Matilda was born in Trenton, Oneida County, New York. She first married a Charles William Gurney on January 1, 1828 in Hartford, Conneticut. The children of this union included: Charles, Aaron and Ann. In the 1850 U.S. census, Matilda and the children can be found living in Jackson County, Michigan. She married second,Elijah Thompson who died after three years. She thrid married, Ira Hollingshead Dunham, in LaPorte County, Indiana, on April 18, 1857.
Obituary
Porter County Vidette, December 20, 1877
Volume: 21, Issue: 51, Page: 3, Column: 7
DIED.
DUNHAM. -- At Westville, Ind., Dec. 10, 1877, Mrs. Matilda Dunham, in the 73d year of her age.
Her maiden name was Matilda Miller, and she was born on the 2d day of May, A. D. 1805, at the town of Trenton, Oneida county, N. Y. In 1820 she gave her heart to God, being at the time fifteen years of age. She united with the Presbyterian Church in her native town, and this began in early youth that Christian life which she maintained until the close of her long and eventful life. On the first day of January, 1828, she was united in marriage with Charles W. Gurney, who soon after entered upon the work of the ministry in connection with the Congregational Church. They lived for a time in Prattsburg, N. Y., then removed to Ohio and engaged in the Master's work at Jefferson, Geauga and Oberlin. They then removed to the state of Michigan, where her husband had charge of congregations of the Prebyterian Church at Union City, Coldwater and Brooklyn. After two years of labor in Brooklyn they returned to Coldwater, where her husband died on the 2d of August, 1841. By this sad bereavement she was left with three children -- Ann, Charles and Aason, the oldest twelve and the youngest eight years of age. With that energy which characterized her, she bravely commenced the struggle of life alone, and by the use of her needle provided for the wants of her children, maintaining them in such a manner that they scarcely knew the presence of that poverty which she alone confronted. When her older children were all able to provice for themselves, she married Mr. Elijah Thompson, a farmer, with whom she lived for three years, when she was again left to battle alone with the world, with the help of her older children, and having a little girl of eighteen months. In the fall of 1854 she removed from Michigan to Indiana to be nearer to her children, and settled in Westville, where she has since resided. On the 18th of April, 1857, she was married to Mr. Ira H. Dunham, with whom she lived until Feb. 8, 1863, when she was once more left alone in the world. Soon after coming to Westville she united with, and has since remained a member of, the Methodist Episcopal Church. She was ever known as a kind friend, a wise counselor, a true Christian. Hers was a genial old age, "frosty but kindly," and in a ripe age, surrounded by all her children, at peace with all the world, wothout a cloud of doubt, or fear, she closed her eyes to earth and opened them to Heaven.
A. G.
MY MOTHER.
More than this life's "three score and ten"
Years, is the long eternal then,
Made ready for the ransom dead
On whom redeeming love will shed
The light to guide "through fire and flood,"
Heavenward, to victory and to God.
Exultant thought! My mother's face,
Renewed, shines brighter, through God's grace.
Emily W. Skinner.
Valparaiso, Dec. 17, 1877.
Obituary
Porter County Vidette, December 20, 1877
Volume: 21, Issue: 51, Page: 3, Column: 7
DIED.
DUNHAM. -- At Westville, Ind., Dec. 10, 1877, Mrs. Matilda Dunham, in the 73d year of her age.
Her maiden name was Matilda Miller, and she was born on the 2d day of May, A. D. 1805, at the town of Trenton, Oneida county, N. Y. In 1820 she gave her heart to God, being at the time fifteen years of age. She united with the Presbyterian Church in her native town, and this began in early youth that Christian life which she maintained until the close of her long and eventful life. On the first day of January, 1828, she was united in marriage with Charles W. Gurney, who soon after entered upon the work of the ministry in connection with the Congregational Church. They lived for a time in Prattsburg, N. Y., then removed to Ohio and engaged in the Master's work at Jefferson, Geauga and Oberlin. They then removed to the state of Michigan, where her husband had charge of congregations of the Prebyterian Church at Union City, Coldwater and Brooklyn. After two years of labor in Brooklyn they returned to Coldwater, where her husband died on the 2d of August, 1841. By this sad bereavement she was left with three children -- Ann, Charles and Aason, the oldest twelve and the youngest eight years of age. With that energy which characterized her, she bravely commenced the struggle of life alone, and by the use of her needle provided for the wants of her children, maintaining them in such a manner that they scarcely knew the presence of that poverty which she alone confronted. When her older children were all able to provice for themselves, she married Mr. Elijah Thompson, a farmer, with whom she lived for three years, when she was again left to battle alone with the world, with the help of her older children, and having a little girl of eighteen months. In the fall of 1854 she removed from Michigan to Indiana to be nearer to her children, and settled in Westville, where she has since resided. On the 18th of April, 1857, she was married to Mr. Ira H. Dunham, with whom she lived until Feb. 8, 1863, when she was once more left alone in the world. Soon after coming to Westville she united with, and has since remained a member of, the Methodist Episcopal Church. She was ever known as a kind friend, a wise counselor, a true Christian. Hers was a genial old age, "frosty but kindly," and in a ripe age, surrounded by all her children, at peace with all the world, wothout a cloud of doubt, or fear, she closed her eyes to earth and opened them to Heaven.
A. G.
MY MOTHER.
More than this life's "three score and ten"
Years, is the long eternal then,
Made ready for the ransom dead
On whom redeeming love will shed
The light to guide "through fire and flood,"
Heavenward, to victory and to God.
Exultant thought! My mother's face,
Renewed, shines brighter, through God's grace.
Emily W. Skinner.
Valparaiso, Dec. 17, 1877.
