Sarah Ouderkirk
Sarah Ouderkirk, the third daughter of Henry Ouderkirk and Sarah Eliza Casselman, was born about 1858 in Dundas County, Canada West. No birth or baptism record has been located to date which says exactly when and where Sarah was born.
Sarah appears first on the 1861 Canada Census, but it is not on the page after her parents. I believe the pages were scanned in an incorrect order. Henry and Eliza Ouderkirk were recorded on page 128 and Sarah and Fredrick (sic) Ohkert (sic) were recorded on page 140. On the 1871 Census, Sarah was recorded with her family in Matilda Township. She was recorded again with her family in Bracebridge on the 1881 Census and was working as a dressmaker at that time.
Sarah married William John Dunn, a baker, on March 19, 1884, in Toronto, Ontario. Their first two children, John Henry and Zeta Mabel, were born in Toronto in 1886 and 1887. Their third child, Elizabeth Cecilia, was born in 1889 in Chicago.
As the photo of Sarah below was taken in Toronto, it is reasonable to assume that it was taken between 1884 and 1889. Sarah would have been in her late twenties or early thirties. What has intrigued me about this photo is the pink paper attached to the back that appears to say Mr. R. Benson. As Sarah’s sister, Minnie, was married to Richard Benson, it does seem like this copy of the photo may have been intended for them. It looks like ten copies of the photo were made as this one says 5/10.
Photo courtesy of Nancy White from
the collection of Eletta Scott Dixon
Writing on the back of the photo believed to be
that of Eletta Scott Dixon
Most of the information I have been able to find on the Dunn family is from census records. They did seem to move around a lot.
According to the 1900 US Census, the Dunns lived at 2408 State St. in Chicago with their three children and two boarders. John was recorded as a baker. For the 1910 Census, the family had moved to 814 Bowen Avenue in Chicago. On this census, Sarah is recorded as Mary G. Dunn. I am sure it is still her as her husband and children are the same. John was working as a baker in a restaurant and living at this address with them were six lodgers. Shirley Forth stated in her book, An Ouderkirk Story: A Dutch Cooper’s Legacy, that Sarah supervised one of her sister Minnie’s boarding houses while her husband operated a restaurant near the Chicago stockyards.
William died on March 8, 1912, at age 52. He is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Chicago. By 1918, Sarah was living at 4206½ Berkely Ave. in Chicago. This information was recorded on her son John’s WWI Draft Registration Card. John was working for the McLean Drug Company as a steward at the time.
William John Dunn
Photo found on Ancestry and is purportedly
in the public domain
Sarah was next found on the 1920 Census living at 4400 Ellis Ave. with her son, recorded as Henry J., and her daughter Elizabeth and Elizabeth’s two children, Joseph and Henry. Elizabeth was divorced from her husband, Henry Martin Costello. Sarah’s occupation was recorded as a keeper of a rooming house.
For the 1930 Census, Sarah and Elizabeth and the boys had moved from the house at 4400 Ellis Ave. and were living at 8322 Healey Avenue. Elizabeth was working as a life insurance agent. She was recorded as widowed rather than divorced. By 1940, Elizabeth had married Frank Schnur and Sarah was living with them at 3805 Ellis Avenue. Sarah died July 14, 1947. I have not yet been able to locate where she was buried.
John H. Dunn was recorded on both the 1930 and 1940 Censuses living at 4400 Ellis Ave. with his wife, Katherine. In 1930, they also had three lodgers living with them. It does not appear that John and Katherine had any children. John died in Chicago in 1968.
Sarah’s daughter, Zeta, also remained in Chicago. She was married to Amos Leroy Morgan in 1907 and had two children, a son, Clayton, and a daughter, Ruth. Amos died at age 53 and Zeta was recorded on the 1940 Census living at 1022 East 42nd Place with her daughter, Ruth, and Ruth’s husband, Thomas Lanier. Zeta was working in a TB Clinic. By the 1950 Census, Zeta was living at 3839 Lake Park and was working as a telephone operator at the Stevens Hotel. She married Boyd Ostrander in July of 1958 and moved to Plainfield, Wisconsin. Sadly, Zeta died just a few months later of a heart attack.