San Francisco County
Biographies
WILLIAM ANDREW MOAT DUNBAR
A veterinary surgeon and dentist of Oakland, was born in
Middlesex County, Ontario, April 11, 1853 a son of Alexander and Susan
(Jackson) Dunbar, both living in 1891, in Washington, District of Columbia. The
father, a native of Ireland, came to America
about 1820, at the age of eleven, with his parents, who settled on a farm in Upper
Canada, where they died at the age of nearly seventy.
Alexander Dunbar was brought up to farming and was married at the age of
twenty-one, his wife being of the same ancestry as President Andrew Jackson,
her father having been a second cousin of “the hero of New Orleans.” She is the
only known survivor of that branch of the Jackson
family. After marriage, Alexander Dunbar followed farming some years, when he
became a contractor in railroad construction for a time. In 1859 he made the
discovery known, from his name “Dunbar’s System of
Horseshoeing and Treatment of the Horse’s Foot”. He soon afterwards came to New
York to introduce and teach his discovery, having
among his “pupils’ such horse-lovers as Robert Bonner and George Wilkes, and
later on, General Grant. Through their endorsement and influence he was
employed in 1868, “under a joint resolution of Congress to teach his system to
the farriers of the United States army, receiving $25,000 a year for his
services,” and being thus occupied some fourteen months. His method of
treatment has been generally recognized as a valuable advance in the proper
handling of malformation in horses hoofs. Meanwhile he had brought his family
to New York City, in 1865. He
continued to give instructions in his specialty, and some years later began the
study of medicine and are now a retired physician in Washington, District of
Columbia, at about the age of eighty, his wife being several years younger.
They have five living children, the oldest born in 1841: Frederick Alexander, a
sculptor now of Quebec, who after achieving local
distinction in the exercise of his art, went to Italy
for additional study and observation. Ulric S.J.
Dunbar, another son, learned the art of sculpture from his brother and became
quite as successful in its exercise, and is now located in Washington, District
of Columbia. There are two daughters. W.A.M. Dunbar, the subject of this
sketch, has been on this coast since 1874, beginning the practice of his
profession in San Francisco in 1875, whence he removed to San
Diego in 1886, and returned to San Francisco
in 1888 he settled in this city July 1, 1890. He has been largely self-educated
in his profession, and has added to his father’s discovery some features which
he thinks valuable. He is also the proprietor of two horse remedies, an
ointment and a colic cure, both known-by his name. He has been quite successful
in this city and has established a good local practice. Mr. Dunbar was married
in San Francisco, February 21, 1882, to Miss Annie Jenne,
born in Brooklyn, New York, March
14, 1863, a daughter of Jacob and Honor ( Fenelon) Jenne, the father being a
native of Baden, Germany,
the mother of Ireland,
and both more or less remotely of French descent. Mr. Jenne, born in 1837, came
to America before the civil war and
enlisted June 16, 1861, in a New York
regiment. He was discharged for disability arising from a wound received in
battle. He then re-enlisted and served to the close of the war. The mother was
born in 1839; and both moved to this coast in 1875, with their three children:
George, born June 8, 1861; Annie, now Mrs. Dunbar; Theodore, born November 28,
1867. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar are: George Alexander, born in San
Francisco, June 22, 1883 William Theodore, born in San
Diego, September 1, 1888; Susan born in San
Francisco, December 10, 1889.
Transcribed by Kim Buck.
Source: "The Bay of San
Francisco," Vol. 2, Pages
607-608, Lewis Publishing
Co, 1892.
HUGH JONES
Lawyer, San Francisco, was born in Wales, in 1864. His father who was a business man, died in
1884; his mother is still living in Wales.
Mr. Jones was educated in a grammar school in his native country, and
matriculated for the university. His father desired him to enter the Church of
England, but he came to the United States in 1883, and to California the same
year, and studied law and graduated at Hastings College of Law
in 1887, and since has been
successfully engaged in the practice of his profession in this city.
Transcribed by Kim Buck.
Source: "The Bay of San
Francisco," Vol. 2, Page
608, Lewis Publishing Co,
1892.
© 2006 Kim Buck.
California
Biography Project
San
Francisco County
California
Statewide
Golden
Nugget Library