Matilda was born in Trenton, Oneida County, New York. She first married a Charles William Gurney on January 1, 1828 in Hartford, Conneticut. The children of this union included: Charles, Aaron and Ann. In the 1850 U.S. census, Matilda and the children can be found living in Jackson County, Michigan. She married second,Elijah Thompson who died after three years. She thrid married, Ira Hollingshead Dunham, in LaPorte County, Indiana, on April 18, 1857.
Obituary
Porter County Vidette, December 20, 1877
Volume: 21, Issue: 51, Page: 3, Column: 7
DIED.
DUNHAM. -- At Westville, Ind., Dec. 10, 1877, Mrs. Matilda Dunham, in the 73d year of her age.
Her maiden name was Matilda Miller, and she was born on the 2d day of May, A. D. 1805, at the town of Trenton, Oneida county, N. Y. In 1820 she gave her heart to God, being at the time fifteen years of age. She united with the Presbyterian Church in her native town, and this began in early youth that Christian life which she maintained until the close of her long and eventful life. On the first day of January, 1828, she was united in marriage with Charles W. Gurney, who soon after entered upon the work of the ministry in connection with the Congregational Church. They lived for a time in Prattsburg, N. Y., then removed to Ohio and engaged in the Master's work at Jefferson, Geauga and Oberlin. They then removed to the state of Michigan, where her husband had charge of congregations of the Prebyterian Church at Union City, Coldwater and Brooklyn. After two years of labor in Brooklyn they returned to Coldwater, where her husband died on the 2d of August, 1841. By this sad bereavement she was left with three children -- Ann, Charles and Aason, the oldest twelve and the youngest eight years of age. With that energy which characterized her, she bravely commenced the struggle of life alone, and by the use of her needle provided for the wants of her children, maintaining them in such a manner that they scarcely knew the presence of that poverty which she alone confronted. When her older children were all able to provice for themselves, she married Mr. Elijah Thompson, a farmer, with whom she lived for three years, when she was again left to battle alone with the world, with the help of her older children, and having a little girl of eighteen months. In the fall of 1854 she removed from Michigan to Indiana to be nearer to her children, and settled in Westville, where she has since resided. On the 18th of April, 1857, she was married to Mr. Ira H. Dunham, with whom she lived until Feb. 8, 1863, when she was once more left alone in the world. Soon after coming to Westville she united with, and has since remained a member of, the Methodist Episcopal Church. She was ever known as a kind friend, a wise counselor, a true Christian. Hers was a genial old age, "frosty but kindly," and in a ripe age, surrounded by all her children, at peace with all the world, wothout a cloud of doubt, or fear, she closed her eyes to earth and opened them to Heaven.
A. G.
MY MOTHER.
More than this life's "three score and ten"
Years, is the long eternal then,
Made ready for the ransom dead
On whom redeeming love will shed
The light to guide "through fire and flood,"
Heavenward, to victory and to God.
Exultant thought! My mother's face,
Renewed, shines brighter, through God's grace.
Emily W. Skinner.
Valparaiso, Dec. 17, 1877.
Obituary
Porter County Vidette, December 20, 1877
Volume: 21, Issue: 51, Page: 3, Column: 7
DIED.
DUNHAM. -- At Westville, Ind., Dec. 10, 1877, Mrs. Matilda Dunham, in the 73d year of her age.
Her maiden name was Matilda Miller, and she was born on the 2d day of May, A. D. 1805, at the town of Trenton, Oneida county, N. Y. In 1820 she gave her heart to God, being at the time fifteen years of age. She united with the Presbyterian Church in her native town, and this began in early youth that Christian life which she maintained until the close of her long and eventful life. On the first day of January, 1828, she was united in marriage with Charles W. Gurney, who soon after entered upon the work of the ministry in connection with the Congregational Church. They lived for a time in Prattsburg, N. Y., then removed to Ohio and engaged in the Master's work at Jefferson, Geauga and Oberlin. They then removed to the state of Michigan, where her husband had charge of congregations of the Prebyterian Church at Union City, Coldwater and Brooklyn. After two years of labor in Brooklyn they returned to Coldwater, where her husband died on the 2d of August, 1841. By this sad bereavement she was left with three children -- Ann, Charles and Aason, the oldest twelve and the youngest eight years of age. With that energy which characterized her, she bravely commenced the struggle of life alone, and by the use of her needle provided for the wants of her children, maintaining them in such a manner that they scarcely knew the presence of that poverty which she alone confronted. When her older children were all able to provice for themselves, she married Mr. Elijah Thompson, a farmer, with whom she lived for three years, when she was again left to battle alone with the world, with the help of her older children, and having a little girl of eighteen months. In the fall of 1854 she removed from Michigan to Indiana to be nearer to her children, and settled in Westville, where she has since resided. On the 18th of April, 1857, she was married to Mr. Ira H. Dunham, with whom she lived until Feb. 8, 1863, when she was once more left alone in the world. Soon after coming to Westville she united with, and has since remained a member of, the Methodist Episcopal Church. She was ever known as a kind friend, a wise counselor, a true Christian. Hers was a genial old age, "frosty but kindly," and in a ripe age, surrounded by all her children, at peace with all the world, wothout a cloud of doubt, or fear, she closed her eyes to earth and opened them to Heaven.
A. G.
MY MOTHER.
More than this life's "three score and ten"
Years, is the long eternal then,
Made ready for the ransom dead
On whom redeeming love will shed
The light to guide "through fire and flood,"
Heavenward, to victory and to God.
Exultant thought! My mother's face,
Renewed, shines brighter, through God's grace.
Emily W. Skinner.
Valparaiso, Dec. 17, 1877.
Gravesite Details
Sources are the 1850 U.S. Census for Jackson County, Michigan, 1860 U.S. Census for LaPorte, Indiana, and Indiana marriage collection all from Ancestry.com
Family Members
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