Volume III Issue 8 October - November 1998 free

WHD_1925_small.jpg (3105 bytes)

W. Herbert "Buck" Dunton Web Site (Update)

In the December, 1997 edition of this periodical, and again in the last issue, we discussed W. Herbert Dunton.  We still do not have the genealogy for this man beyond his paternal father and maternal grandfather, but we are continuing to search for clues.

If you remember last month's article, I had been in contact with an art historian, expert on W. Herbert Dunton, and curator of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, Texas.  Michael Grauer is a very knowledgeable man on this (and other) subjects and probably knows old Buck better than anyone alive.

I mentioned to him in an email that I would be in Midland, Texas on a pleasure trip (there is a great air show there every year) and he told me that an exhibit of 24 pieces of W. Herbert Dunton's work would be there.

My Dad and I were able to attend.  It was a wonderful showing, in a beautiful historical library.  It was the first time I had seen his work in person and not in books or on the Web.

I purchased a copy of the exhibit book that was on sale there, and with Mr. Grauer's blessing, converted some of the pages into additions to the web site that was launched last month.

As I get more content for the site, I will post it.  If you would like to purchase a copy of the book mentioned, information can be obtained at the site.  Click the title of this article for a link.

Again, please email me with any additional information that you might have to contribute.


The Village of Dunton
Queens Borough, Long Island

Note from the editor:  The following article is transcribed from a document received this past March from The Queens Borough Public Library, Long Island.  I have tried to duplicate the typewriter font, maintain all of the special and grammar, as well as the basic format of the original. 


Queens Borough Public Library

April – 1939

BULLETIN # 647

Page 20

DUNTON

    Dunton was developed and named in the eighties by the late Frederick W. Dunton, a nephew of Austin Corbin, president of the Long Island Railroad. Mr. Dunton was the president of the "Bicycle Railroad" and became interested in the development of real estate on Long Island in 1883. He built good houses and sold them to desirable citizens on easy payments. The village of Dunton was made up of small farms prior to this time. Mr. George Maure, after whom Maure Avenue, now 130th Street, was named, was actively connected with the progressive enterprises of Queens County. He was commissioned by a New York syndicate to purchase large tracts of land on Long Island, and later became associated with Mr. Dunton. Together they invested a large amount of money in real estate in this section and laid out several towns, of which Dunton was one.

    The early maps of the community indicate that Dunton proper extended from Atlantic Avenue to Jerome Avenue, or Broadway, as it was called in those days, and from Van Wyck Boulevard to 126th Street. The section between Jerome Avenue and Liberty Avenue, then called Centerville Avenue, was Dunton Park. If the library had been in existence at that time in its present location it would have been in a section called Liberty Hills.

[Refer to this link at MapQuest for a graphical representation]

    The Dunton Civic League was formed in St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Van Wyck Boulevard in 1922 and has since been active in promoting projects for the betterment of Dunton, in fulfillment of its motto, "Community Betterment." Mr. Joseph A. Coyle is now president of the League. In the past the League was successful in campaigning for many projects, of which some of the outstanding were the Dunton Station of the Long Island Railroad, the $70,000 fire house, schools, and playgrounds. In one campaign for a new school to replace P.S. 55, located at 130th Street and 97th Avenue, which was called "Dunton’s Version of the Little Red Schoolhouse," the following adjectives were used: "Antiquated, inadequate, 40 year-old, unsanitary, out-of-date, unsafe, and over-crowded." The adjectives must have served their purpose, for a large, new, modern school building was built at 97th Avenue and 131st Street, and at the beginning of the term February 1939, was ready for occupancy. It is reported that the League is now campaigning for a subway along Van Wyck Boulevard from the Van Wyck Station on the Eighth Avenue Subway to Rockaway Boulevard, a new Dunton Library, and a Dunton post office.

    The Dunton Library had its beginning April 26, 1917, in a small space in Thornton’s drug store at 31 Jerome Avenue, as a community station in the Traveling Division of the Queens Borough Public Library. Two classroom cases were used for children’s books. The adult books were in small collection cases in the window, and were restocked from a station box kept in the back room. In June 1918, Mr. Thornton rearranged his store to the advantage of the library, by making room for three large cases farther back in the store. The library moved to a small store building at 104-12 130th Street in 1928. In January 1934, it moved into much larger quarters at its present location, 129-20 Liberty Avenue, a building formerly occupied by a branch of the Bank of Manhattan Company. The building is still owned by the bank.

