Harry Dunn

The following profile was researched and compiled by Candice L. Buchanan and Glenn J. R. T. Toothman III, for publication in "The Rain Day Boys: The Greene That Lay Near Grimpettes Woods" (2017). Learn more at RainDayBoys.com.

Birth: 15 January 1895 Jefferson Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania[i]

Parents: Washington Dunn and Martha Minerva Helt[ii]

Residence at time of enlistment: Dunn’s Station, Washington Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania[iii]

Physical description: 5 feet 7 inches tall, medium build, fair complexion, light blue eyes, black/brown hair[iv]

Death: Killed in action 29 July 1918 Cierges, Picardie, France[v]

Age at death: 23 years old

Last resting place: 25 July 1921 Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery, Ruff Creek, Washington Township, Greene, Pennsylvania[vi]

Military rank: Serial No. 1241481. Private First Class. Company K, 110th Infantry, 28th Division.

Witness account of death: Statement given by Sgt. Glancy W. Smith. “I was in the same squad with Harry Dunn when he was hit in the shoulder by machine gun bullet. We were laying down in an open field between the river Ourcq and the Grimpette woods on July 29th 1918, when he was wounded. He was hit about ten o’clock in the morning. He died in a few minutes.”[vii]

Additional information:

Harry worked as a painter with his father, before joining the military.

In 1934, Martha Minerva Dunn, Harry’s mother, was granted $10.00 a month for 20 months as part of the Pennsylvania Veteran’s Compensation Act, on behalf of her son.[viii]

 

[i] "United States, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6482 : accessed 28 October 2017), Harry Dunn draft card, serial no. 1983, Local Draft Board, Ruff Creek, Washington Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania; citing National Archives microfilm publication M1509, FHL roll 1892939.

[ii] "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60884 : accessed 28 October 2017), Martha Minerva Dunn, mother of Harry Dunn - application no. 320389; citing World War I Veterans Service and Compensation File, 1934–1948 (RG 19, Series 19.91), Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Greene County, Pennsylvania, Marriage License Dockets (1894), vol. 5: 478, Washington L. Dunn - Mattie M. Helt; Office of the Orphans' Court, Greene County Courthouse, Waynesburg.

[iii] "United States, Army Transport Service Passenger Lists 1910-1939," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=61174 : accessed 14 October 2017), Harry Dunn entry, line 179, page 36 (stamped), Ausonia, box 373; citing Lists of Outgoing Passengers, 1917-1938. Textual records. 255 Boxes. NAI: 6234477. Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985. Record Group Number 92. National Archives, College Park, Maryland. The ledger lists current address of each passenger, Harry’s is listed as “Dunn’s Station, R. F. D. 1.”

[iv] "United States, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital images, Ancestry.com, Harry Dunn draft card, serial no. 1983, Local Draft Board, Ruff Creek, Washington Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania.

"PA National Guard Veterans' Card File, 1867-1921," digital images, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Pennsylvania State Archives Records Information Access System (www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us/archive.asp: viewed 12 November 2017), Harry Dunn, Private, Co K, 10th Inf., P. N. G.; citing Pennsylvania State Archives, series #19.135.

[v] WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com, Martha Minerva Dunn, mother of Harry Dunn - application no. 320389.

[vi] Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery (Ruff Creek, Washington Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania), Harry Dunn tombstone; personally read by Candice Buchanan, 2017.

"Bodies of Company K Men Laid to Rest" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 28 July 1921.

[vii] WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com, Martha Minerva Dunn, mother of Harry Dunn - application no. 320389.

[viii] WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com, Martha Minerva Dunn, mother of Harry Dunn - application no. 320389.