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Dr. John Lewis Dunyon
· 8 September 2013 · 0 Comments
Dr. John L. Dunyon was born November 9, 1810, in the little fishing town of Newburyport, Massachusetts. He was the son of John and Mary Kendall Dunyon. When he was two and one-half years old his mother died and his father remarried. Owing to the cruelty of his stepmother, he was forced to leave home at the age of seventeen and went to work on a fishing vessel. After a few years at sea he decided to become a doctor. From then on he saved his earnings toward that end. Upon receiving his degree as a doctor of medicine he practiced in Springfield, Illinois, and through the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut.
When he was twenty-four years old he married Sarah Ann Reeves in New Lynn, Ohio. To them were born seven children; Chester Reeves and Edwin were drowned at the ages of five and seven, respectively, on the 16th of May, 1847 in the Mississippi River; another child died as a result of burns, and a fourth child was taken from them before she was years of age. The other three children, Newton A. and the twins, Darwin Lewis and Dora Ann lived to maturity.
During the years of 1835 - 1849 Dr. Dunyon continued his practice in the east. When news of the gold rush of 1849 in California became known he decided to go west. He arrived in Salt Lake City in the fall of 1849 or early spring of 1850. Here he became interested in Mormonism and was converted to the faith. About the year 1852, he returned to Ohio for his wife and children, but Sarah was so strongly prejudiced against Mormonism that she refused to go with him. Leaving her in Ohio, he took the three children and started for Utah. He brought with him Abby C. Calwalader Brown and her daughter, Ann Kempton Brown, whom he married in Salt Lake City, October 14, 1853.
From 1853 to 1865 he made his home in Salt Lake City and Pleasant Grove, Utah where he practiced his profession. He served as medical advisor and practicing physician for President Brigham Young and many other leading families of the Church. In 1856 President Young called him to go to the aid of the ill-fated Martin and Willie handcart companies, and, as a doctor, aided in their entrance into the valley. When Johnston's army attempted to enter the valley, Dr. Dunyon was made an officer of the Utah Militia and went as a doctor to help in the defense of the Saints. He was a member of the first City Council of Salt Lake and it was at this time that a close friendship developed between him and Daniel H. Wells.
To John and Ann were born ten children including twin boys who died at birth, and three other children who died in infancy?
From the leaves of an old family Bible in the handwriting of Dr. Dunyon is penned the following interesting record:
Sacred to the memory of:
Elizabeth Charlotte Liddiard. Born April 20, 1833, Eastwoodie, Hampshire, England. The daughter of Levi Aaron Liddiard and Ann Hanson. She was baptized February 22, 1848 in England by Thomas Squires. She immigrated to the City of the Saints in the fall of 1863 in very feeble health and immediately took worse and died Oct. 21, 1863 at the residence of Dr. Dunyon and was buried in the Great Salt Lake City cemetery. Previous to her death she requested to be sealed to me and hence will bear my name and is registered among my family.
Dr. Dunyon owned two city blocks with homes on each. One was located on First South and Third West, but because of general prejudice by the Saints against doctors, he decided to change his occupation. About twenty miles south of the city was the Porter Rockwell Ranch, of Halfway Station, where stages stopped on their way through the territory or on to Southern California. This ranch was held by Mr. Rockwell by virtue of squatter's rights and consisted of an eight-home adobe building where travelers could be housed and fed, and two large frame barns for teams and wagons. The water for the house came from a natural spring in the hillside where an old brewery stood. It was for this property that Dr. Dunyon traded one of his Salt Lake homes. There were approximately fifteen hundred poles on the place, which he agreed to buy at the rate of three poles for a dollar. After the Dunyons moved to the ranch it was discovered that a mistake had been made in making out the papers and they read $3.00 a pole. Mr. Rockwell held Dr.Dunyon to this part of the contract and as a result the family lost the other home in the city.