    The community of Dunton is made up mostly of German, Irish, and Italian extraction. There are a large number of Jewish families in the neighborhood; the Dunton Jewish Community Center is one and one-half blocks from the library. Most of the people are of the business class and many own their own homes. Most of the homes are one-family houses, but there are a few two-family houses, and small apartment buildings. Some of the storekeepers live over or in the back rooms behind their stores. There are enough renters to make it seem as though Dunton has a quite transient population, if the numerous changes of address recorded at the library is any evidence of fact.

Bernice Cunningham


"U.K. in 2K"
A Gathering of Family in Ancestral England

To summarize the mission of this project, we are in the beginning stages of planning a family reunion. Unlike the usual one where you may drive a few hours, and see people that you have not seen in a long while, we are hoping to gather as many of us as possible -- from all over the world -- in Cheshire, England. If you are interested, please check out the project page by following the link in the title of this article.

 

Remember, it is possible. -- "U.K. in 2K" !!!


"Announcements"
Submit obituaries, marriage, military service, special events, and birth announcements to keep us all up to date!

Ryan Christopher Dunton

Please welcome to this world, Ryan Christopher Dunton, born June of this year to Christine Elcenia (formerly Smith) and Christopher Eric Dunton. 3rd son, joining brothers Joshua E. and Bradley R.  Submitted by his father,   Chris Dunton.

(Come on folks . . . out of a family our size, there has to be other newsworthy events :)

If you are shopping for relatives in other parts of the country and they like books or music, consider purchasing online through The Homesite Webstore.  The package can be gift wrapped and delivered direct to the person.  Remember, with any purchase made through the store, you receive the same Amazon.com discount, and a small percentage is returned beck to us.  All proceeds will be used to improve this on-line project.  Christmas is just around the corner . . . please keep this option in mind.



"Life On The Farm"
Being a brief regular accounting of the events from life on the Victor Hugo Dunton farmstead in Oregon

The meteorologists are predicting a cold, and wetter than usual, winter season for the Pacific Northwest.  It sounds like snow and flooding may be the order of business.

I wish that I could say that I am prepared for it, but it would be stretching the truth.  Judging things by the cattle, they are preparing.   They already have put on very heavy, wooly coats.

I, on the other hand, am not 100% prepared for keeping warm.  I cheated again this year and bought a couple of  cords of wood.  Although I could use the exercise, 'making' wood is a time consuming venture.  Realizing that money does not grow on trees (forgive the tired metaphor and lame pun), time is the one commodity that I always seem to have little of.

I had to light our first fire in the wood furnace this past Sunday.  It already has been dropping down to freezing temperatures over night and my windshield

has required scraping in the morning before heading off to work.

The garden is about done and Denise and the girls are looking forward to the light at the end of the canning tunnel. (Wow, what is up with the metaphors?!?)

They put up applesauce, apple slices (for pies), green beans, beets, salsa, zucchini relish, various jams and jellies, and tomatoes.  There are still tomatoes to process and the quinces are about ready.   That should be it.

The corn was great . . . not as much as I would have thought, but we ate corn on the cob into September until we were tiring of it.  The corn that got put up will be a wonderful reminder of summer on a cold winter evening.

If I don't get an issue posted before December, have a great Fall and Thanksgiving Holiday.

Mike Dunton - 10/21/98


If you have an interesting story that you'd like to share, PLEASE submit it.

Copyright © 1996-2019 by The Dunton Family Organization -- All rights reserved
To view The Dunton Homesite™
privacy policy, click here.
The Dunton Homesite™ is the property of The Dunton Family Organization

[The Homesite Webstore] [Dunton Times][Dunton GeneWeb Project] [Dunton Research Library][Homepage]

Some articles and images may carry the copyright of their respective authors.  This page may be freely linked but not duplicated in any fashion.


Past Issues Archive
[December 1996, January 1997, February 1997, March 1997,
April - May 1997, June - July 1997, August - November 1997, December 1997,
January 1998, February 1998, March 1998, April 1998, May 1998, June - July 1998,
August - September 1998]