for Ezra A. Dunn (1821-1898).

I found a detailed article about Ezra from 1898, when he died.

According to this article, Ezra Dunn was from Mercer County (New Jersey) and came to Matawan (Monmouth County, New Jersey) in 1845.  This could be why I cannot connect Ezra to older Dunn families in the Matawan area.  Mercer County is west of Monmouth County.  West of Mercer is another state, Pennsylvania, so records may also be across the Delaware River as I go back a few more generations.

Ezra's marriage date (to Hermoine Dunlop) is given as 1849.  The first child I can find for them, Margaret, was born in early 1850.

The article describes Ezra as "methodical in his business relations."  His pottery business records are now housed at the Monmouth County Historical Association.  They are copious and detailed.  "He also kept a record of the death of any of his acquaintances."  Sounds like me- but 150 years ago.  It is great to read a description of the habits of an ancestor.  Their personalities can often only be inferred from sparse facts about their lives- dates of birth, marriage, death, and locations lived.

I wonder what happened to Ezra's records of people's deaths.  It could be so insightful and helpful.