Dr. Dunyon, with the aid of his wife, children and mother-in-law ran the Half-Way Station as an inn. A large sign hung near the house on which was printed "Our Mountain Home - Meals at all hours by J. L. Dunyon." Besides running the inn, the Dunyons homesteaded enough land to total 640 acres. Upon this land was located hot springs which Dr. Dunyon discovered contained medical properties and which he hoped would bring in additional revenue when he would be permitted to resume his medical career. In the meantime ranching was carried on and he devoted considerable time and money to mining, all of which was to no avail. The railroad went through to Provo in 1877 and it took away much trade from the inn. Ann became seriously ill and was confined to her bed for eleven months.
After regaining her health she leased and took charge of the Brigham Young cocoonery which was located near 21st South and 11th East. With the help of her children was made one of the first attempts at silk raising in Utah. She raised the worms, reeled it from the cocoon, spun and prepared the raw silk for use.
Because of the hardships in which the family was raised and the distance to school, the children had limited opportunities for education. Therefore, Ann was not only a mother but a teacher as well.
On June 22, 1877, she died of typhoid fever and, on that hot June day, a sorrow stricken family brought her remains for twenty miles over a dusty road in a white-top light spring wagon to the city cemetery.
Dr. Dunyon was a small, dark complexioned man with dark hair, piercing eyes and a high forehead. He weighed about 135 pounds. He was quick, active, high spirited and often acted on the spur of a moment.
The following story is told by Lewis Dunyon, a grandson: John Ennis of Draper constantly flaunted grandfather with the fact that he had no faith or he would not be a doctor. Grandfather did not want to retaliate but rather win the good favor of Brother Ennis. He was the possessor of an army coat which was very precious to him. He knew that Brother Ennis admired the coat, so one night Grandfather went to the Ennis home and without seeing or telling anyone, left the coat. This developed into a lasting friendship between the two men.
Dr. Lewis Dunyon died April 18, 1879 at the age of 68 years, in Salt Lake City. At the time of his death, according to his records, "the family property consisted of land near the Point of the Mountain (part of which is now occupied by the State Prison), a gray mare, one cow, and a bay stallion." His policy as a doctor was: "If I make you well you pay for my services - if I don't you pay only for the medicine."
Dr. John Lewis Dunyon left his children a real heritage and one which could help all in today's troubled world. The following is written by one of his sons:
In my father and mother's home we always had family prayer, usually both morning and night. We children would take our turn. The custome was for us to gather around the fireplace in the big dining room where father would read and explain the scriptures, then we had prayers and retired.
During his lifetime Dr. Dunyon wrote hundreds of prescriptions of recipes, as they were called in pioneer days, which he copied in two large books. They are now in the possession of his grandson, Joy W. Dunyon, who furnished this data. The following are taken from his writings:
Elixir of Life:
(1 lb. gum myrrh, 1/2 lb. aloes, 1/4 lb. saffron, 1/2 lb. hops, 1/2 lb. rhubarb, 12 lb. chamomile, 2 oz. cayenne, 4 oz. cinnamon, 4 oz. cloves, 1lb. anise seed. Add water to cover well, strain, boil and add water so that there will be 5 or 6 gallons in all. Take lb. each of the following either poplar, boneset, jimson of balmory. Boil in water, strain and boil down so as to make in all 8 gallons, then add sugar, boil it with the bitter decoction and skim, then add it to the former mixture, flavor with essence of wintergreen and bottle. Dose 1 tbs. six times a day.
Hive Syrup:
(Senega snakeroot 1 oz., Virginia snakeroot 1 oz., saffron 1 oz., Queen of the meadow 1 oz., blood root, 1 oz., lobelia 1 oz. Add 1 quart whiskey, boil the dregs, obtain 1 quart. Add one quart of molasses, 4 oz. essence of hemlock and 4 oz. essence of sassafras. Dose 1 tps. to a tbs. every one or two hours in proportion to age.
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John Lewis Dunyon
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1810 - 1879 (68 years)